HISTORY 



OF 



MONROE AND SHELBY COUNTIES, 

MISSOURI, 



WRITTEN AND COMPILED 



FROM THE MOST AUTPIENTIC OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE SOURCES, 



INCLUDING A HISTORY OF THEIR 



TOWNSHIPS, TOWNS AND VILLAGES 



TOGETHER WITH 



^ ^^^f™^"" HISTORY OF MISSOURI; A RELIABLE AND DETAILED HISTORY OF 

MONROE AND SHELBY COUNTIES-THEIR PIONEER RECORD, RESOURCES 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS ; GENERAL 

AND LOCAL STATISTICS OF GREAT VALUE; 

INCIDENTS AND REMINISCENCES. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



ST. LOUIS: 
NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMPANY. 

1884. 



v\\ 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1884, by 

O. P. WILLIAMS & CO., 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 






^ 



St. Louis Mo.: 
Pregs of Nixon- Jones Printing Co. 



St. Louis, Mo '^ 

Becktold cj- Co., Book-binder*. 



\5 



PREFACE. 



The compiler of a county history has a task which may seem to be- 
comparatively easy, and the facts which come within the legitimate 
scope of the work may appear commonplace, when compared with 
National events ; the narration of the peaceful events attending the 
conquests of industry, as — 

" Westward the course of empire takes its way," 

may seem tame when compared with accounts of battles and sieges. 

Nevertheless, the faithful gathering, and the truthful narration of 
facts, bearing upon the early settlement of the country and the dan- 
gers, hardships and privations, encountered by the early pioneers 
engaged in advancing the standard of civilization, is a work of no 
small magnitude, and the facts thus narrated are such as may chal- 
lenge the admiration and arouse the sympathy of the reader, albeit, 
they have nothing to do with the feats of arms. The History of 
Monroe and Shelby counties has been written, in many respects,, 
under trying circumstances. There has been no lack of material, but 
the work of collecting and compiling the same into one homogeneous 
record has been attended with many obstacles and perplexities, and 
in presenting this history to the citizens of these counties, we do so 
with the full knowledge that errors will be found within its pages. 
If this were not so it would be different from any work yet completed 
by human hands, absolute perfection never having been attained 
either in the historical or any other field of earthly labor. The facts 
and incidents herein treated have been gleaned from the memories of 
old settlers, from the files of old newspapers, from the records of 
early courts, and from a host of public and private citizens, and from 
all other sources whence there could be derived any thing that would 
assist in the preparation of this history, 
(iii) 



IV 



PREFACE. 



The publishers are especially indebted to the officials of these coun- 
ties for their kindness and courtesies, and to the Press, and the people 
generally, they extend their thanks for the many courtesies shown 
them and their representatives while sojourning in their midst, assur- 
ing them that without their friendly aid and good will this history 
would have remained beneath the debris of time, unwritten and 
unpreserved. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 




CONTENTS. 



HISTOKY OF MISSOUEI. 



CHAPTER I. 

LOUISIANA PURCHASE 
Brief Historical Sketch 1-7 

CHAPTER II. 

DESCRIPTIVE AND GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Name — Extent — Surface — Rivers — Timber — Climate — Prairies — Soils — Popula- 
tion by Counties 7-13 

CHAPTER III. 

GEOLOGY OF MISSOURI. ' 

Classification of Rocks — Quatenary Formation — Tertiary — Cretacious — Carbonifer- 
ous — Devonian — Silurian — Azoic — Economic Geology — Coal — Iron — Lead — 
Copper — Zinc — Building Stone — Marble — Gypsum — Lime — Clays — Paints — 
Springs — Water Povper 13-21 

CHAPTER IV. 

TITLE AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

Title to Missouri Lands — Right of Discovery — Title of France and Spain — Cession 
to the United States — Territorial Changes — Treaties vrith Indians — First Settle- 
ment — Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon — St. Louis — When Incorporated — 
Potosi — St. Charles — Portage des Sioux — New Madrid — St. Francois County — 
Perry — Mississippi — Loutre Island — " Boone's Lick " — Cote Sans Dessein — 
Howard County — Some First Things — Counties — When Organized . 21-27 

CHAPTER V. 

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION. 

Organization 1812 — Council — House of Representatives — William Clark First Terri- 
torial Governor — Edward Hempstead First Delegate — Spanish Grants — First 
General Assembly — Proceedings — Second Assembly — Proceedings — Population 
of Territory — Vote of Territory — Riifus Easton — Absent Members — Third 
Assembly — Proceedings — Application for Admission . . . 27-31 

(V) 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Application of Missouri to be Admitted into the Union — Agitation of the Slavery 
Question — " Missouri Compromise " — Constitutional Convention of 1820 — Con- 
stitution Presented to Congress — Further resistance to Admission — Mr. Clay and 
his Committee make Report — Second Compromise — Missouri Admitted 31-37 

CHAPTER VII. 

MISSOURI AS A STATE. 

First Election for Governor and other State Officers — Senators and Representatives to 
General Assembly — Sheriffs and Coroners — U. S. Senators — Representatives in 
Congress — Supreme Court Judges — Counties Organized — Capital Moved to St. 
Charles — Official Record of Territorial and State Officers . . 37-43 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI. 

Fort Sumpter Fired Upon — Call for 75,000 Men — Gov. Jackson Refuses to Furnish a 
Man — U. S. Arsenal at Liberty, Mo., seized — Proclamation of Gov. Jackson — 
General Order No. 7 — Legislature Convenes — Camp Jackson Organized — Sterling 
Price Appointed Major-General — Frost's Letter to Lyon — Lyon's Letter to Frost — 
Surrender of Camp Jackson — Proclamation of Gen. Harney — Conference between 
Price and Harney — Harney Superseded by Lyon — Second Conference — Gov. 
Jackson Burns the Bridges behind Him — Proclamation of Gov. Jackson — Gen. 
Blair Takes Possession of Jefferson City — Proclamation of Lyon — Lyon at 
Springfield — State Offices Declared Vacant — Gen. Fremont Assumes Command — 
Proclamation of Lieut. -Gov. Reynolds —-Proclamation of Jeff. Thompson and Gov, 
Jackson — Death of Gen. Lyon — Succeeded by Sturgis — Proclamation of McCul- 
loch antl Gamble — Martial Law Declared — Second Proclamation of Jeff. Thomp- 
son — President Modifies Fremont's Order — Fremont Relieved by Hunter — Proc- 
lamation of Price — Hunter's Order of Assessment — Hunter Declares Martial 
Law — Order Relating to Newspapers — Halleck Succeeds Hunter — Halleck's 
Order No. 18 — Similar Order by Halleck — Boone County Standard Confiscated — 
Execution of Prisoners at Macon and Palmyra — Gen. Ewing's Order No. 11 — 
Gen. Rosecrans Takes Command — Massacre at Centralia — Death of Bill Ander- 
son — Gen. Dodge Succeeds Gen. Rosecrans — List of Battles . . 43-53 

CHAPTER IX. 

EARLY MILITARY RECORD. 
Black Hawk War — Mormon Difficulties — Florida War — Mexican War . 53-59 

CHAPTER X. 

AGRICULTURE AND MATERIAL WEALTH. 

Missouri jas an Agricultural State — The Different Crops — Live Stock — Horses — 
Mules — Milch Cows — Oxen and Other Cattle — Sheep — Hogs — Comparisons — 
Missouri Adapted to Live Stock — Cotton — Broom Corn and Other Products — 
Fruits — Berries — Grapes — Railroads — First Neigh of the " Iron Horse " in Mis- 
souri — Names of Railroads — Manufactures — Great Bridge at St. Louis . 59-65 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER XI. 

EDUCATION. 

Public School System — Public School System of Missouri — Lincoln Institute — Offi- 
cers of Public School System— Certificates of Teachers — University of Missouri— 
Schools — Colleges — Institutions of Learning — Location — Libraries — News- 
papers and Periodicals— No. of Sfchool Children — Amount Expended — Value of 
Grounds and Buildings — " The Press " 65-73 

CHAPTER XH. 

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 

Baptist Church — Its History — Congregational — When Founded — Its History — 
Christian Church — Its History — C umberland Presbyterian Church — Its History — 
Methodist Episcopal Church — Its History — Presbyterian Church — Its History — 
Protestant Episcopal Church — Its History — United Presbyterian Church — Its 
History — Unitarian Church — Its History — Roman Catholic Church — Its 
History 73-79 

CHAPTER Xin. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN. 

Nomination and Election of Thomas T. Crittenden — Personal Mention — Marmaduke's 
Candidacy — Stirring Events — Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Death of Jesse 
James — The Fords — Pardon of the Gamblers 79-85 



HisTOEY OF mo:n^koe coukty, missouki. 



CHAPTER I. 



Introductory — What Time has Done — Importance of Early Beginnings — First Settle- 
ments made in the Timber —Parts of the County first Settled— Names of Pioneers— 
Pestal and Mill Facilities — County Organized and Named — The Name 87-98 

CHAPTER II. 

PIONEER LIFE. 

The Pioneers' Peculiarities — Conveniences and Inconveniences — The Historical Log 
Cabin — Agricultural Implements — Household Furniture — Pioneer Corn-bread — 
Hand Mills and Hominy Blocks— Going to Mill — Trading Points — Hunting — Bee 
i;Trees — Shooting Matches and Qulltings 98-110 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Early Eecords and Public Buildings — First County Court — Its Proceedings — First 
Circuit Court — First, Second and Ttiird Grand Juries — First Deed Recorded — 
Early Marriages" — Public Buildings — First Court House and Jail — Second Court 
House and Jail ' 110-121 

CHAPTER IV. 

TOWNSHIP SYSTEM AND GOVERNMENT SURVEYS. 

County and Township Systems — Government Surveys — Organization of Town- 
ships — Physical Features - . . . . 121-129 

CHAPTER V. 

JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 

Physical Features — Old Settlers — William Goodlovv — A Sad Incident — Caldwell 
Opens a Store — Paris — When Laid Out — Names of Commissioners — Florida a 
Candidate — Paris named by Mrs. J. C. Fox — Donations for County Seat — Sale 
of Town Lots — Names of Some of the Purchasers — Parties Associated in Laying 
Out the Town — Spotted Fawn — Pioneer Business Men — Old Race Track — Secret 
Orders — Banks and Bankers — Woolen Mills and Carding Machines — Flouring 
Mills — Paris Baud — Dedicatory Services of the New Christian Church — Public 
Schools of Paris — Business Directory 129-151 

CHAPTER VI. 

JEFFERSON AND INDIAN CREEK TOWNSHIPS. 

Jefferson and Indian Creek Townships — Physical Features — Old Settlers — Flo- 
rida — Its History — Mills — Mark Twain — Early Business Men — Professional 
Men — Sketch of Mark Twain — The Town Incorporated — Secret Orders — ■ 
Picnics — Stoutsville — Its History — Business Houses — Pottery Manufactory — 
Shipments — Indian Creek Township — Physical Features — Elizabethtown — 
Clapper Station 151-160 

CHAPTER VII. 

MONROE TOWNSHIP. 

Physical Features — Railroads — More Northern People in This Township Than in Any 
Other — Large Farmers — Old Settlers — Monroe City — Its History — Advance- 
ment — Surrounding Country — Pioneer Business and Business Men — Manufac- 
turing Establishments — Monroe Institute — Its History — Names of Stockhold- 
ers — Success of the Institute — Teachers and Officers — Public Schools — Secret 
Societies — Monroe City Bank — Churches — Laying of Corner Stone of New Bap- 
tist Church — Catholic Church — Hereford Association — Shipments. . 160-173 

CHAPTER VIII. 

MARION AND UNION TOWNSHIPS. 
Marion Township — Physical Features — Old Settlers — Madison — Secret Orders — 
HoUiday — Union Township — Old Settlers — Primitive Justice — Middle Grove — 
Secret Orders 173-180 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER IX. 

SOUTH FORK TOWNSHIP. 

Its Physical Features — Farmers — Cemetery — Pioneers — Santr Fe — Its History — 
Secret Orders — Strother — Strother Institute — Its History — Extracts From 
Catalogue — Long Branch Post-office 180-185 

CHAPTER X. 

WASHINGTON, CLAY AND WOODLAWN TOWNSHIPS. 

Washington Township — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Clinton — Jonesburg — 
Churches — Farmers — Clay Township — Physical Features — Farmers — Old Set- 
tlers — Granville — Woodlawn Township — Physical Features — Early Settlers — 
Woodlawn — Duncan's Bridge 185-188 

CHAPTER XI. 

Political History and Official Record 188-197 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Press and Public Schools 197-205 

CHAPTER XIII. 

BENCH AND BAR — CRIMES AND ACCIDENTS. 

Introductory Remarks — Priestly H. McBride — David Todd — Austin A. King — Ezra 
Hunt — A. B. Chambers — Albert G. Harrison — John Anderson — James R. Aber- 
nathy — Present Members of the Bar — Crimes and Accidents — Miss Jennie Searcy 
Killed by a Train of Cars — W.T.Johnson — JepthaHeathman — George Stayton — 
Robert Cummings — "William Rouse — W. O. Creasou .... 205-222 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Mexican War — Call for Volunteers — Monroe County Men — California Emigrants — 
The Scenes in '49 and '50 — Emigrants from Monroe County — Incideilt — Death 
of Emigrants — The Civil War of 18G1 — Number of Men Entering Southern Army 
from the County — The Battle at Monroe City — Capture of Paris — Grant's Expe- 
dition v. Harris — 3ferci(r?/ Suspended — Skirmish Near Elliott's Mills — Florida 
Fight —Bott's Bluff Fight —Lieutenant killed by One of His Men . 222-240 

CHAPTER XV. 

RAILROADS. 
Missouri, Kansas and Texas and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroads . 240-266 

CHAPTER XVI. 

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 

Old Landmarks — Maj, William N. Penn — Fielding Combs — James C. Fox — Major 
James M. Bean — Death Rates — Births — Hurricane — Agricultural Societies — 
Monroe County Immigration Society — Monroe City Immigration Society — Patrons 
of Husbandry — Census of Monroe County in 1848 — 18G0 — Population by Town- 
ships in 1880 — Beef Cattle — Bridges, Their Location and Cost . . 260-278 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Ecclesiastical History 278-292 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Monroe County inl 884 292-307 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Monroe Township 307-359 

South Fork Township 359-396 

Union Township 396-408 

Indian Creek Township 408-419 

Washington Township 419-431 

Marion Township 431-439 

Clay Township 439-457 

Woodlawn Township 457-474 

Jefferson Township 474-504 

Jackson Township 504-019 

ADDENDA 620-623 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, MISSOURI. 



CHAPTER I. 

PIONEER SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS AND EARLY HISTORY. 

The First Cabins, Norton's Hog-Keeper's, Maj. Dickerson's, and Others — The Set- 
tlers of 1833 — Surveying — Cholera — First Death in the County — First Store and 
Post-office — First Election — Sketch of Maj. Dickerson — Miscellaneous Historic 
Incidents up to 1839 — The Indians — Game and Wild Animals — Early Marriages — 
Pioneer Preaching and Preachers — Pioneer Life Generally . . . 625-641 

CHAPTER 11. 

EARLY OFFICIAL HISTORY. 

When Shelby Belonged to Marion County — First Division of the Territory into 
Townships by the Marion County Court — Organization of the County — The 
Organizing Act — First Sessions of the County Court — The First Roads — Mis- 
cellaneous Proceedings — First Circuit Courts — First Grand Jury and First 
Indictments — A Fight Between Lawyers — Miscellaneous Items — The First 
Elections 641-651 



CONTENTS. Xi 

CHAPTEE III. 

HISTOKY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1835 TO 1840. 

The Settlers of 1835 — When the County was Organized — Naming the Streams — 
Fatal Accidents — Got Lost— "New York" — The "Pottawatomie War" — 
Building the Court House — Pioneer Mills —The "Bee Trails " — List of the Set- 
tlers in 1837 — The Mormon War — The "Iowa War"— The First Bridge— The 
First Homicide, Killing of John Bishop by John L. Faber . . . 651-666 

CHAPTEE IV. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1840 TO 1850. 

Miscellaneous Matters — Killing of Daniel Thomas by Philip Upton — The Sixteenth 
Sections— Stock Raising and Shipping — Crops — Hard Times — The First Jail 
and Its Inmates — During the Mexican War- The Gold Fever and the Argonauts 
of 1849 — Elections 666-680 

CHAPTEE V. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1850 TO 1861. 

Miscellaneous — The Election of 1852 — The Political Campaign of 1856 — Know 
Nothings — Election of 1858 — Slavery Days — The Presidential Campaign of 1860 — 
After the Presidential Election — The War Cloud on the Horizon . 680-695 

CHAPTEE VI. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY DURING 1861. 

The Legislature of 1861 — Election of Delegates to the State Convention —The work of 
the Convention — The Winter of 1861 —After Fort Sumpter— Public Meetings — 
The First Federal Troops — First Union Military Company — Burning of the Salt 
River Bridge —The Campaign against Mart Green — The Fight at Shelbina — Fre- 
mont's "Annihilation" of Green's Rebels — Miscellaneous Military Matters — 
Capt. Foreman's Company Visits Shelbyville— Arrest of Hon. John McAfee — Tom. 
Stacy's Company — Gen. Grant's First Military Services in the Civil War are Per- 
formed in Shelby County — Bushwhacking — Missouri Secession — The Gamble 
Government and Its Oath — Turning Out the " Disloyal " Officers . . 695-725 

CHAPTEE VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY DURING 1862. 

Organization of the Missouri State Militia — Go's. A and H, of the 11th M. S. M — 
Bushwhacking in the Spring of 1862 — The Murderous Affair at Walkersville — Two 
Soldiers and One Citizen Killed — Pursuit of the Bushwhackers, and Killing of Two 
of Their Number — Execution of Rowland Harvey — Glover's Campaign in the 
Spring — Miscellaneous — Execution of Frank Drake and Ed. Riggs — Capture of 
Capt. Tom Sidener — Burning" Rebel Houses " — The November Election. 

725-741 



XI 1 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

COL. JOE PORTER'S RAID. 

Who Joe Porter was — His First Appearance in North-east Missouri in the Summer of 
1862 — Passes through the Country into Schuyler and is defeated at Cherry Grove — 
Retreats South — Raids Newark and Monticello — Is Pursued by the Federals 
under John McNeil — The Fight at Pierce's Mill — Death of Tom Stacy — Porter Re- 
treats to the South, Crosses the Railroad and goes into Monroe County — The 
Fights at Bott's Bluff and at Moore's Mill — Back to North-east Missouri — Effect 
of the Enrolling Order — Recruits, 2,000 Men — The Fight at Newark and Capture 
of 75 Prisoners under Gapt. Lair — McNeil and Benjamin pursue —Total Defeat of 
Porter at Kirksville — He Retreats and Fights his Way to the Log Cabin Bridge, in 
Shelby County, where he Disbands— McNeil shoots IG Prisoners — Porter in Mon- 
roe with Another Force — Back into Marion County — Captures Palmyra — McNeil 
Pursues — The Rout of Whaley's Mill — Porter Disbands Finally at Bragg's 
School House — Two Shelby County Men Executed, etc., etc. . . 741-767 

CHAPTER IX. 

DURING 1863 AND 1864. 

The Military Occupation of 1863 — 1864 — Miscellaneous — Bill Anderson's Raid — 
Capture and Plunder of Shelbina — Burning of the Salt River Bridge — The Cen- 
tralia Massacre — A Shelby County Company Almost Annihilated — Names of the 
Slaughtered — The Presidential Election 767-778 

CHAPTER X. 

LEADING INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY, FROM 1865 

TO 1884. 

The War Over — Adoption of the Drake Constitution — The *' Ousting Ordinance " — 
Indicting the "Rebel" Preachers — Registration of "Voters — Miscellaneous — 
Robbery of the County Treasury — The Political Campaign of 1870 — Universal 
Amnesty and Impartial Suffrage — The Floods of 1876 — The Benjamin Will Case — 
The Robber Johnson — Murders and Homicides 778-799 



CHAPTER XI. 

LEADING INSTITUTIONS OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Sketch of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Fair Associations — "The Agri- 
cultural Society of Shelby County" — The, Shelby County Agricultural and 
Mechanical Association — The Shelbina Fair Association — Newspapers — The 
" Shelby ville Spectator " — The "Shelby County Weekly " — The " Shelbina Ga- 
zette"— The "Shelby County Herald" — The "Shelbina Democrat " — The 
"Clarence Tribune" — The " Clarence Courier " — The "Shelbina Index" — The 
" Shelby County Times " 799-816 



CONTENTS. Xiii 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE CHURCHES OF SHELBY COUNTY. 
Baptist Churches: Mount Zioa Church— Shiloh Church — North River Church — Prai- 
rie Cluirch-Oak Ridge Church -Looney's Creek Old School Baptist Church 
M. E. Church South: Shelby ville Church — Shelbina Church — Bacon Chapel — 
Clarence Church — Bethany Church. Methodist Episcopal Church: Berean 
Church, Shelbyville — Clarence Church -Evans Chapel. Presbyterians: Presby- 
terian Church of ShelbyviUe- Pleasant Prairie Church -Clarence Presbyterian 
Church -Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Christian Churches: Shelbyville 
Church -Antioch Church -Concord Church. Catholic Churches: St. Patrick's 
Roman Catholic Church at Clarence 816-896 

CHAPTER XIII. 

CIVIC ORDERS AND TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATIONS. 

Masonic Lodges: St. Andrew's Lodge, Shelbyville -Shelbina Lodge -Hunnewell 
Lodge - Shelbina Royal Arch Chapter. Odd Felloios: Shelby Lodge - Hunnewell 
Lodge. United Workmen: Shelbina Lodge — Select Knights — Charity Lod-^e — 
Clarence Lodge- Hunnewell Lodge. Grand Army of the Republic: Shelby^ville 
Post -"Paddy" Shields' Post. Order of Chosen Friends: Progress Council- 
Echo Council . Temperance Organizations : The Old Shelbyville Temperance Soci- 
ety—Sons of Temperance — Brief Mention of Temperance Work in the Countv — 
The Good Templars 826-835 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CITIES AND TOWNS OF SHELBY COUNTY. 
Shelbyville: Early History — The Commissioner's Report— "The Firsts "-Dio-crincr 
for Water - General History - Burglar Shot - Schools - Incorporations Ihel- 
btna : Early History - The War - War Prices - Peace - Official History. Clarence ■ 
Early History-" The Firsts " - War Times - Murder of Mr. Switzer-- Fires - 
Homicides - Incorporations. Hunneioell ; Early History - Durin- the War - 
Tragedies - Since the War - School Interests - Incorporations. Bethel : General 
History . . --"ciai 
835-870 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS OF SHELBY COUNTY. 
Township Boundaries - Jackson Township - Salt River - Jefferson - Clav - Tavlor 
-Bethel-Black Creek- Tiger Fork - Historical Sketches, Description, Etc 

870-890 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Black Creek Township ... 

Salt River Township . 891-958 

Clay Township ^^^-^^^^ 

Bethel Township . ^^^""^^^^ 

Tiger Fork Township .' : .•.■.•; \\''r\\'' 

Jackson Township 111^11^^ 

Taylor Township ^"110 

Jefferson Township . . ]]:']] 

Ilo0-117o 

ADDENDUM 

1175-1176 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



CHAPTER I. 
LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

The purchase in 1803 of the vast territory west of the Mississippi 
River, by the United States, extending through Oregon to the Pacific 
coast and south to the Dominions of Mexico, constitutes the most im- 
portant event that ever occurred in the history of the nation. 

It gave to our Republic additional room for that expansion and 
stupendous growth, to which it has since attained, in all that makes it 
strong and enduring, and forms the seat of an empire, from which 
will radiate an influence for good unequaled in the annals of time. In 
1763, the immense region of country, known at that time as Louisiana, 
was ceded to Spain by France. By a secret article, in the treaty of 
St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, Spain ceded it back to France. 
Napoleon, at that time, coveted the island of St. Domingo, not only 
because of the value of its products, but more especially because its 
location in the Gulf of Mexico would, in a military point of view, 
afford him a fine field whence he could the more eflfectively guard his 
newly-acquired possessions. Hence he desired this cession by Spain 
should be kept a profound secret until he succeeded in reducing St. 
Domingo to submission. In this undertaking, however, his hopes 
were blasted, and so great was his disappointment that he apparently 
became indifferent to the advantages to be secured to France from his 
purchase of Louisiana. 

In 1803 he sent out Laussat as prefect of the colony, who gave the 

(1) 



2 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. » 

people of Louisiana the first intimation they had that they had once 
more become the subjects of France. This was the occasion of great 
rejoicing among the inhabitants, who were Frenchmen in their origin, 
habits, manners, and customs. 

Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, on being in- 
formed of the retrocession, immediately dispatched instructions to 
Robert Livingston, the American Minister at Paris, to make known 
to Napoleon that the occupancy of New Orleans, by his government, 
would not only endanger the friendly relations existing between the 
two nations, but, perhaps, oblige the United States to make common 
cause with England, his bitterest and most dreaded enemy ; as the 
possession of the city by France would give her command of the 
Mississippi, which was the only outlet for the produce of the "West- 
ern States, and give her also control oi the Gulf of Mexico, so neces- 
sary to the protection of American commerce. Mr. Jefferson was so 
fully impressed with the idea that the occupancy of New Orleans, by 
France, would bring about a conflict of interests between the two 
nations, which would finally culminate in an open rupture, that he 
urged Mr. Livingston, to not only insist upon the free navigation of 
the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the purchase of the city and the 
surrounding country. 

The question of this negotiation was of so grave a character to the 
United States that the President appointed Mr. Monroe, with full 
power to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston. Ever equal to all 
emergencies, and prompt in the cabinet, as well as in the field. Na- 
poleon came to the conclusion that, as he could not well defend his 
occupancy of New Orleans, he would dispose of it, on the best terms 
possible. Before, however, taking final action in the matter, he sum- 
moned two of his Ministers, and addressed them follows : — 

" I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish 
to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 
1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it ; 
but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those 
who force me to part with it, than to those to whom I shall 
yield it. The English have despoiled France of all her northern pos- 
sessions in America, and now they covet those of the South. I am 
determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although 
Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other 
parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have mani- 
fested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 3 

their first object will be to gain possession of it. They will proba- 
bly commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in 
the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily gettincr 
worse since the death of LeClerc. The conquest of Louisiana might 
be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in getting out of 
their reach. I am not sure but that they have already begun an at- 
tack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their 
habits ; and in their place I should not wait. I am inclined, in order 
to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the 
United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not 
yet possess it ; and if I wait but a short time my enemies may leave 
me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to con- 
ciliate. I consider the whole colony as lost, and I believe that in the 
hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political and 
even commercial interests of France than if I should attempt to retain 
it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject." 

One of his Ministers approved of the contemplated cession, but 
the other opposed it. The matter was long and earnestly discussed 
by them, before the conference was ended. The next day, Napoleon 
sent for the Minister who had agreed with him, and said to him ; — 

•'The season for deliberation is over. I have determined to re- 
nounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the 
whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louis- 
iana, I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with 
Spain was to recover it. But though I regret parting with it, I am 
convinced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commis- 
sion you, therefore, to negotiate this afiair with the envoys of the 
United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this 
very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember, however, that 
I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to com- 
mence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain 
have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for 
which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been 
advanced to difierent companies, which have never been returned to 
the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. 
Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory 
to the United States, they would be unbounded ; but, being obliged to 
part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I 
must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. 



4 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine 
country." 

That day the negotiations commenced. Mr. Monroe reached Paris 
on the 12th of April, 1803, and the two representatives of the United 
States, after holding a private interview, announced that they were 
ready to treat for the entire territory. On the 30th of April, the 
treaty was signed, and on the 21st of October, of the same year. Con- 
gress ratified the treaty. The United States were to pay $11,250,000, 
and her citizens were to be compensated for some illegal captures, 
to the amount of $3,750,000, making in the aggregate the sum of 
$15,000,000, while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of 
France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports ot Louisiana 
free of duty for twelve years. Bonaparte stipulated in favor of 
Louisiana, that it should be, as soon as possible, incorporated into 
the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, 
privileges and immunities as other citizens of the United States, and 
the clause giving to them these benefits was drawn up by Bonaparte, 
who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words : — 

'* Make it known to the people of Louisiana, that we regret to part 
with them ; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could 
desire ; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the 
greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any Euro- 
pean government as they will when they become independent. But 
while they enjoy the privileges of liberty let t*hem remember that they 
are French, and preserve for their mother country that affection which 
a common origin inspires." 

Complete satisfaction was given to both parties in the terms of the 
treaty. Mr. Livingston said : — 

" I consider that from this day the United States takes rank with 
the first powers of Europe, and now she has entirely escaped from the 
power of England," and Bonaparte expressed a similar sentiment when 
he said : " By this cession of territory I have secured the power of the 
United States, and given to England a maritime rival, who, at some 
future time, will humble her pride." 

These were prophetic words, for within a few years afterward the 
British met with a signal defeat, on the plains of the very territory of 
which the great Corsican had been speaking. 

From 1800, the date of the cession made by Spain, to 1803, when 
it was purchased by the United States, no change had been made by 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. ^ 

the French authorities in the jurisprudence of the Upper and Lower 
Loiiisiaua, and during this period the Spanish laws remained in full 
force, as the laws of the entire province ; a fact which is of interest to 
those who would understand the legal history and some of the present 
laws of Missouri. 

On December 20th, 1803, Gens. Wilkinson and Claiborne, who 
were jointly commissioned to take possession of the territory for the 
United States, arrived in the city of New Orleans at the head of the 
American forces. Laussat, who had taken possession but twenty days 
previously as the prefect of the colony, gave up his command, and the 
star-spangled banner supplanted the tri-colored flag of France. The 
agent of France, to take possession of Upper Louisiana from the 
Spanish authorities, was Amos Stoddard, captain of artillery in the 
United States service. He was placed in possession of St. Louis on 
the 9th of March, 1804, by Charles Dehault Delassus, the Spanish 
commandant, and on the following day he transferred it to the United 
States. The authority of the United States in Missouri dates from 
this day. 

From that moment the interests of the people of the Mississippi 
Valley became identified. They were troubled no more with uncer- 
tainties in regard to free navigation. The great river, along whose 
banks they had planted their towns and villages, now afforded them 
a safe and easy outlet to the markets of the world. Under the pro- 
tecting segis of a government, republican in form, and having free 
access to an almost boundless domain, embracing in its broad area the 
diversified climates of the globe, and possessing a soil unsurpassed for 
fertility, beauty of scenery and wealth of minerals, they had every 
incentive to push on their enterprises and build up the land wherein 
their lot had been cast. 

In the purchase of Louisiana, it was known that a great empire had 
been secured as a heritage to the people of our country, for all time to 
come, but its grandeur, its possibilities, its inexhaustible resources 
and the important relations it would sustain to the nation and the 
world were never dreamed of by even Mr. Jefferson and his adroit and 
accomplished diplomatists. 

The most ardent imagination never conceived of the progress which 
would mark the history of the «♦ Great West." The adventurous 
pioneer, who fifty years ago pitched his tent upon its broad prairies, 
or threaded the dark labyrinths of its lonely forests, little thought .that 
a mighty tide of physical aud intellectual strength, would so rapidly 



O HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

How on in his footsteps, to populate, build up and enrich the domain 
which he had conquered. 

Year after year, civilization has advanced further and further, until 
at length the mountains, the hills and the valleys, and even the rocks 
and the caverns, resound with the noise and din of busy millions. 

<« I beheld the westward marches 
Of the unknown crowded nations. 
All the land was full of people, 
Restless, struggling, toiling, striving. 
Speaking many tongues, yet feeling 
But one heart-beat in their bosoms. 
In the woodlands rang their axes ; 
Smoked their towns in all the valleys; 
Over all the lakes and rivers 
Rushed their great canoes of thunder." 

In 1804, Congress, by an act passed in April of the same year, 
divided Louisiana into two parts, the '* Territory of Orleans," and 
the " District of Louisiana," known as "Upper Louisiana." This 
district included all that portion of the old province, north of *« Hope 
Encampment," on the Lower Mississippi, and embraced the present 
State of Missouri, and all the western region of country to the Pacific 
Ocean, and all below the forty-ninth degree of north latitude not 
claimed by Spain. 

As a matter of convenience, on March 26th, 1804, Missouri was 
placed within the jurisdiction of the government of the Territory of 
Indiana, and its government put in motion by Gen. William H. Har- 
rison, then governor of Indiana. In this he was assisted by Judges 
Griffin, Vanderburg and Davis, who established in St. Louis what were 
called Courts of Common Pleas. The District of Louisiana was regu- 
larly organized into the Territory of Louisiana by Congress, March 3, 
1805, and President Jefferson appointed Gen. James Wilkinson, Gov- 
ernor, and Frederick Bates, Secretary. The Legislature of the ter- 
ritory was formed by Governor Wilkinson and Judges R. J. Meigs 
and John B. C. Lucas. In 1807, Governor Wilkinson was succeeded 
by Captain Meriwether Lewis, who had become' famous by reason of 
his having made the expedition up the Missouri with Clark. Governor 
Lewis committed suicide in 1809 and President Madison appointed 
Gen. Benjamin Howard of Lexington, Kentucky, to fill his place. 
Gen. Howard resigned October 25, 1810, to enter the war of 1812, 
and died in St. Louis, in 1814. Captain William Clark, of Lewis and 
Clark's expedition, was appointed Governor in 1810, to succeed Gen. 



HISTORY OF MISSOUJKI. 7 

Howard, and remained in office until the admission of the State into 
the Union, in 1821. 

The portions of Missouri which were settled, for the purposes of 
local government were divided into four districts. Cape Girardeau 
was the first, and embraced the territory between Tywappity Bottom 
and Apple Creek. Ste. Genevieve, the second, embraced the terri- 
tory from Apple Creek to the Meramec River. St. Louis, the third, 
embraced the territory between the Meramec and Missouri Rivers. 
St. Charles, the fourth, included the settled territory, between the 
Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The total population of these dis- 
tricts at that time, was 8,670, including slaves. The population of 
the district of Louisiana, when ceded to the United States was 10,120. 



CHAPTER n. 

DESCRIPTIVE AND GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Name — Extent — Surface — Rivers — Timber — Climate — Prairies — Soils — Popula- 
tion by Counties. 

NAIVIE. 

The name Missouri is derived from the Indian tongue and signifies 
muddy. 

EXTENT. 

Missouri is bounded on the north by Iowa (from which it is sep- 
arated for about thirty miles on the northeast, by the Des Moines 
River), and on the east by the Mississippi River, which divides it from 
Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, and on the west by the Indian Ter- 
ritory, and the States of Kansas and Nebraska. The State lies (with 
the exception of a small projection between the St. Francis and the 
Mississippi Rivers, which extends to 36°), between 36° 30' and 40° 36' 
north latitude, and between 12° 2' and 18° 51' west longitude from 
Washington. 

The extreme width of the State east and west, is about 348 miles ; 
its width on its northern boundary, measured from its northeast cor- 
ner along the Iowa line, to its intersection with the Des Moines 



8 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

River, is about 210 miles ; its width on its southern boundary is about 
288 miles. Its average width is about 235 miles. 

The leno-th of the State north and south, not including the narrow strip 
between the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers, is about 282 miles. It 
is about 450 miles from its extreme northwest corner to its southeast 
corner, and from the northeast corner to the southwest corner, it is 
about 230 miles. These limits embrace an area of 65,350 square 
miles, or 41,824,000 acres, being nearly as large as England, and the 
States of Vermont and New Hampshire. 

SURFACE. 

North of the Missouri, the State is level or undulating, while the 
portion south of that river (the larger portion of the State) exhibits a 
greater variety of surface. In the southeastern part is an extensive 
marsh, reaching beyond the State into Arkansas. The remainder of 
this portion between the Mississippi and Osage Rivers is rolling, and 
gradually rising into a hilly and mountainous district, forming the out- 
skirts of the Ozark Mountains. 

Beyond the Osage River, at some distance, commences a vast ex- 
panse of prairie land which stretches away towards the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The rido-es forming the Ozark chain extend in a northeast and 
southwest direction, separating the waters that flow northeast into the 
Missouri from those that flow southeast into the Mississippi River. 

RIVERS. 

No State in the Union enjoys better facilities for navigation than 
Missouri. By means of the Mississippi River, which stretches along 
her entire eastern boundary, she can hold commercial intercourse with 
the most northern territory and State in the Union ; with the whole 
valley of the Ohio ; with many of the Atlantic States, and with the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

"Ay, gather Europe's royal rivers all — 
The snow-swelled Neva, with an Empire's weight 
On her broad breast, she yet may overwhelm; 
Dark Danube, hurrying, as by foe pursued, 
Through shaggy forests and by palace walls, 
To hide its terror in a sea of gloom; 
The castled Rhine, whose vine-crowned waters flow, 
The fount of fable and the source of song ; 
The rushing Rhone, in whose cerulean depths 
The loving sky seems wedded with the wave ; 
The yellow Tiber, chok'd with Roman spoils. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. » 

A dying miser shrinking 'neath his goli; 

The Seine, where fashion glasses the fairest forms; 

The Thames that bears the riches of the world ; 

Gather their waters in one ocean mass, 

Our Mississippi rolling proudly on. 

Would sweep them from its path, or swallow up, 

Like Aaron's rod, these streams of fame and song." 

By the Missouri River she can extend her commerce to the Rocky 
Mountains, and receive in return the products which will come in the 
course of time, by its multitude of tributaries. 

The Missouri River coasts the northwest line of the State for about 
250 miles, following its windings, and then flows through the State, a 
little south of east, to its junction with the Mississippi. The Mis- 
souri River receives a number of tributaries within the limits of the 
State, the principal of which are the Nodaway, Platte, Grand and 
Chariton from the north, and the Blue, Sniabar, Lainine, Osage and 
Gasconade from the south. The principal tributaries of the Missis- 
sippi within the State, are the Salt River, north, and the Meramec 
River south of the Missouri. 

The St. Francis and White Rivers, with their branches, drain 
the southeastern part of the State, and pass into Arkansas. The 
Osage is navigable for steamboats for more than 175 miles. There 
are a vast number of smaller streams, such as creeks, branches and 
rivers, which water the State in all directions. 

Timber. Not more towering in their sublimity were the cedars of 

ancient Lebanon, nor more precious in their utility were the almug- 
trees of Ophir, than the native forests of Missouri. The river bottoms 
are covered with a luxuriant growth of oak, ash, elm, hickory, cotton- 
wood, linn, white and black walnut, and in fact, all the varieties found 
in the Atlantic and Eastern States. In the more barren districts may 
be seen the white and pin oak, and in many places a dense growth of 
pine. The crab apple, papaw and persimmon are abundant, as also 
the hazel and pecan. 

Climate. — The climate of Missouri is, in general, pleasant and 
salubrious. Like that of North America, it is changeable, and sub- 
ject to sudden and sometimes extreme changes of heat and cold ; but 
it is decidedly milder, taking the whole year through, than that of the 
same latitudes east of the mountains. While the summers are not 
more oppressive than they are in the corresponding latitudes on and 
near the Atlantic coast, the winters are shorter, and very much milder, 



10 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

except during the month of February, which has many days of pleas- 
ant sunshine. 

Prairies. — Missouri is a prairie State, especially that portion of it 
north and northwest of the Missouri River. These prairies, along the 
water courses, abound with the thickest and most luxurious belts of 
timber, while the *' rolling" prairies occupy the higher portions of 
the country, the descent generally to the forests or bottom lands being 
over only declivities. Many of these prairies, however, exhibit a grace- 
Cully waving surface, swelling and sinking with an easy slope, and a 
full, rounded outline, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal sur- 
face and the interruption of abrupt or angular elevations. 

These prairies often embrace extensive tracts of land, and in one or 
two instances they cover an area of fifty thousand acres. During the 
spring and summer they are carpeted with a velvet of green, and 
gaily bedecked with flowers of various forms and hues, making a 
most fascinating panorama of ever-changing color and loveliness. To 
fully appreciate their great beauty and magnitude, they must be 
seen. 

8oil. — The soil of Missouri is good, and of great agricultural capa- 
bilities, but the most fertile portions of the State are the river bot- 
toms, which are a rich alluvium, mixed in many cases with sand, the 
producing qualities of which are not excelled by the prolific valley of 
the famous Nile,. 

South of the Missouri River there is a greater variety of soil, but 
much of it is fertile, and even in the mountains and mineral districts 
there are rich valleys, and about the sources of the White, Eleven 
Points, Current and Big Black Rivers, the soil, though unproductive, 
furnishes a valuable growth of yellow pine. 

The marshy lands in the southeastern part of the State will, by a 
•ystem of drainage, be one of the most fertile districts in the State. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 
POPULATION BT COUNTIES IN 1870, 1876, AND 1880. 



11 



Gountiea. 


1870. 


1876. 


1880. 


Adair . 


11,449 


13,774 


16,190 


Andrew 


















16,137 


14,992 


16,318 


Atchison . 


















8,440 


10,925 


14,565 


Audrain 


















12,307 


15,167 


19,739 


Barry . 


















10,373 


11,146 


14,424 


Barton 


















6,087 


6,900 


10,332 


Bates . 


















15,960 


17,484 


25,382 


Benton 


















11,322 


11,027 


12,398 


Bollinger . 


















8,162 


8,884 


11,132 


Boone 


















20,765 


31,923 


25,424 


Buchanan . 


















35,109 


38,165 


49,824 


Butler 


















4,298 


4,363 


6,011 


Caldwell . 


















11,390 


12,200 


13,654 


Callaway . 


















19,202 


25,257 


23,670 


Camden 


















6,108 


7,027 


7,269 


Cape Girardeau 


















17,558 


17,891 


20,998 


Carroll 


















17,440 


21,498 


23,300 


Carter 


















1,440 


1,549 


2,168 


Cass . 


















19,299 


18,069 


22,431 


Cedar . 


















9,471 


9,897 


10,747 


Chariton 


















19,136 


23,294 


25,224 


Christian . 


















6,707 


7,936 


9,632 


Clark . 


















13,667 


14,549 


15,631 


Clay . 


















15,564 


15,320 


15,579 


Clinton 


















14,063 


13,698 


16,073 


Cole . 


















10,292 


14,122 


15,519 


Cooper 


















20,692 


21,356 


21,622 


Crawford . 


















7,982 


9,391 


10,763 


Dade . 


















8,683 


11,089 


12,557 


Dallas 


















8,383 


8,073 


9,272 


Daviess 


















14,410 


16,557 


19,174 


DeKalb 


















9,858 


11,169 


13,343 


Dent . 


















6,357 


7,401 


10,647 


Douglas . 


















3,916 


6,461 


7,753 


Dunklin 


















5,982 


6,255 


9,604 


Franklin . 


















30,098 


26,924 


26,536 


Gasconade . 


















10,093 


11,160 


11,153 


Gentry 


















11,607 


12,673 


17,188 


Greene 


















21,549 


24,693 


28,817 


Grundy 


















10,567 


13,071 


15,201 


Harrison . 


















14,635 


18,630 


20,318 


Henry 


















17,401 


18,465 


23,914 


Hickory 


















6,452 


5,870 


7,388 


Holt . 


















11,652 


13,245 


15,510 


Howard 


















17,233 


17,815 


18,428 


Howell 


















4,218 


6,756 


8,814 


Iron . 


















6,278 


6,623 


8,183 


Jackson 


















65,041 


64,046 


82,328 


Jasper 


















14,928 


29,384 


32,021 


Jefferson . 


















15,380 


16,186 


18,736 


Johnson 


















24,648 


23,646 


28,177 


Knox . 


















10,974 


12,678 


13,047 


Laclede 


















9,380 


9,845 


11,524 


Lafayette . 


















22,624 


22,204 


26,761 


Lawrence . 


















13,067 


13,054 


17,585 


Lewis . 


















15,114 


16,360 


15,925 


Lincoln 


















15,960 


16,858 


17,443 


Linn . 


















15,906 


18,110 


20,016 


Livingston . 


















16,730 


18,074 


20,205 



12 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 
POPULATION BY COUNTIES — Con«nwci. 



Counti«s. 



McDonald 

Macon 

Madison 

Maries 

Marion 

Mercer 

Miller 

Mississippi 

Moniteau 

Monroe 

Montgomery 

Morgan 

New Madrid 

Newton 

Nodaway 

Oregon 

Osage . 

Ozark . 

Pemiscot 
Perry . 
Pettis . 
Phelps 

Pike . 

Platte 

Polk . 

Pulaski 

Putnam 

Ralls . 

Randolph 

Ray . 

Reynolds 

Ripley 

St. Charles 

St. Clair 

St. Francois 

Ste. Genevieve 

St. Louis' 

Saline 

Schuyler 

Scotland 

Scott . 

Shannon 

Shelby 

Stoddard 

Stone . 

Sullivan 

Taney 

Texas 

Vernon 

Warren 

Washington 

Wayne 

Webster 

Worth 

Wright 

City of St. Louis 



1876. 



6,226 
23,230 
5,849 
5,916 
23,780 
11,557 
6,616 
4,982 
13,375 
17,149 
10,405 
8,434 
6,357 
12,821 
14,751 
3,287 
10,793 
3,363 
2,059 
9,877 
18,706 
10,506 
23,076 
17,352 
14,445 
4,714 
11,217 
10,510 
15,908 
18,700 
3,756 
3,175 
21,304 
6,742 
9,742 
8,384 
351,189 
21,672 
8,820 
10,670 
7,317 
2,339 
10,119 
8,535 
3,253 
11,907 
4,407 
9,618 
11,247 
9,673 
11,719 
6,068 
10,434 
5,004 
5,684 



1876. 



1,721,295 



6,072 
25,028 

8,750 

6,481 
22,794 
13,393 

8,529 

7,498 
13,084 
17,751 
14,418 

9,529 

6,673 
16,875 
23,196 

4,469 
11,200 

4,579 

2,573 
11,189 
23,167 

9,919 
22,828 
15,948 
13,467 

6,157 
12,641 

9,997 
19,173 
18,394 

4,716 

3,913 
21,821 
11,242 
11,621 

9,409 

*27,()87 

9,881 

12,030 

7,312 

3,236 

13,243 

10,888 

3,544 

14,039 

6,124 

10,287 

14,413 

10,321 

13,100 

7,006 

10,684 

7,164 

6,124 



1,547,030 



1880. 

7,816 
26,223 
8,866 
7,304 
24,837 
14,674 
9,807 
9,270 
14,349 
19,075 
16,250 
10,134 
7,694 
18,948 
29,560 
5,791 
11,824 
5,618 
4,299 
11,895 
27,285 
12,565 
26,716 
17,372 
15,745 
7,250 
13,556 
11,838 
22,751 
20,1% 
5,722 
5,377 
23,060 
14,126 
13,822 
10,309 
31,888 
29,912 
10,470 
12,507 
8,587 
3,441 
14,024 
13,432 
4,405 
16,569 
5,605 
12,207 
19,370 
10,806 
12,895 
9,097 
12,175 
8,208 
9,733 
850,522 



2,168,804 



« St. Louis City and County separated In 1877. Population for 1876 not given 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



13 



SUMMARY. 



Males 

Females 

Native 

Foreign 

White 

Colored ^ 



1,126,424 
1,041,380 
1,957,564 

211,240 
2,023,568 

145,236 



CHAPTER ni. 

GEOLOGY OF MISSOURI. 

Classiflcation of Rocks —Quatenary Formation — Tertiary —Cretaceous — Carbonifer- 
ous — Devonian — Silurian — Azoic — Economic Geology — Coal — Iron — Lead — 
Copper — Zinc — Building Stone — Marble — Gypsum — Lime — Clays — Paints — 
Springs — Water Power. 

The stratified rocks of Missouri, as classified and treated of by Prof. 
G. C. Swallow, belong to the following divisions : I. Quatenary ; 
II. Tertiary; III. Cretaceous; IV. Carboniferous; V. Devonian; 
VI. Silurian ; VII. Azoic. 

" The Quatenary formations, are the most recent, and the most 
valuable to man: valuable, because they can be more readily utilized. 

The Quatenary formation in Missouri, embraces the Alluvium, 30 
feet thick ; Bottom Prairie, 30 feet thick ; Bluff, 200 feet thick ; and 
Drift, 155 feet thick. The latest deposits are those which constitute 
the Alluvium, and includes the soils, pebbles and sand, clays, vegeta- 
ble mould, bog, iron ore, marls, etc. 

The Alluvium deposits, cover an area, within the limits of Mis- 
souri, of more than four millions acres of land, which are not sur- 
passed for fertility by any region of country on the globe. 

The Bluff Prairie formation is confined to the low lands, which are 
washed by the two great rivers which course our eastern and western 
boundaries, and while it is only about half as extensive as the Allu- 
vial, it is equally as rich and productive." 

'♦ The Bluff formation," says Prof. Swallow, *• rests upon the 
ridges and river bluffs, and descends along their slopes to the lowest 
valleys, the formation capping all the Bluffs of the Missouri from 
Fort Union to its mouth, and those of the Mississippi from Dubuque 



' Including 92 Chinese, 2 half Chinese, and 96 Indians and half-breeda. 



14 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

to the mouth of the Ohio. It forms the upper stratum beneath the 
soil of all the high lauds, both timber and prairies, of all the counties 
north of the Osage and Missouri, and also St. Louis, and the Missis- 
sippi counties on the south. 

Its greatest development is in the counties on the Missouri River 
from the Iowa line to Boonville. In some localities it is 200 feet 
thick. At St. Joseph it is 140 ; at Boonville 100 ; and at St. Louis, 
in St. George's quarry, and the Big Mound, it is about 50 feet ; 
while its greatest observed thickness in Marion county was only 30 
feet." 

The Drift formation is that which lies beneath the Bluff formation, 
having, as Prof. Swallow informs us, three distinct deposits, to wit : 
♦'Altered Drift, which are strata of sand and pebbles, seen in the 
banks of the Missouri, in the northwestern portion of the State. 

The Boulder formation is a heterogeneous stratum of sand, gravel 
and boulder, and water-worn fragments of the older rocks. 

Boulder Clay is a bed of bluish or brown sandy clay, through which 
pebbles are scattered in greater or less abundance. In some locali- 
ties in northern Missouri, this formation assumes a pure white, pipe- 
clay color." 

The Tertiary formation is made up of clays, shales, iron ores, sand-, 
stone, and sands, scattered along the bluffs, and edges of the bottoms, 
reaching from Commerce, Scott County, to Stoddard, and south to 
the Chalk Bluffs in Arkansas. 

The Cretaceous formation lies beneath the Tertiary, and is com- 
posed of variegated sandstone, bluish-brown sandy slate, whitish- 
brown impure sandstone, fine white clay mingled with spotted flint, 
purple, red and blue clays, all being in the aggregate, 158 feet in 
thickness. There are no fossils in these rocks, and nothing by which 
their age may be told. 

The Carboniferous system includes the Upper Carboniferous or 
coal-measures, and the Lower Carboniferous or Mountain limestone. 
The coal-measures are made up of numerous strata of sandstones, 
limestones, shales, clays, marls, spathic iron ores, and coals. 

The Carboniferous formation, including coal-measures and the beds 
of iron, embrace an area in Missouri of 27,000 square miles. The 
varieties of coal found in the State are the common bituminous and 
cannel coals, and they exist in quantities inexhaustible. The fact 
that these coal-measures are full of fossils, which are always confined 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 15 

to the coal measures, enables the geologist to point them out, and the 
coal beds contained in them. 

The rocks of the Lower Carboniferous lormation are varied in color, 
and are quarried in many different parts of the State, being exten- 
sively utilized for building and other purposes. 

Among the Lower Carboniferous rocks is found the Upper Archi- 
medes Limestone, 200 feet ; Ferruginous Sandstone, 195 feet ; Mid- 
dle Archimedes, 50 feet ; St. Louis Limestone, 250 feet ; Oolitic 
Limestone, 25 feet ; Lower Archimedes Limestone, 350 feet ; and 
Encrinital Limestone, 500 feet. These limestones generally contain 
fossils. 

The Ferruginous limestone is soft when quarried, but becomes hard 
and durable after exposure. It contains large quantities of iron, and 
is found skirting the eastern coal measures from the mouth of the 
Des Moines to McDonald county. 

The St. Louis limestone is of various hues and tints, and very hard. 
It is found in Clark, Lewis and St. Louis counties. 

The Lower Archimedes limestone includes partly the lead bearing 
rocks of Southwestern Missouri. 

The Encrinital limestone is the most extensive of the divisions of 
Carboniferous limestone, and is made up of brown, buff, gray and 
white. In these strata are found the remains of corals and moUusks. 
This formation extends from Marion county to Greene county. The 
Devonian system contains: Chemung Group, Hamilton Group, 
Onondaga limestone and Oriskany sandstone. The rocks of the 
Devonian system are found in Marion, Ralls, Pike, Callaway, Saline 
and Ste. Genevieve counties. 

The Chemung Group has three formations, Chouteau limestone, 85 
feet ; Vermicular sandstone and shales, 75 feet ; Lithographic lime- 
stone, 125 feet. 

The Chouteau limestone is in two divisions, when fully developed, 
and when first quarried is soft. It is not only good for building pur- 
poses but makes an excellent cement. 

The Vermicular sandstone and shales are usually buff or yellowish 
brown, and perforated with pores. 

The Lithographic limestone is a pure, fine, compact, evenly-tex- 
tured limestone. Its color varies from light drab to buff and blue. 
It is called "pot metal," because under the hammer it gives a sharp, 
ringing sound. It has but few fossils. 



16 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

The Hamilton Group is made up of some 40 feet of blue shales, and 
170 feet of crystalline limestone. 

Onondaga limestone is usually a coarse, gray or buff crystalline, 
thick-bedded and cherty limestone. No formation in Missouri pre- 
sents such variable and widely different lithological characters as the 
Onondaga. 

The Oriskany sandstone is a light, gray limestone. 

Of the Upper Silurian series there are the following formations : 
Lower Helderberg, 350 feet ; Niagara Group, 200 feet ; Cape Girar- 
deau limestone, 60 feet. 

The Lower Helderberg is made up of buff, gray, and reddish cherty 
and argillaceous limestone. 

Niagara Group. The Upper part of this group consists of red, 
yellow and ash-colored shales, with compact limestones, variegated 
with bands and nodules of chert. 

The Cape Girardeau limestone, on the Mississippi Kiver near Cape 
Girardeau, is a compact, bluish-gray, brittle limestone, with smooth 
fractures in layers from two to six inches in thickness, with argilla- 
ceous partings. These strata contain a great many fossils. 

The Lower Silurian has the following ten formations, to wit: Hud- 
son River Group, 220 feet ; Trenton limestone, 360 feet ; Black River 
and Bird's Eye limestone, 175 feet ; first Magnesian limestone, 200 
feet; Saccharoidal sandstone, 125 feet; second Magnesian limestone, 
250 feet; second sandstone, 115 feet; third Magnesian limestone, 
350 feet ; third sandstone, 60 feet ; fourth Magnesian limestone, 350 
feet. 

Hudson River Group : — There are three formations which Prof. 
Swallow refers to in this group. These formations are found in the 
bluff above and below Louisiana ; on the Grassy a few miles north- 
west of Louisiana, and in Ralls, Pike, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Gene- 
vieve Counties. 

Trenton limestone : The upper part of this formation is made up 
of thick beds of hard, compact, bluish gray and drab limestone, varie- 
gated with irregular cavities, filled with greenish materials. 

The beds are exposed between Hannibal and New London, north of 
Salt River, near Glencoe, St. Louis County, and are seventy-five feet 
thick. 

Black River and Bird's Eye limestone the same color as the Trenton 
limestone. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 17 

The first Magnesian limestone cap the picturesque oluflfs of the Osage 
in Benton and neighboring counties. 

The Saccharoidal sandstone has a wide range in the State. In a 
bluff about two miles from Warsaw, is a very striking change of thick- 
ness of this formation. 

Second Magnesian limestone, in lithological character, is like the 
first. 

The second sandstone, usually of yellowish brown, sometmies 
becomes a pure white, fine-grained, soft sandstone as on Cedar Creek, 
in Washington and Franklin Counties. 

The third Magnesian limestone is exposed in the high and picturesque 
bluffs of the Niangua, in the neighborhood of Bryce's Spring. 

The third sandstone is white and has a formation in moving water. 

The fourth Magnesian limestone is seen on the Niangua and Osage 
Rivers. 

The Azoic rocks lie below the Silurian and form a series of silicious 
and other slates which contain no remains of organic life. 

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 

Coal. — Missouri is particularly rich in minerals. Indeed, no State 
In the Union, surpasses her in this respect. In some unknown ao-e of 
the past — long before the existence of man — Nature, by a wise process, 
made a bountiful provision for the time, when in the order of things, 
it should be necessary for civilized man to take possession of these 
broad, rich prairies. As an equivalent for lack of forests, she quietly 
stored away beneath the soil those wonderful carboniferous treasures 
for the use of ma^n. 

Geological surveys have developed the fact that the coal deposits in 
the State are almost unnumbered, embracing all varieties of the best 
bituminous coal. A large portion of the State, has been ascer- 
tained to be one continuous coal field, stretching from the mouth 
of the Des Moines River through Clark, Lewis, Scotland, Adair, 
Macon, Shelby, Monroe, Audrain, Callaway, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, 
Benton, Henry, St. Clair, Bates, Vernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton and 
Jasper, into the Indian Territory, and the counties on the northwest of 
this line contain more or le&s coal. Coal rocks exist in Ralls, Mont- 
gomery, Warren, St. Charles, Moniteau, Cole, Morgan, Crawford and 
Lincoln, and during the past few years, all along the lines of all the 
railroads in North Missouri, and along the western end of the Missouri 
Pacific, and on the Missouri River, between Kansas City and Sioux 



18 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

City, has systematic mining, opened up hundreds of mines in different 
localities. The area of our coal beds, on the line of the southwestern 
boundary of the State alone, embraces more than 26,000 square miles 
of regular coal measures. This will give of workable coal, if the 
averao-e be one foot, 26,800,000,000 tons. The estimates from the 
developments already made, in the diflferent portions of the State, will 
give 134,000,000,000 tons. 

The economical value of this coal to the State, its influence in 
domestic life, in navigation, commerce and manufactures, is beyond 
the imagination of man to conceive. Suffice it to say, that in the pos- 
session of her developed and undeveloped coal mines, Missouri has a 
motive power, which in its influences for good, in the civilization of 
man, is more potent than the gold of California. 

Iron. — Prominent among the minerals, which increase the power 
and prosjDerity of a nation, is iron. Of this ore, Missouri has an inex- 
haustible quantity, and like her coal fields, it has been developed in 
many portions of the State, and of the best and purest quality. It is 
found in great abundance in the counties of Cooper, St. Clair, Greene, 
Henry, Franklin, Benton, Dallas, Camden, Stone, Madison, Iron, 
Washington, Perry, St. Francois, Reynolds, Stoddard, Scott, Dent 
and others. The greatest deposit of iron is found in the Iron Moun- 
tain, which is two hundred feet high, and covers an area of five hun- 
dred acres, and produces a metal, which is shown by analysis, to con- 
tain from 65 to 69 per cent of metallic iron. 

The ore of Shepherd Mountain contains from 64 to 67 per cent of 
metallic iron. The ore of Pilot Knob contains from 53 to 60 per cent. 

Rich beds of iron are also found at the Big Bogy Mountain, and at 
Russell Mountain. This ore has, in its nude state, a variety of colors, 
from the red, dark red, black, brown, to a light bluish gray. The 
red ores are found in twenty-one or more counties of the State, and 
are of great commercial value. The brown hematite iron ores extend 
over a greater range of country than all the others combined, embrac- 
ing about one hundred counties, and have been ascertained to exist in 
these in large quantities. 

Lead. — Long before any permanent settlements were made in Mis- 
souri by the whites, lead was mined within the limits of the State at 
two or three points on the Mississippi. At this time more than five 
hundred mines are opened, and many of them are being successfully 
worked. These deposits of lead cover an area, so far as developed, 
of more than seven thousand square miles. Mines have been opened 



HISTORY OP MISSOUEI. 19 

in Jefferson, Washington, St. Francois, Madison, Wayne, Carter, Rey- 
nolds, Crawford, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Cole, Cape Girardeau, Cam- 
den, Morgan, and many other counties. 

Copper and Zinc. — Several varieties of copper ore are found in 
Missouri. The copper mines of Shannon, Madison and Franklin 
Counties have been known for years, and some of these have been 
successfully worked and are now yielding good results. 

Deposits of copper have been discovered in Dent, Crawford, Ben- 
ton, Maries, Green, Lawrence, Dade, Taney, Dallas, Phelps, Reynolds 
and Wright Counties. 

Zinc is abundant in nearly all the lead mines in the southwestern 
part of the State, and since the completion of the A. & P. R. R. a 
market has been furnished for this ore, which will be converted into 
valuable merchandise. 

Building Stone and Marble. — There is no scarcity of good building 
stone in Missouri. Limestone, sandstone and granite exist in all 
shades of buff, blue, red and brown, and are of great beauty as build- 
ing material. 

There are many marble beds in the State, some of which furnish 
very beautiful and excellent marble. It is found in Marion, Cooper, 
St. Louis, and other counties. 

One of the most desirable of the Missouri marbles is in the 3rd 
Magnesian limestone, on the Niangua. It is fine-grained, crystalline, 
silico-magnesian limestone, light-drab, slightly tinged with peach blos- 
som, and clouded by deep flesh-colored shades. In ornamental archi- 
tecture it is rarely surpassed. 

Gypsum and Lime. — Though no extensive beds of gypsum have 
been discovered in Missouri, there are vast beds of the pure white 
crystalline variety on the line of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, on Kan- 
sas River, and on Gypsum Creek. It exists also in several other 
localities accessible by both rail and boat. 

All of the limestone formations in the State, from the coal measures 
to fourth Magnesian, have more or less strata of very nearly pure car- 
bonate of pure lime. 

Clays and Paints. — Clays are found in nearly all parts of the State 
suitable for making bricks. Potters' clay and fire-clay are worked in 
many localities. 

There are several beds of purple shades in the coal measures which 
possess the properties requisite for paints used in outside work. Yel- 
low and red ochres are found in considerable quantities on the Missouri 



20 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

River. Some of these paints have been thoroughly tested and found 
fire-proof and durable. 

SPRINGS AND WATER POWER. 

No State is, perhaps, better supplied with cold springs of pure water 
than Missouri. Out of the bottoms, there is scarcely a section of 
land but has one or more perennial springs of good water. Even 
where there are no springs, good water can be obtained by digging 
from twenty to forty feet. Salt springs are abundant in the central 
part of the State, and discharge their brine in Cooper, Saline, Howard, 
and adjoining counties. Considerable salt was made in Cooper and 
Howard Counties at an early day. 

Sulphur springs are also numerous throughout the State. The 
Chouteau Springs in Cooper, the Monagaw Springs in St. Clair, the 
Elk Springs in Pike, and the Cheltenham Springs in St. Louis County 
have acquired considerable reputation as salubrious waters, and have 
become popular places of resort. Many other counties have good 
sulphur springs. 

Among the Chalybeate springs the Sweet Springs on the Black- 
water, and the Chalybeate spring in the University campus are, perhaps, 
the most popular of the kind in the State. There are, however, other 
springs impregnated with some of the salts of iron. 

Petroleum springs are found in Carroll, Ray, Randolph, Cass, 
Lafayette, Bates, Vernon, and other counties. The variety called 
lubricating oil is the more common. 

The water power of the State is excellent. Large springs are 
particularly abundant on the waters of the Meramec, Gasconade, 
Bourbeuse, Osage, Niangua, Spring, White, Sugar, and other streams. 
Besides these, there are hundreds of springs sufficiently large to drive 
mills and factories, and. the day is not far distant when these crystal 
fountains will be utilized, and a thousand saws will buzz to their 
dashing music. 



HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. 21 

CHAPTER lY. 

TITLE AND EARLY SETTLEIVIENTS. 

Title to Missouri Lands — Eight of Discovery — Title of France and Spain — Cession 
to the United States — Territorial Changes — Treaties with Indians — First Settle- 
ment— Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon — St. Louis — When Incorporated — 
Potosi — St. Charles — Portage des Sioux — New Madrid — St. Francois County- 
Perry- Mississippi— Loutre Island — "Boone's Licls"— Cote Sans Dessein — 
Howard County — Some First Things — Counties — When Organized. 

The title to the soil of Missouri was, of course, primarily vested in 
the original occupants who inhabited the country prior to its discovery 
by the whites. But the Indians, being savages, possessed but few 
rights that civilized nations considered themselves bound to respect ; 
so, therefore, when they found this country in the possession of such 
a people they claimed it in the name of the King of France, by the 
right of discovery. It remained under the jurisdiction of France 
until 1763. 

Prior to the j^ear 1763, the entire continent of North America was 
divided between France, England, Spain and Eussia. France held all 
that portion that now constitutes our national domain west of the 
Mississippi River, except Texas, and the territory which we have 
obtained from Mexico and Russia. The vast region, while under the 
jurisdiction of France, was known as the " Province of Louisiana," 
and embraced the present State of Missouri. At the close of the 
»» Old French War," in 1763, France gave up her share of the con- 
tinent, and Spain came into the possession of the territory west of the 
Mississippi River, while Great Britain retained Canada and the regions 
northward, having obtained that territory by conquest, in the war 
with France. For thirty-seven years the territory now embraced 
within the limits of Missouri, remained as a part of the possession of 
Spain, and then went back to France by the treaty of St. Iklefonso, 
October 1, 1800. On the 30th of April, 1803, France ceded it to the 
United States, in consideration of receiving $11,250,000, and the 
liquidation of certain claims, held by citizens of the United States 
against France, which amounted to the further sum of $3,750,000, 
making a total of $15,000,000. It will thus be seen that France has 
twice, and Spain once, held sovereignty over the territory embracing 



22 HISTORY or MISSOURI. 

Missouri, "but the financial needs of Napoleon afforded our Govern- 
ment an opportunity to add another empire to its domain. 

On the 31st of October, 1803, an act of Congress was approved, 
authorizing the President to take possession of the newly acquired 
territory, and provided for it a temporary government, and another 
act, approved March 26, 1804, authorized the division of the " Louis- 
iana Purchase," as it was then called, into two separate territories. 
All that portion south of the 33d parallel of north latitude was called 
the *♦ Territory of Orleans," and that north of the said parallel was 
known as the *♦ District of Louisiana," and was placed under the 
jurisdiction of what was then known as '* Indian Territory." 

By virtue of an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1805, the 
«* District of Louisiana" was organized as the *' Territory of Louis- 
iana," with a territorial government of its own, which went into 
operation July 4th of the same year, and it so remained till 1812. In 
this year the '* Territory of Orleans " became the State of Louisiana, 
and the "Territory of Louisiana" was organized as the '* Territory 
of Missouri." 

This change took place under an act of Congress, approved June 4, 
1812. In 1819, a portion of this territory was organized as '* Arkan- 
sas Territory," and on August 10, 1821, the State of Missouri was 
admitted, being a part of the former " Territory of Missouri." 

In 1836, the "Platte Purchase," then being a part of the Indian 
Territory, and now composing the counties of Atchison, Andrew, 
Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte, was made by treaty with the 
Indians, and added to the State. It will be seen, then, that the soil 
of Missouri belonged : — 

1. To France, with other territory. 

2. In 1763, with other territory, it was ceded to Spain. 

3. October 1, 1800, it was ceded, with other territory from Spain, 
back to France. 

4. April 30, 1803, it was ceded, with other territory, by France to 
the United States. 

5. October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by 
Congress for the newly acquired territory. 

6. October 1, 1804, it was included in the " District of Louisiana" 
and placed under the territorial government of Indiana. 

7. July 4, 1805, it was included as a part of the "Territory of 
Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial government. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 23 

8. June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then made the '* Ter- 
ritory of Missouri." 

9. August 10, 1821, it was admitted into the Union as a State. 

10. In 1836, the "Platte Purchase" was made, adding more ter- 
ritory to the State. 

The cession by France, April 30, 1803, vested the title in the United 
States, subject to the claims of the Indians, which it was very justly 
the policy of the Government to recognize. Before the Government 
of the United States could vest clear title to the soil in the grantee it 
was necessary to extinguish the Indian title by purchase. This was 
done accordingly by treaties made with the Indians at different times. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

The name of the first white man who set foot on the territory now 
embraced in the State of Missouri, is not known, nor is it known at 
what precise period the first settlements were made. It is, however, 
generally agreed that they were made at Ste. Genevieve and New 
Bourbon, tradition fixing the date of the settlements in the autumn of 
1735. These towns were settled by the French from Kaskaskia and 
St. Philip in Illinois. 

St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclede Liguest, on the 15th of 
February, 1764. He was a native of France, and was one of the 
members of the company of Laclede Liguest, Antonio Maxant & Co., 
to whom a royal charter had been granted, confirming the privilege 
of an exclusive trade with the Indians of Missouri as far north as St. 
Peter's River. 

While in search of a trading post he ascended the Mississippi as far 
as the mouth of the Missouri, and finally returned to the present town 
site of St. Louis. After the village had been laid off he named it St. 
Louis in honor of Louis XV., of France. 

The colony thrived rapidly by accessions from Kaskaskia and other 
towns on the east side of the Mississippi, and its trade was largely in. 
creased by many of the Indian tribes, who removed a portion of their 
peltry trade from the same towns to St. Louis. It was incorporated 
as a town on the ninth day of November, 1809, by the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas of the district of St. Louis ; the town trustees being 
Auguste Chouteau, Edward Hempstead, Jean F. Cabanne, Wm. C. 
Carr and William Christy, and incorporated as a city December 9, 
1822. The selection of the town site on which St. Louis stands was 
highly judicious, the spot not only being healthful and having the ad- 



24 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

rantages of water transportation unsurpassed, but surrounded by a 
beautiful region of country, rich in soil and mineral resources. St. 
Louis has grown to be the fifth city in population in the Union, and 
is to-day the great center of internal commerce of the Missouri, tho 
Mississippi and their tributaries, and, with its railroad facilities, it is 
destined to be the greatest inland city of the American continent. 

The next settlement was made at Potosi, in Washington County, in 
1765, by Francis Breton, who, while chasing a bear, discovered the 
mine near the present town of Potosi, where he afterward located. 

One of the most prominent pioneers who settled at Potosi was 
Moses Austin, of Virginia, who, in 1795, received by grant from the 
Spanish government a league of land, now known as the "Austin Sur- 
vey." The grant was made on condition that Mr. Austin would es- 
tablish a lead mine at Potosi and work it. He built a palatial 
residence, for that day, on the -brow of the hill in the little village, 
which was for many years known as " Durham Hall." At this point 
the first shot-tower and sheet-lead manufactory were erected. 

Five years after the founding of St. Louis the first settlement made 
in Northern Missouri was made near St. Charles, in St. Charles 
County, in 1769. The name given to it, and which it retained till 
1784, was Les Petites Cotes, signifying. Little Hills. The town site 
was located by Blanchette, a Frenchman, surnamed LeChasseur, who 
built the first fort in the town and established there a military post. 

Soon after the establishment of the military post at St. Charles, the 
old French village of Portage des Sioux, Avas located on the Missis- 
sippi, just below the mouth ot the Illinois River, and at about the 
same time a Kickapoo village was commenced at Clear Weather Lake. 
The present town site of New Madrid, in New Madrid county, was 
settled in 1781, by French Canadians, it then being occupied by Del- 
aware Indians. The place now known as Big Eiver Mills, St. Fran- 
cois county, was settled in 1796, Andrew Baker, John Alley, Francis 
Starnater and John Andrews, each locating claims. The following 
year, a settlement was made in the same county, just below the pres- 
ent town of Farmington, by the Rev. William Murphy, a Baptist min- 
ister from East Tennessee. In 1796, settlements were made in Perry 
county by emigrants from Kentucky and Pennsylvania ; the latter lo- 
cating in the rich bottom lands of Bois Brule, the former generally 
settling in the " Barrens," and along the waters of Saline Creek. 

Bird's Point, in Mississippi county, opposite Cairo, Illinois, was 
settled August 6, 1800, by John Johnson, by virtue of a land-grant 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 25 

from the commandant under the Spanish Government. Norfolk and 
Charleston, in the same county, were settled respectively in 1800 and 
1801. Warren county was settled in 1801. Loutre Island, below 
the present town of Hermann, in the Missouri Kiver, was settled by a 
few American families in 1807. This little company of pioneers suf- 
fered greatly from the floods, as well as from the incursions of thieving 
and blood-thirsty Indians, and many incidents of a thrilling character 
could be related of trials and struggles, had we the time and space. 

In 1807, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of the great hunter and 
pioneer, in company with three others, went from St. Louis to 
"Boone's Lick," in Howard county, where they manufactured salt 
and formed the nucleus of a small settlement. 

Cote Sans Dessein, now called Bakersville, on the Missouri River, 
in Callaway county, was settled by the French in 1801. This little 
town was considered at that time, as the '* Far West" of the new 
world. During the war of 1812, at this place many hard-fought 
battles occurred between the whites and Indians, wherein woman's 
fortitude and courage greatly assisted in the defence of the settle- 
ment. 

In 1810, a colony of Kentuckians numbering one hundred and fifty 
families immigrated to Howard county, and settled on the Missouri 
River in Cooper's Bottom near the present town of Franklin, and 
opposite Arrow Rock. 

Such, in brief, is the history of some of the early settlements of 
Missouri, covering a period of more than half a century. 

These settlements were made on the water courses ; usually along 
the banks of the two great streams, whose navigation afforded them 
transportation for their marketable commodities, and communication 
with the civilized portion of the country. 

They not only encountered the gloomy forests, settling as they did 
by the river's brink, but the hostile incursion of savage Indians, by 
whom they were for many years surrounded. 

The expedients of these brave men who first broke ground in the 
territory, have been succeeded by the permanent and tasteful improve- 
ments of their descendants. Upon the spots where they toiled, dared 
and died, are seen the comfortable farm, the beautiful village, and 
thrifty city. Churches and school houses greet the eye on every 
hand; railroads diverge in every direction, and, indeed, all the appli- 
ances of a higher civilization are profusely strewn over the smiling 
surface of the State. 



26 HISTORY OF MISSOURI, 

Culture's hand 
Has scattered verdure o'er the land; 
And smiles and fragrance rule serene, 
Where barren wild usurped the scene. 

SOME FIRST THINGS. 

The first marriage that took place in Missouri was April 20, 1766, 
in St. Louis. 

The first baptism was performed in May, 1766, in St. Louis. 

The first house of worship, (Catholic) was erected in 1775, at St, 
Louis. 

The first ferry established in 1805, on the Mississippi River, at St. 
Louis. 

The first newspaper established in St. Louis (Missouri Gazette) ^ in 
1808. 

The first postoffice was established in 1804, in St. Louis — Rufus 
Easton, post-master. 

The first Protestant church erected at Ste. Genevieve, in 1806 — 
Baptist. 

The first bank established (Bank of St. Louis), in 1814. 

The first market house opened in 1811, in St. Louis. 

The first steamboat on the Upper Mississippi was the General Pike, 
Capt. Jacob Reid ; landed at St. Louis 1817. 

The first board of trustees for public schools appointed in 1817, St. 
Louis. 

The first college built (St. Louis College), in 1817. 

The first steamboat that came up the Missouri River as high as 
Franklin was the Independence, in May, 1819 ; Capt. Nelson, mas- 
ter. 

The first court house erected in 1823, in St. Louis. 

The first cholera appeared in St. Louis in 1832. 

The first railroad convention held in St. Louis, April 20, 1836. 

The first telegraph lines reached East St. Louis, December 20,' 
1847. 

The first great fire occurred in St. Louis, 1845). 



UlbTORY OF MI8S0UKI. 27 

CHAPTEK y. 

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION. 

Organization 1812 — Council — House of Representatives— William Clark first Terri- 
torial Governor— Edward Hempstead first Delegate— Spanish Grants— First 
General Assembly — Proceedings — Second Assembly — Proceedings — Population 
of Territory —Vote of Territory —Ruf us Easton — Absent Members — Third Assem- 
bly — Proceedings — Application for Admission. 

Congress organized Missouri as a Territory, July 4, 1812, with a 
Governor and General Assembly. The Governor, Legislative Coun- 
cil, and House of Representatives exercised the Legislative power of 
the Territory, the Governor's vetoing power being absolute. 

The Legislative Council was composed of nine members, whose ten- 
ure of office lasted five years. Eighteen citizens were nominated by 
the House of Representatives to the President of the United States, 
from whom he selected, with the approval of the Senate, nine Coun- 
cillors, to compose the Legislative Council. 

The House of Representatives consisted of members chosen every 
two years by the people, the basis of representation being one mem- 
ber for every five hundred white males. The first House of Repre- 
sentatives consisted of thirteen members, and, by Act of Congress, the 
whole number of Representatives could not exceed twenty-five. 

The judicial power of the Territory, was vested in the Superior and 
Inferior Courts, and in the Justices of the Peace ; the Superior Court 
having three judges, whose term of office continued four years, hav- 
ing original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. 

The Territory could send one delegate to Congress. Governor 
Clark issued a proclamation, October 1st, 1812, required by Congress, 
reorganizing the districts of St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, 
Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid, into five counties, and fixed the 
second Monday in November following, for the election of a delegate 
to Congress, and the members of the Territorial House of Represen- 
tatives. 

William Clark, of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, was the first 
Territorial Governor, appointed by the President, who began his duties 
1813. 

Edward Hempstead, Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond, and Matthew 
Lyon were candidates in November for delegates to Congress. 



28 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

Edward Hempstead was elected, being the first Territorial Dele- 
gate to Congress from Missouri. He served one term, declining a 
second, and was instrumental in having Congress to pass the act of 
June 13, 1812, which he introduced, confirming the title to lands 
which were claimed by the people by virtue of Spanish grants. The 
same act confirmed to the people " for the support of schools," the 
title to village lots, out-lots or common field lots, which were held 
and enjoyed by them, at the time of the session in 1803. 

Under the act of June 4, 1812, the first General Assembly held its 
session in the house of Joseph Robidoux, in St. Louis, on the 7th of 
December, 1812. The names of the members of the House were: — 

St. Charles. — John Pitman and Robert Spencer. 

St. Louis. — David Music, Bernard G. Farrar, William C. Carr, 
and Richard Clark. 

Ste. Genevieve. — George Bullet, Richard S. Thomas, and Isaac 
McGready. 

Cape Girardeau. — George F. Bollinger, and Spencer Byrd. 

New Madrid. — John Shrader and Samuel Phillips. 

John B. C. Lucas, one of the Territorial Judges, administered the 
oath of office. William C. Carr was elected speaker, and Andrew 
Scott, Clerk. 

The House of Representatives proceeded to nominate eighteen per- 
sons from whom the President of the United States, with the Senate, 
was to select nine for the Council. From this number the President 
chose the following : 

St. Charles. — James Flaugherty and Benjamin Emmons. 

St. Louis. — Auguste Chouteau, Sr., and Samuel Hammond. 

Ste. Genevieve. — John Scott and James Maxwell. 

Cape Girardeau. — William Neeley and Joseph Cavenor. 

New Madrid. — Joseph Hunter. 

The Legislative Council, thus chosen by the President and Senate, 
was announced by Frederick Bates, Secretary and Acting-Governor of 
the Territory, by proclamation, June 3, 1813, and fixing the first 
Monday in July following, as the time for the meeting of the Legis- 
lature. 

In the meantime the duties of the executive office were assumed by 
William Clark. The Legislature accordingly met, as required by the 
Acting-Governor's proclamation, in July, but its proceedings were 
never officially published. Consequently but little is known in refer- 
ence to the workings of the first Territorial Legislature in Missouri. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 29 

From the imperfect account, jDublished in the Missouri Gazette, of 
that day; a paper which had been in existence since 1808, it is found 
that laws were passed regulating and establishing weights and meas- 
ures ; creating the office of Sheriff; providing the manner for taking 
the census ; permanently fixing the seats of Justices, and an act to 
compensate its own members. At this session, laws were also passed 
defining crimes and penalties ; laws in reference to forcible entry and 
detainer ; establishing Courts of Common Pleas ; incorporating the 
Bank of St. Louis ; and organizing a part of Ste. Genevieve county 
into the county of Washington. 

The next session of the Legislature convened in St. Louis, Decem- 
ber 6, 1813. George Bullet of Ste. Genevieve county, was speaker 
elect, and Andrew Scott, clerk, and William Sullivan, doorkeeper. 
Since the adjournment of the former Legislature, several vacancies 
had occurred, and new members had been elected to fill their places. 
Among these was Israel McCready, from the county of Washington. 

The president of the legislative council was Samuel Hammond. 
No journal of the council was officially published, but the proceedings 
of the house are found in the Gazette. 

At this session of the Legislature many wise and useful laws were 
passed, having reference to the temporal as well as the moral and 
spiritual welfare of the people. Laws were enacted for the suppres- 
sion of vice and immorality on the Sabbath day ; for the improve- 
ment of public roads and highways ; creating the offices of auditor, 
treasurer and county surveyor ; regulating the fiscal affairs of the 
Territory and fixing the boundary lines of New Madrid, Cape Girar- 
deau, Washington and St. Charles counties. The Legislature ad- 
journed on the 19th of January, 1814, sine die. 

The population of the Territory as shown by the United States 
census in 1810, was 20,845. The census taken by the Legislature in 
1814 gave the Territory a population of 25,000. This enumeration 
shows the county of St. Louis contained the greatest number of in- 
habitants, and the new county of Arkansas the least — the latter hav- 
ing 827, and the former 3,149. 

The candidates for delegate to Congress were Rufus Eastoa, Samuel 
Hammond, Alexander McNair and Thomas F. Riddick. Rufus 
Easton and Samuel Hammond had been candidates at the preceding 
election. In all the counties, excepting Arkansas, the votes aggre- 
gated 2,599, of which number Mr. Easton received 965, Mr. Ham- 



30 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

mond 746, Mr. McNair 853, and Mr. Riddick (who had withdrawn 
previously to the election) 35. Mr. Easton was elected. 

The census of 1814 showing a large increase in the population of 
the Territory, an appointment was made increasing the number of 
Representatives in the Territorial Legislature to twenty-two. The 
General Assembly began its session in St. Louis, December 5, 1814. 
There were present on the first day twenty Representatives. James 
Caldwell of Ste. Genevieve county was elected speaker, and Andrew 
Scott who had been clerk of the preceding assembly, was chosen 
clerk. The President of the Council was William Neeley, of Cape 
Girardeau county. 

It appeared that James Maxwell, the absent member of the Council, 
and Seth Emmons, member elect of the House of Representatives, 
were dead. The county of Lawrence was organized at this session, 
from the western part of New Madrid county, and the corporate 
powers of St. Louis were enlarged. In 1815 the Territorial Legisla- 
ture ao-ain began its session. Only a partial report of its proceedings 
are o-iven in the Gazette. The county of Howard was then organized 
from St. Louis and St. Charles counties, and included all that part of 
the State lying north of the Osage and south of the dividing ridge 
between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. (For precise bounda- 
ries, see Chapter I. of the History of Boone County.) 

The next session of the Territorial Legislature commenced its ses- 
sion in December, 1816. During the sitting of this Legislature many 
important acts were passed. It was then that the " Bank of Mis- 
souri " was chartered and went into operation. In the fall of 1817 the 
"Bank of St. Louis" and the "Bank of Missouri" were issuing 
bills. An act was passed chartering lottery companies, chartering 
the academy at Potosi, and incorporating a board of trustees for 
superintending the schools in the town of St. Louis. Laws were also 
passed to encourage the " killing of wolves, panthers and wild-cats." 

The Territorial Legislature met again in December, 1818, and, 
among other things, organized the counties of Pike, Cooper, Jeffer- 
son, Franklin, Wayne, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery, and three 
counties in the Southern part of Arkansas. In 1819 the Territory of 
Arkansas was formed into a separate government of its own. 

The people of the Territory of Missouri had been, for some time, 
anxious that their Territory should assume the duties and responsibilities 
of a sovereign State. Since 1812, the date of the organization of the 
Territory, the population had rapidly increased, many counties had 



HISTORY OP MISSOQRI. 31 

been established, its commerce had grown into importance, its agri- 
cultural and mineral resources were being developed, and believing 
that its admission into the Union as a State would give fresh impetus 
to all these interests, and hasten its settlement, the Territorial Legis- 
lature of 1818-19 accordingly made application to Congress for the 
passage of an act authorizing the people of Missouri to organize a State 
government. 



CHAPTER YI. 



Application of Missouri to be admitted into the Union — Agitation of the Slavery 
Question — " Missouri Compromise " — Constitutional Convention of 1820 — Con- 
stitution presented to Congress — Further Resistance to Admission — Mr. Clay and 
his Committee make Report — Second Compromise — Missouri Admitted. 

With the application of the Territorial Legislature of Missouri for 
her admission into the Union, commenced the real agitation of the 
slavery question in the United States. 

Not only was our National Legislature the theater of angry discus- 
sions, but everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the Re- 
public the "Missouri Question" was the all-absorbing theme. The 
political skies threatened, 

" In forked flashes, a commanding tempest,'* 

Which was liable to burst upon the nation at any moment. Through 
such a crisis our country seemed destined to pass. The question as to 
the admission of Missouri was to be the beginning of this crisis, which 
distracted the public counsels of the nation for more than forty years 
afterward. ^ 

Missouri asked to be admitted into the great family of States. 
*' Lower Louisiana," her twin sister Territory, had knocked at the 
door of the Union eight years previously, and was admitted as stipu- 
lated by Napoleon, to all the rights, privileges and immunities of a 
State, and in accordance with the stipulations of the same treaty, 
Missouri now sought to be clothed with the same rights, privileges 
and immunities. 

As what is known in the history of the United States as the ** Mis- 
souri Compromise," of 1820, takes rank among the most prominent 



32 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

measures that had up to that day engaged the attention of our 
National Legislature, we shall enter somewhat into its details, being 
connected as they are with the annals of the State. 

February 15th, 1819. — After the Hquse had resolved itself into a 
Committee of the Whole on the bill to authorize the admission of Mis- 
souri into the Union, and after the question of her admission had been 
discussed for some time, Mr. Tallmadge, of New York, moved to 
amend the bill, by adding to it the following proviso : — 

^^And Provided, That the further introduction of slavery or involun- 
tary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of crime, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and that all chil- 
dren born within the said State, after the admission thereof into the 
Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five years." 

As might have been expected, this proviso precipitated the angry 
discussions which lasted nearly three years, finally culminating in the 
Missouri Compromise. All phases of the slavery question were pre- 
sented, not in its moral and social aspects, but as a great constitu- 
tional question, affecting Missouri and the admission of future States. 
The proviso, when submitted to a vote, was adopted — 79 to 67, and 
so reported to the House. 

Hon. John Scott, who was at that time a delegate from the Terri- 
tory of Missouri, was not permitted to vote, but as such delegate he 
had the privilege of participating in the debates which followed. On 
the 16th day of February the proviso was taken up and discussed. 
After several speeches had been made, among them one by Mr. Scott 
and one by the author of the proviso, Mr. Tallmadge, the amendment, 
or proviso, was divided into two parts, and voted upon. The first 
part of it, which included all to the word *' convicted," was adopted — 
87 to 76. The remaining part was then voted upon, and also 
adopted, by 82 to 78. By a vote of 97 to 56 the bill was ordered to 
be engrossed for a third reading. 

The Senate Committee, to whom the bill was referred, reported the 
same to the Senate on the 19th of February, when that body voted 
first upon a motion to strike out of the proviso all after the word 
'« convicted," which was carried by a vote of 32 to 7. It then voted 
to strike out the first entire clause, which prevailed — 22 to 16, 
thereby defeating the proviso. 

The House declined to concur in the action of the Senate, and the 
bill was again returned to that body, which in turn refused to recede 
from its position. The bill was lost and Congress adjourned. This 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 33 

was most unfortunate for the country. The people having already 
been wrought up to fever heat over the agitation of the question in 
the National Councils, now became intensely excited. The press 
added fuel to the flame, and the progress of events seemed rapidly 
tending to the downfall of our nationality. 

A long interval of nine months was to ensue before the meeting of 
Congress. The body indicated by its vote upon the ♦' Missouri Ques- 
tion," that the two great sections of the country were politically 
divided upon the subject of slavery. The restrictive clause, which it 
was sought to impose upon Missouri as a condition of her admission, 
would in all probability, be one of the conditions of the admission of 
the Territory of Arkansas. The public mind was in a state of great 
doubt and uncertainty up to the meeting of Congress, which took 
place on the 6th of December, 1819. The memorial of the Legisla- 
tive Council and House of Representatives of the Missouri Territory, 
praying for admission into the Union, was presented to the Senate 
by Mr. Smith, of South Carolina. It was referred to the Judiciary 
Committee. 

Some three weeks having passed without any action thereon by the 
Senate, the bill was taken up and discussed by the House until the 
19th of February, when the bill from the Senate for the admission of 
Maine was considered. The bill for the admission of Maine included 
the ** Missouri Question," by an amendment which read as follows i 

**And be it further enacted. That in all that territory ceded by 
France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, wkich lies 
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, north latitude (except- 
ing such part thereof as is) included within the limits of the State, 
contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, other- 
wise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have 
been convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited ; Provided y 
always^ That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or 
service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Territory of the United , 
States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the 
person claiming his or her labor or services as aforesaid." 

The Senate adopted this amendment, which formed the basis of the 
** Missouri Compromise," modified afterward by striking out the 
words, '* excepting only such part thereof ^ 

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 24 to 20. On the 2d day of 
March the Hoiise took up the bill and amendments for consideration, 
amd by a vote of 134 to 42 concurred in the Senate amendnawit, and 



34 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

the bill being passed by the two Houses, constituted section 8, of 
•*An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri Territory to form a 
Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such 
State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and 
to prohibit slavery in certain territory." 

This act was approved March 6, 1820. Missouri then contained fif- 
teen organized counties. By act of Congress the people of said State 
were authorized to hold an election on the first Monday, and two suc- 
ceeding days thereafter in May, 1820, to select representatives to a 
State convention. This convention met in St. Louis on the 12th of 
June, following the election in May, and concluded its labors on the 
19th of July, 1820. David Barton was its President, and Wm. G. 
Pettis, Secretary. There were forty-one members of this convention, 
men of ability and statesmanship, as the admirable constitution which 
they framed amply testifies. Their names and the counties repre- 
sented by them are as follows : — 

Cape Girardeau. — Stephen Byrd, James Evans, Richard S. 
Thomas, Alexander Buckner and Joseph McFerron. 

Cooper. — Robert P. Clark, Robert Wallace, Wm. Lillard. 

Franklin. — John G. Heath. 

Howard. — Nicholas S. Burkhart, Duff Green, John Ray, Jonathan 
S. Findley, Benj. H. Reeves. 

Jefferson. — Daniel Hammond. 

Lincoln. — Malcom Henry. 

Montgomery. — Jonathan Ramsey, James Talbott. 

Madison. — Nathaniel Cook. 

New Madrid. — Robert S. Dawson, Christopher G. Houts. 

Pike. — Stephen Cleaver. 

St. Charles. — Benjamin Emmons, Nathan Boone, Hiram H. Baber. 

Ste. Genevieve. — John D. Cook, Henry Dodge, John Scott, R. T. 
Brown. 

8t. Louis. — David Barton, Edward Bates, Alexander McNair, 
Wm. Rector, John C. Sullivan, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., Bernard Pratte, 
Thomas F. Riddick. 

Washington. — John Rice Jones, Samuel Perry, John Hutchings. 

Wayne. — Elijah Bettis. 

On the 13th of November, 1820, Congress met again, and on the 
sixth of the same month Mr. Scott, the delegate from Missouri, pre- 
sented to the House the Constitution as framed by the convention. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 35 

The same was referred to a select committee, who made thereon a 
favorable report. 

The admission of the State, however, was resisted, because it was 
claimed that its constitution sanctioned slavery, and authorized the 
Legislature to pass laws preventing free negroes and mulattoes from 
settling in the State. The report of the committee to whom was 
referred the Constitution of Missouri was accompanied by a preamble 
and resolutions, offered by Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina. The 
preamble and resolutions were stricken out. 

The application of the State for admission shared the same fate in 
the Senate. The question was referred to a select committee, who, 
on the 29th of November, reported in favor of admitting the State. 
The debate, which followed, continued for two weeks, and finally Mr. 
Eaton, of Tennessee, peered an amendment to the resolution as fol- 
lows : — 

*' Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as 
to give the assent of Congress to any provision in the Constitution of 
Missouri, if any such there be, which contravenes that clause in the 
Constitution of the United States, which declares that the citizens of 
each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several States." 

The resolution, as amended, was adopted. The resolution and 
proviso were again taken up and discussed at great length, when the 
committee agreed to report the resolution to the House. 

The question on agreeing to the amendment, as reported from the 
committee of the whole, was lost in the House. A similar resolution 
afterward passed the Senate, but was again rejected in the House. 
Then it was that that great statesman and pure patriot, Henry Clay, 
of Kentucky, feeling that the hour had come when angry discussions 
should ceasci 

" With grave 
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd ' 
A pillar of state ; deep on his front engravei 
Deliberation sat and public care ; 
And princely counsel in his face yet shone 
Majestic" •♦•♦*• 

proposed that the question of Missouri's admission be referred to a 
committee consisting of twenty-three persons (a number equal to the 
number of States then composing the Union), be appointed to act in 
conjunction with a committee of the Senate to consider and report 
■whether Missouri should be admitted, etc. 



36 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

The motion prevailed ; the committee was appointed and Mr. Clay 
made its chairman. The Senate selected seven of its members to art 
with the committee of twenty-tbree, and on the 26th of February the 
following report was made by that committee : — 

*' Eesolved, by the Senate and House of Eepresentatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled : That Missouri shall 
be admitted into the Union, on an equal footing with the original 
States, in all respects whatever, upon the fundamental condition that 
the fourth clause, of the twenty-sixth section of the third article of 
the Constitution submitted on the part of said State to Congress, shall 
never be construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no 
law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen of 
either of the States in this Union shall be excluded from the enjoy- 
ment of any of the privileges and immunities ip which such citizen is 
entitled, under the Constitution of the United States ; provided. That 
the Legislature of said State, by a Solemn Public Act, shall declare 
the assent of the said State, to the said fundamental condition, and 
shall transmit to the President of the United States, on or before the 
fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said act ; 
upon the receipt whereof, the President, by proclamation, shall an- 
nounce the fact; whereupon, and without any further proceeding on 
the part of Congress, the admission of the said State into the Union 
shall be considered complete.*' 

This resolution, after a brief debate, was adopted in the House, and 
passed the Senate on the 28th of February, 1821. 

At a special session of the Legislature held in St. Charles, in June 
following, a Solemn Public Act was adopted, giving its assent to the 
conditions of admission, as expressed in the resolution of Mr. Clay. 
August 10th, 1821, President Monroe announced by proclamation the 
admission of Missouri into the Union to be complete. 



i 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 37 

CHAPTER YII. 
MISSOURI AS A STATE. 

First Election for Governor and other State Officers — Senators and Representatives to 
General Assembly — Sheriffs and Coroners — U. S. Senators — Representatives in 
Cojgress — Supreme Court Judges — Counties Organized — Capital Moved to St. 
Charles — Ofl3cial Record of Territorial and State Officers. 

By the Constitution adopted by the Convention on the 19th of July, 
1820, the General Assembly was required to meet in St. Louis on the 
third Monday in September of that year, and an election was ordered 
to be held on the 28th of August for the election of a Governor and 
other State officex's, Senators and Representatives to the General 
Assembly, Sheriffs and Coroners, United States Senators and Repre- 
sentatives in Congress. 

It will be seen that Missouri had not as yet been admitted as a 
State, but in anticipation of that event, and according to the provi- 
sions of the constitution, the election was held, and the General As- 
sembly convened. 

William Clark (who had been Governor of the Territory) and 
Alexander McNair were the candidates for Governor. McNair re- 
ceived 6,576 votes, Clark 2,556, total vote of the State 9,132. There 
were three candidates for Lieutenant-Governor, to wit : William H. 
Ashley, Nathaniel Cook and Henry Elliot. Ashley received 3,907 
votes. Cook 3,212, Elliot 931. A Representative was to be elected 
for the residue of the Sixteenth Congress and one for the Seventeenth. 
John Scott who was at the time Territorial delegate, was elected to 
both Congresses without opposition. 

The General Assembly elected in August met on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, 1820, and organized by electing James Caldwell, of Ste. 
Genevieve, speaker, and John McArthur clerk ; William H. Ashley, 
Lieutenant-Governor, President of the Senate ; Silas Bent, President, 
pro tern. 

Mathias McGirk, John D. Cook, and John R. Jones were appointed 
Supreme Judges, each to hold office until sixty-five years of age, 

Joshua Barton was appointed Secretary of State; Peter Didier, 
State Treasurer; Edward Bates, Attorney-General, and William 
Christie, Auditor of Public Accounts. 



38 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



David Barton and Thomas H. Benton were elected by the General 
Assembly to the United States Senate. 

At this session of the Legislature the counties of Boone, Callaway, 
Chariton, Cole, Gasconade, Lillard, Perry, Ralls, Ray and Saline 
were organized. 

We should like to give in details the meetings and proceedings of 
the different Legislatures which followed ; the elections for Govern- 
ors and other State officers ; the elections for Congressmen and United 
States Senators, but for want of space we can only present in a con- 
densed form the official record of the Territorial and State officers. 



FFICIAL RECORD — TERRITORIAL 0FFICER8. 

Governors. 
Frederick Bates, Secretary and William Clark . . 

Acting-Governor .... 1812-13 

OFFICERS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 



Governors. 

Alexander McNair 1820-24 

Frederick Bates 1824-26 

Abraham J. "Williams, vice 

Bates 1825 

John Miller, vice Bates . . . 1826-28 

John Miller 1828-32 

Daniel Dunklin, (1832-36) re- 
signed; appointed Surveyor 
General of the U. S. Lilburn 

W. Boggs, vice Dunklin . . 1836 

Lilburn W. Boggs 1836-40 

Thomas Reynolds (died 1844), . 1840-44 
M- M. Marmaduke vice Rey- 
nolds — John 0. Edwards . 1844-48 
Austin A. King . . • . 1848-52 

Sterling Price 1852-56 

Trusten Polk (resigned) . . . 1856-57 

Hancock Jackson, vice Polk . 1857 

Robert M. Stewart, vice Polk . 1857-60 
C. F. Jackson (1860), office va- 
cated by ordinance; Hamil- 
ton R. Gamble, vice Jackson ; 
Gov. Gamble died 1864. 

Willard P. Hall, vice Gamble . 1864 

Thomas C. Fletcher .... 1864-68 

Joseph W. McClurg .... 1868-70 

B. Gratz Brown 1870-72 

Silas Woodson 1872-74 

Charles H. Hardin 1874-76 

Johns. Phelps 1876-80 

Thomas T. Crittenden (now 

Governor) . 1880 



L ieuienant- Governors, 
William H. Ashley 
Benjamin H. Reeves 
Daniel Dunklin . 
Lilburn W. Boggs 
Franklin Cannon 
M. M. Marmaduke 
James Young . 
Thomas L Rice. 
Wilson Brown . 
Hancock Jackson 
Thomas C. Reynold 
Willard P. Hall 
George Smith 
Edwin O. Stanard 
Joseph J. Gravelly. 
Charles P. Johnson 
Norman J. Coleman 
Henry C. Brockmeyer 
Robert A. Campbell (present 
incumbent) 



Secretaries of State, 



•Joshua Barton . . 

William G. Pettis . 

Hamilton R. Gamble 

Spencer Pettis . . 

P. H. McBride . . 

John C. Edwards (term expired 
1835, reappointed 1837, re 
signed 1837) 

Peter G. Glover 

James L. Minor 



1813-20 



1820-24 
1824-28 
1828-32 
1832-36 
1836-40 
1840-44 
1844-48 
1848-52 
1852-55 
1855-56 
1860-61 
1861-64 
1864-68 
1868-70 
1870-72 
1872-74 
1874-76 
1876-80 

1880 



1820-21 
1821-24 
1824-26 
1826-28 
1829-30 



1830-87 
1837-39 
1839-45 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



39 



OFPICBRS OF 

P. H. Martin 

Ephraim B, Ewing . . .. 
John M. Richardson .... 
Benjamin F. Massey (re-elected 

1860, for four years). . . . 

Mordecai Oliver 

Francis Rodman (re-elected 18G8 

for two years) 

Eugene F. Weigel, (re-elected 

1872, for two years) .... 
Michael K. McGrath (present 

incumbent) 

State Treasurers. 

Peter Didier 

Nathaniel Simonds .... 

James Earickson 

John Walker 

Abraham McClellan .... 
Peter G. Glover 

A. W. Morrison 

George 0. Bingham .... 

William Bishop 

William Q. Dallmeyer . . . 

Samuel Hays 

Harvey W. Salmon .... 

Joseph W. Mercer 

Elijah Gates 

Phillip E. Chappell (present in- 
cumbent) 

Attomey-Qenerals, 

Edward Bates 

Rufus Easton 

Robt. W. Wella 

William B. Napton .... 
8. M. Bay 

B. F. Stringfellow 

William A. Robards .... 
James B. Gardenhiro .... 
Ephraim W. Ewing .... 

James P. Knott 

Aikman Welch ...... 

Thomas T. Crittenden . . . 

Robert F. Wingate 

Horace P. Johnson 

A. J. Baker 

Henry Clay Ewing 

John A, Hockaday 

Jackson L. Smith 

D. H. Mclntire (present in- 
cumbent) 



STATE GOVERNMENT — Continued. 



1845-49 
1849-52 
1852-66 

1856-60 
1861-64 

1864-68 

1870-72 

1874 



1820-21 

1821-28 

1829-33 

1833-38 

1838-43 

1843-51 

1851-60 

1862-64 

1864-68 

1868-70 

1872 

1872-74 

1874-76 

1876-80 



1880 



1820-21 

1821-26 

1826-36 

1836-39 

1839-45 

1845-49 

1849-51 

1851-56 

1856-59 

1859-61 

1861-64 

1864 

1864-68 

1868-70 

1870-72 

1872-74 

1874-76 

1876-80 

1880 



Auditors of Public Accounts. 

William Christie 1820-21 

William V. Rector .... 1821-23 

Elias Barcroft 1823-33 

Henry Shurlds ....... 1833-35 

Peter G. Glover 1835-37 

Hiram H. Baber 1837-45 

William Monroe 1845 

J. R. McDermon 1845-48 

George W. Miller 1848^9 

Wilson Brown ...... 1849-62 

William H. Buffington . . . 1852-60 

William S. Moseley .... 1860-64 

Alonzo Thompson 1864-68 

Daniel M. Draper 1868-72 

George B. Clark 1872-74 

Thomas Holladay 187 -80 

John Walker (present incum- 
bent) 1880 

Judges of Supreme Court. 

Matthias McGirk 1822-41 

John D. Cooke 1822-23 

John R. Jones 1822-24 

Rufus Pettibone 1823-25 

Geo. Tompkins 1824-45 

Robert Wash 1825-37 

John 0. Edwards 1837-39 

Wm. Scott, (appointed 1841 till 
meeting of General Assem- 
bly in place of McGirk, re- 
signed; reappointed . . . 1843 

P. H. McBride 1845 

Wm. B. Napton 1849-62 

John P. Ryland 1849-51 

John H. Birch 1849-61 

Wm. Scott, John F. Ryland, 
and Hamilton R. Gamble 
(elected by the people, for six 

years) 1851 

Gamble (resigned) 1854 

Abiel Leonard elected to fill va- 
cancy of Gamble. 
Wm. B. Napton (vacated by 

failure to file oath). 
Wm. Scott and John C. Rich- 
ardson (resigned, elected Au- 
gust, for six years) .... 1867 
E. B. Ewing, (to fill Richard- 

son's resignation) .... 1859 
Barton Bates (appointed) . . 1862 
W. V. N. Bay (appointed) . . 1862 



40 



HISTORY OP MISSOURI, 



OFFICERS OF 


STATB G 


John D. S. Dryden (appointed) 


1862 


Barton Bates 


1863-65 


W. V. N. Bay (elected) . . . 


1863 


John D. S. Dryden (elected) . 


1863 


David Wagner (appointed) . . 


1865 


\Vallace L. Lovelace (appoint- 




ed) 


1865 


Nathaniel Holmes (appointed) 


1865 


Thomas J. C. Fagg (appointed) 


1866 


James Baker (appointed) , , 


1868 


David Wagner (elected) . , . 


1868-70 


Philemon Bliss 


1868-70 


Warren Currier 


1868-71 


Washington Adams (appointed 




to fill Currier's place, who re- 




signed) 


1871 


Ephraim B. Ewing (elected) . 


1872 


Thomas A. Sherwood (elected) 


1872 


W. B. Napton (appointed in 




place of Ewing, deceased) . 


1873 


Edward A. Lewis (appointed. 




in place of Adams, resigned) 


1874 


Warwick Hough (elected) . . 


1874 


William B. Napton (elected) . 


1874-80 


John VV. Henry 


1876-86 


Robert D. Eay succeeded Wm. 




B. Napton in 


1880 


Elijah H. Norton (appointed in 




1876), elected 


1878 


T. A. Sherwood (re-elected) 


1882 


United States Senators. 




T. H. Benton 


1820-50 


D. Barton 


1820-30 


Alex. Buckner 


1830-33 


L. F. Linn 


1833-43 


D. K. Atchison 


1843-55 


H. S. Geyer 


1851-57 


James S. Green 


1857-61 


T. Polk 


1857-63 
1861 


Waldo P. Johnson 


Robert Wilson 


1861 


B. Gratz Brown (for unexpired 




term of Johnson) .... 


1863 


J. B. Henderson 


1863-69 


Charles D. Drake 


1867-70 


Carl Schurz 


1869-75 


D. F. Jewett (in place of Drake, 




resigned) ....... 


1870 


F.P.Blair 


1871-77 


L. V.Bogy 


1873 


James Shields (elected for unex- 




pired term of Bogy) . . . 


1879 



STATB GOVERNMENT — Continued, 

D. H. Armstrong appointed for 

unexpired term of Bogy. 
F. M. Cockrell (re-elected 1881) 1876-81 
George G. Vest 1879 

Representatives to Congress. 

John Scott 1820-25 

Ed. Bates 1826-28 

Spencer Pettis 1828-31 

William H. Ashley .... 1831-36 

John Bull 1832-34 

Albert G. Harrison 1834-39 

John Miller 1836-42 

John Jameson (re-elected 1846 

for two years) 1839-44 

John C. Edwards 1840-42 

James M. Hughes 1842-44 

James H.Relfe 1842-46 

James B. Bowlin 1842-50 

Gustavus M. Bower .... 1842-44 

Sterling Price 1844-46 

William McDaniel 1846 

Leonard H. Sims 1844-46 

John S. Phelps 1844-60 

James S. Green (re-elected 

1856, resigned) 1846-50 

Willard P. Hall 1846-53 

William V. N. Bay .... 1848-61 

John F. Darby 1850-53 

Gilchrist Porter 1850-57 

John G. Miller 1850-56 

Alfred W. Lamb 1852-54 

Thomas H. Benton 1852-54 

Mordecai Oliver 1852-57 

James J. Lindley 1852-66 

Samuel Caruthers 1852-58 

Thomas P. Akers (to fill unex- 
pired term of J. G. Miller, 

deceased) 1855 

Francis P. Blair, Jr. (re-elected 

1860, resigned) 1856 

Thomas L. Anderson .... 1856-60 

James Craig 1856-60 

Samuel H. Woodson .... 1856-60 

John B. Clark, Sr 1857-61 

J. Richard Barrett 1860 

John W.Noel 1858-63 

James S. Rollins 1860-64 

Elijah H. Norton 1860-63 

JohnW.Reid 1860-61 

William A. Hall 1862-64 

Thomas L. Price (in place of 
Reid, expelled) 1862 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



.41 



OFFICBRS OP 

Henry T. Blow 

Sempronius T. Boyd, (elected in 

1862, and again in 1868, for 

two years.) 
Joseph W. McClurg . . • . 
Austin A. King ...... 

Benjamin F. Loan 

John G. Scott (in place of Noel, 

deceased) 

John Hogan .... . . 

Thomas F. Noel 

John K. Kelsoe 

Robert T, Van Horn . . . 
John P. Benjamin ..... 
George W. Anderson .... 

William A. Pile 

C. A. Newcomb 

Joseph J. Gravelly 

James R. McComiack . . . 
John H. Stover (in place of 

McClurg, resigned) ... 

Erastus Wells 

G. A. Finklenburg, . . 

Samuel S. Burdett 

Joel F. Asper 

David P. Dyer 

Harrison E. Havens .... 

Isaac G. Parker 

James G. Blair 

Andrew King 

Edwin O. Stanard 

William H. Stone 

Robert A. Hatcher (elected) . 

Richard B. Bland 

Thomas T. Crittenden . „ . 

Ira B.Hyde 

John B. Clark, Jr. 

John M. Glover 



STATK GOVEBITMENT — Cotliinuedm 



1862-66 



1862-66 
1862-64 
1862-69 

1863 

1864-66 

1864-67 

1864-66 

1864-71 

1864-71 

1864-69 

1866-68 

1866-68 

1866-68 

1866-73 

1867 

1868-82 

1868-71 

1868-71 

1868-70 

1868-70 

1870-75 

1870-75 

1870-72 

1870-72 

1872-74 

1872-78 

1872 

1872 

1872-74 

1872-74 

1872-78 

1872 



Aylett H. Buckner 1872 

Edward C. Kerr 1874-78 

Charles H. Morgan .... 1874 

John F. Philips 1874 

B. J. Franklin ....... 1874 

David Rea 1874 

Rezin A. De Bolt 1874 

Anthony Ittner 1876 

Nathaniel Cole 1876 

Robert A. Hatcher 1876-78 

R. P. Bland 1876-78 

A. H. Buckner 1876-78 

J. B. Clark, Jr. 1876-78 

T. T. Crittenden 1876-78 

B. J. Franklin 1876-78 

John M. Glover 1876-78 

Robert A. Hatcher 1876-78 

Chas. H. Morgan 1876-78 

L. S. Metcalf 1876-78 

H.M. Pollard 1876-78 

David Rea 1876-78 

S. L. Sawyer 1878-80 

N. Ford 1878-82 

G, F. Rothwell 1878-82 

John B. Clark, Jr 1878-82 

W. H. Hatch 1878-82 

A. H. Buckner 1878-82 

M. L. Clardy 1878-82 

R. G.Frost 1878-82 

L.H.Davis 1878-82 

R. P. Bland 1878-82 

J. R. Waddell 1878-80 

T.Allen 1880-82 

R. Hazeltine 1880-82 

T. M. Rice 1880-82 

R.T. Van Horn 1880-82 

Nicholas Ford 1880-82 

J. G. Burrows 1880-82 



COtTNTIES 

Adair January 29, 

Andrew January 29, 

Atchison January 14, 

Audrain December 17, 

Barry January 5, 

Barton December 12, 

Bates January 29, 

Benton Januarys, 

Bollinger March 1, 

Boone November 16, 

Buchanan February 10, 



— WHEN ORGANIZED. 
1841 

1841 
1845 
1836 
1835 
1835 
1841 
1835 
1851 
1820 
1839 



Caldwell December 26, 1836 

Callaway November 25, 1820 

Camden January 29, 1841 

Cape Girardeau October 1, 1812 

Carroll Januarys, 1833 

Carter March 10, 1859 

Cass September 14, 1835 

Cedar February 14, 1845 

Chariton November 16, 1820 

Christian March 8, 1860 

Clark December 15. 1818 



42 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



COUNTIES, VTHEN ORGANIZED — Continued. 



Butler February 27, 1849 

Clay January 2, 1822 

Clinton January 15, 1833 

Cole November 16, 1820 

Cooper December 17, 1818 

Crawford « January 23, 1829 

Dade January 29, 1841 

Dallas December 10, 1844 

Daviess December 29, 1836 

DeKalb February 25, 1845 

Dent February 10, 1851 

Douglas October 19, 1857 

Tunklin February 14, 1845 

Franklin December 11, 1818 

Gasconade November 25, 1820 

Gentry February 12, 1841 

Greene January 2, 1833 

Grundy January 2, 1843 

Harrison February 14, 1845 

Henry December 13, 1834 

Hickory February 14, 1845 

Holt February 15, 1841 

Howard January 23, 1816 

Howell March 2, 1857 

Iron .February 17, 1857 

Jackson December 15, 1826 

Jasper January 29, 1841 

JeflPerson December 8, 1818 

Johnson December 13, 1834 

Knox February 14, 1845 

Laclede February 24, 1849 

Lafayette November 16, 1820 

Lawrence February 25, 1845 

Lewis January 2, 1833 

Lincoln December 14, 1818 

Linn January 7, 1837 

Livingston January 6, 1837 

McDonald March 8, 1849 

Macon January 6, 1837 

Madison December 14, 1818 

Maries March 2, 1855 

Marion December 23, 1826 

Mercer. February 14, 1845 

Miller February 6, 1837 

Mississippi February 14, 1845 

Moniteau February 14, 1846 



Monroe January 6, 1831 

Montgomery December 14, 1818 

Morgan January 5, 1833 

New Madrid October 1, 1812 

Newton Docfmber 31, 1838 

Nodaway February 14, 1845 

Oregon...,,... February 14, 1845 

Osage January 29, 1841 

Ozark January 29, 1841 

Pemiscot February 19, 1861 

Perry November 16, 1820 

Pettis January 26, 1833 

Phelps November 13, 1857 

Pike December 14, 1818 

Platte December 31, 1838 

Polk March 13, 1835 

Pulaski December 16, 1818 

Putnam February 28, 1845 

Kails November 16, 1820 

Randolph January 22, 1829 

Ray. November 16, 1820 

Reynolds February 25, 1845 

Ripley January 6, 1833 

St. Charles October 1, 1812 

St. Clair January 29, 1841 

St. Francois December 19, 1821 

Ste. Genevieve October 1, 1812 

SU Louia October 1, 1812 

Saline November 25, 1820 

Schuyler February 14, 1846 

Scotland January 29, 1841 

Scott December 28, 1821 

Shannon January 29, 1841 

Shelby January 2, 1835 

Stoddard January 2, 1835 

Stone February 10, 1851 

Sullivan February 16, 1845 

Taney January 16, 1837 

Texas February 14, 1835 

Vernon February 17, 1851 

Warren January 5, 1833 

Washington August 21, 1813 

Wayne December 11, 1818 

Webster March 3, 1855 

Worth February 8, 1861 

Wright January 29, 1841 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 43 

CHAPTEK VIII. 
CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI. 

Fort Sumter flred upon— Call for 76,000 men— Gov, Jackson refuses to furnish a 
man — U. S. Arsenal at Liberty, Mo., seized — Proclamation of Gov. Jackson- 
General Order No. 7 — Legislature convenes — Camp Jackson organized — Sterling 

Price appointed Major-General — Frost's letter to Lyon — Lyon's letter to Frost 

Surrender of Camp Jackson — Proclamation of Gen. Harney — Conference between 
Price and Harney — Harney superseded by Lyon — Second Conference — Gov. Jack- 
eon burns the bridges behind him — Proclamation of Gov. Jackson — Gen. Blair 

takes possession of Jefferson City — Proclamation of Lyon — Lyon at Springfield 

State offices declared vacant — Gen. Fremont assumes command — Proclamation ol 
Lieut.-Gov. Reynolds — Proclamation of Jeff. Thompson and Gov. Jackson — Death 
of Gen. Lyon — Succeeded by Sturgis — Proclamation of McCuUoch and Gamble — 
Martial law declared — Second proclamation of Jeff. Thompson — President modi- 
fies Fremont's order — Fremont relieved by Hunter — Proclamation of Price- Hun- 
ter's Order of Assessment — Hunter declares Martial Law — Order relating to 
Newspapers — Halleck succeeds Hunter — Halleck's Order 81 — Similar order by 
Halleck — Boone County Standard confiscated — Execution of prisoners at Macon 
and Palmyra— Gen. Ewing's Order No. 11 —Gen. Rosecrans takes command— Mas- 
sacre at Centralia — Death of Bill Anderson — Gen. Dodge succeeds Gen. Rose- 
crans — List of Battles. 

" Lastly stood war — 
With visage grim, stern looks, and blackly hued, 

Ah! why will kings forget that they are men? 
And men that they are brethren? Why delight 
In human sacrifice? Why burst the ties 
Of nature, that should knit their souls together 
In one soft bond of amity and love?" 

Fort Sumter was fired upon April 12, 1861. On April 15th, Presi- 
dent Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 men, from the 
the militia of the several States, to suppress combinations in the South- 
ern States therein named. Simultaneously therewith, the Secretary of 
War sent a telegram to all the governors of the States, excepting 
those mentioned in the proclamation, requesting them to detail a cer- 
tain number of militia to serve for three months, Missouri's quota 
being four regiments. 

In response to this telegram. Gov. Jackson sent the following answer : 

Executive Department of Missouri, 
Jefferson City, April 17, 1861. 
7\> the Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washington, D.C.: 
Sir: Your dispatch of the 15th inst., making a call on Missouri for 



44 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

four regiments of men for immediate service, has been received. There 
can be, I apprehend, no doubt but these men are intended to form a 
part of the President's army to make war upon the people of the 
seceded States. Your requisition, in ray judgment, is illegal, unconsti- 
tutional, and can not be complied with. Not one man will the State of 
Missouri furnish to carry on such an unholy war. 

C. F. Jackson, 

Governor of Missouri. 

April 21, 1861. U. S. Arsenal at Liberty was seized by order oi 
Governor Jackson. 

April 22, 1861. Governor Jackson issued a proclamation convening 
the Legislature of Missouri, on May following, in extra session, to take 
into consideration the momentous issues which were presented, and 
the attitude to be assumed by the State in the impending struggle. 

On the 22nd of April, 1861, the Adjutant-General of Missouri issued 
the following military order : 

Headquarters Adjutant-General's Office, Mo., 
Jefferson City, April 22, 1861. 
{General Ordei-s JSfo. 7.) 

I. To attain a greater degree of efficiency and perfection in organ- 
ization and discipline, the Commanding Officers of the several Military 
districts in this State, having four or more legally organized compa- 
nies therein, whose armories are within fifteen miles of each other, will 
assemble their respective commands at some place to be by them sever- 
ally designated, on the 3rd day of May, and to go into an encampment 
for a period of six days, as provided by law. Captains of companies 
not organized into battalions will report the strength of their compa- 
nies immediately to these headquarters, and await further orders. 

II. The Quartermaster-General will procure and issue to Quarter- 
masters of Districts, for these commands not now provided for, all 
necessary tents and camp equipage, to enable the commanding officers 
thereof to carry the foregoing orders into effect. 

III. The Light Battery now attached to the Southwest Battalion, 
and one company of mounted riflemen, including all officers and sol- 
diers belonging to the First District, will proceed forthwith to St. Louis, 
and ^-eport to Gen. D. M. Frost for duty. The remaining companies 
of said battalion will be disbanded for the purpose of assisting in the 
organization of companies upon that frontier. The details in the exe- 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 45 

cution of the foregoing ai-e intrusted to Lieutenant-Colonel John S. 
Bowen, commanding the Battalion. 

IV. The strength, organization, and equipment of the several com- 
panies in the District will be reported at once to these Headquarters, 
and District Inspectors will furnish all information which may be ser- 
viceable in ascertaining the condition of the State forces. 
By order of the Governor. 

Warwick Hough, 
Adjutant- General of Missouri. 

May 2, 1861. The Legislature convened in extra session. Many 
acts were passed, among which was one to authorize the Governor to 
purchase or lease David Ballentine's foundry at Boonville, for the man- 
ufacture of arms and munitions of war ; to authorize the Governor to 
appoint one Major-General ; to authorize the Governor, when, in his 
opinion, the security and welfare of the State required it, to take pos- 
session of the railroad and telegraph lines of the State ; to provide for 
the organization, government, and support of the military forces ; to 
borrow one million of dollars to arm and equip the militia of the State 
to repel invasion, and protect the lives and property of the people. 
An act was also passed creating a *« Military Fund," to consist of all 
the money then in the treasury or that might thereafter be received 
from the one-tenth of one per cent, on the hundred dollars, levied by 
act of November, 1857, to complete certain railroads ; also the pro- 
ceeds of a tax of fifteen cents on the hundred dollars of the assessed 
value of the taxable property of the several counties in the State, and 
the proceeds of the two-mill tax, which had been theretofore appro- 
priated for educational purposes. 

May 3, 1861. *' Camp Jackson** was organized. 

May 10, 1861. Sterling Price appointed Major-General of State 
Guard. 

May 10, 1861. General Frost, commanding ** Camp Jackson,*' ad- 
dressed General N. Lyon, as follows : — 

Headquarters Camp Jackson, Missouri Militia, May 10, 1861. 
Capt. N. Lyo^, Commanding JJ. 8. Troops in and about St. Louis 
Arsenal: 

Sir : I am constantly in receipt of information that you contem- 
plate an attack upon my camp, whilst I understand that you are im- 
pressed with the idea that an attack upon the Arsenal and United 
States troops i« intended on the past of the Mlitia of Missouri. I am 



46 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

greatly at a loss to know what could justify you in attacking citizens 
of the United States, who are in lawful performance of their duties, 
devolvino- upon them under the Constitution in organizing and instruct- 
ino- the militia of the State in obedience to her laws, and, therefore, 
have been disposed to doubt the correctness of the information I have 
received. 

I would be glad to know from you personally whether there is any 
truth in the statements that are constantly pouring into my ears. So 
far as regards any hostility being intended toward the United States, 
or its property or representatives by any portion of my command, or, 
as far as I can learn (and I think I am fully informed), of any other 
part of the State forces, I can positively say that the idea has never 
been entertained. On the contrary, prior to your taking command of 
the Arsenal, I proffered to Major Bell, then in command of the very 
few troops constituting its guard, the services of myself and all my 
command, and, if necessary, the whole power of the State, to protect 
the United States in the full possession of all her property. Upon 
General Harney taking command of this department, I made the same 
proffer of services to him, and authorized his Adjutant-General, Capt. 
Williams, to communicate the fact that such had been done to the 
War Department. I have had no occasion since to change any of the 
views I entertained at the time, neither of my own volition nor through 
orders of my constitutional commander. 

1 trust that after this explicit statement that we may be able, by 
fully understanding each other, to keep far from our borders the mis- 
fortunes which so unhappily affect our common country. 

This communication will be handed you by Colonel Bowen, my 
Chief of Staff, who will be able to explain anything not fully set forth 
in the foregoing. 

I a>mf sir, very respectfully your obedient servant. 

Brigadier-General D. M. Frost, 
Commanding Camp Jackson, M. V. M. 

May 10, 1861, Gen. Lyon sent the following to Gen. Frost: 

Headquarters United States Troops, 
St. Louis, Mo., May 10, 1861. 
Gen. D. M. Frost, Commanding Camp Jackson: 

Sir : Your command is regarded as evidently hostile toward the 
Government of the United States. 

It is, for the most part, made up of those Secessionists who have 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 47 

openly avowed their hostility to the General Government, and have 
been plotting at the seizure of its property and the overthrow of its 
authority. You are openly in communication with the so-called 
Southern Confederacy, which is now at war with the United States, 
and you are receiving at your camp, from the said Confederacy and 
under its flag, large supplies of the material of war, most of which is 
known to be the property of the United States. These extraordinary 
preparations plainly indicate none other than the well-known purpose 
of the Governor of this State, under whose orders you are acting, and 
whose communication to the Legislature has just been responded to 
by that body in the most unparalleled legislation, having in direct 
view hostilities to the General Government and co-operation with its 
enemies. 

In view of these considerations, and of your failure to disperse in 
obedience to the proclamation of the President, and of the imminent 
necessities of State policy and warfare, and the obligations imposed 
upon me by instructions from Washington, it is my duty to demand, 
and I do hereby demand of you an immediate surrender of your com- 
mand, with no other conditions than that all persons surrendering 
under this command shall be humanely and kindly treated. Believing 
myself prepared to enforce this demand, one-half hour's time before 
doing so will be allowed for your compliance therewith. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

N. Lyon, 
Captain Second Infantry y Commanding Troops. 

May 10, 1861. Camp Jackson surrendered and prisoners all 
released excepting Capt. Emmet McDonald, who refused to subscribe 
to the parole. 

May 12, 1861. Brigadier-General Wm. S. Harney issued a procla- 
mation to the people of Missouri, saying '* he would carefully abstain 
from the exercise of any unnecessary powers," and only use "the 
military force stationed in this district in the last resort to preserve 
peace." 

May 14, 1861. General Harney issued a second proclamation. 

May 21, 1861. General Harney held a conference with General 
Sterling Price, of the Missouri State Guards. 

May 31, 1861. General Harney superseded by General Lyon. 

June 11, 1861. A second conference was held between the National 
and State authorities in St. Louis, which resulted in nothing. 



48 H8TORY OF MISSOURI. 

June 11, 1861. Gov. Jackson left St. Louis for Jefferson City, 
burning tlie railroad bridges behind him, and cutting telegraph wires. 

June 12, 1861. Governor Jackson issued a proclamation calling 
into active service 50,000 militia, "to repel invasion, protect life, 
property," etc. 

June 15, 1861. Col. F. P. Blair took possession of the State Capi- 
tal, Gov. Jackson, Gen. Price and other officers having left on the 13th 
of June for Boonville. 

June 17, 1861. Battle of Boonville look place between the forces 
of Gen. Lyon and Col. John S. Marmaduke. 

June 18, 1861. General Lyon issued a proclamation to the people 
of Missouri. 

July 5, 1861. Battle at Carthage between the forces of Gen. Sigel 
and Gov. Jackson. 

July 6, 1861. Gen. Lyon reached Springfield. 

July 22, 1861. State convention met and declared the offices of 
Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Secretary of State vacated. 

July 26, 1861. Gen. John C. Fremont assumed command of the 
"Western Department, with headquarters in St. Louis. 

July 31, 1861. Lieutenant-Governor Thomas C. Reynolds issued 
a proclamation at New Madrid. 

August 1, 1861. General Jeff. Thompson issued a proclamation at 
Bloomfield. 

August 2, 1861. Battle of Dug Springs, between Captain Steele's x 
forces and General Rains. 

August 5, 1861. Governor Jackson issued a proclamation at New 
Madrid. 

August 5, 1861. Battle of Athens. 

August 10, 1861. Battle of Wilson's Creek, between the forces 
under General Lyon and General McCulloch. In this engagement 
General Lyon was killed. General Sturgis succeeded General Lyon. 

August 12, 1861. McGulloch issued a proclamation, and soon left 
Missouri. 

August 20, 1861. General Price issued a proclamation. 

August 24, 1861. Governor Gamble issued a proclamation cailling 
for 32,000 men for six months to protect the property and lives of the 
citizens of the State. 

August 30, 1861. General Fremont declared martial law, and 
declared that the slaves of all persons who should thereafter take aa 
active part with the enemies of the Government should be free. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 49 

September 2, 1861. General Jeff. Thompson issued a proclamation 
in response to Fremont's proclamation. 

September 7, 1861. Battle at Dry wood Creek. 

September 11, 1861. President Lincoln modified the clause in Gen. 
Fremont's declaration of martial law, in reference to the confiscation 
of propei'ty and liberation of slaves. 

September 12, 1861. General Price begins the attack at Lexing- 
ton on Colonel Mulligan's forces. 

September 20, 1861. Colonel Mulligan with 2,640 men surren- 
dcKed. 

October 25, 1861. Second battle at Springfield. 

October 28, 1861. Pa-ssage by Governor Jackson's Legislature, 
at Neosho, of an ordinance of secession. 

November 2, 1861. General Fremont succeeded by General David 
Hunter. 

November 7, 1861. General Grant attacked Belmont. 

November 9, 1861. General Hunter succeeded by General Halleck, 
who took command on the 19th of same month, with headquarters in 
St. Louis. 

November 27, 1861. General Price issued proclamation calling for 
50,000 men, at Neosho, Missouri. 

December 12, 1861. General Hunter issued his order of assess- 
ment upon certain wealthy citizens in St. Louis, for feeding and cloth- 
ing Union refugees. 

December 23-25. Declared martial law in St. Louis and the 
country adjacent, and covering all the railroad lines. 

March 6, 1862. Battle at Pea Ridge between the forces under Gen- 
erals Curtis and Van Dorn. 

January 8, 1862. Provost Marshal Farrar, of St. Louis, issued the 
following order in reference to newspapers : 



•i 



Office of the Provost Marshal, 
General Department of Missouri, 
St. Louis, January 8, 1862. 
(General Order No. 10.) 

It is hereby ordered that from and after this date the publishers of 
newspapers in the State of Missouri (St. Louis City papers excepted), 
furnish to this office, immediately upon publication, one copy of each 
issue, for inspection. A failure to comply with this order will render 
the newspaper liable to suppression. 



50 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

Local Provost Marshals will furnish the proprietors with copies of 
this order, and attend to its immediate enforcement. 

Bernard G. Farrar, 
Provost Marshal General. 

January 26, 1862. General Halleck issued order (No. 18) which 
forbade, among other things, the display of Secession flags in the 
hands of women or on carriages, in the vicinity of the military prison 
in McDowell's College, the carriages to be confiscated and the offend- 
ing women to be arrested.- 

February 4, 1862. General Halleck issued another order similar to 
Order No. 18, to railroad companies and to the professors and direct- 
ors of the State University at Columbia, forbidding the funds of the 
institution to be used " to teach treason or to instruct traitors." 

February 20, 1862. Special Order No. 120 convened a military 
commission, which sat in Columbia, March following, and tried Ed- 
mund J. Ellis, of Columbia, editor and proprietor of <' The Boone 
County Standard^^^ for the publication of information for the benefit 
of the enemy, and encouraging resistance to the United States Gov- 
ernment. Ellis was found guilty, was banished during the war from 
Missouri, and his printing materials confiscated and sold. 

April, 1862. General Halleck left for Corinth, Mississippi, leaving 
General Schofield in command. 

June, 1862. Battle at Cherry Grove between the forces under 
Colonel Joseph C. Porter and Colonel H. S. Lipscomb. 

June, 1862. Battle at Pierce's Mill between^' ^ forces under Major 
John Y. Clopper and Colonel Porter. 

July 22, 1862. Battle at Florida. 

July 28, 1862. Battle at Moore's Mill. 

August 6, 1862. Battle near Kirksville. 

August 11, 1862. Battle at Independence. 

August 16, 1862. Battle at Lone Jack. 

September 13, 1862. Battle at Newtonia. 

September 25, 1862. Ten Confederate prisoners were executed at 
Macon, by order of General jMerrill. 

October 18, 1862. Ten Confederate prisoners executed at Palmyra, 
by order of General McNeill. 

January 8, 1868. Battle at Springfield between the forces of Gen- 
eral Marmaduke and General E. B. Brown. 

April 26, 1863. Battle at Cape Girardeau. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 51 

August — , 1863. General Jeff. Thompson captured at Pocahontas, 
Arkansas, with his staff. 

August 25, 1863. General Thomas Ewing issued his celebrated 
Order No. 11, at Kansas City, Missouri, which is as follows : — 

Headquarters District of the Border, 
Kansas City, Mo., August 25, 1863. 
(General Order No. 11.) 

First. — All persons living in Cass, Jackson and Bates Counties, 
Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except 
those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's 
Mills, Pleasant Hill and Harrisonville, and except those in that part 
of Kaw Township, Jackson County, north of Brush Creek and west 
of the Big Blue, embracing Kansas City and Westport, are hereby 
ordered to remove from their present places of residence within fifteen 
days from the date hereof. 

Those who, within that time, establish their loyalty to the satisfac- 
tion of the commanding officer of the military station nearest their 
present place of residence, will receive from him certificates stating 
the fact of their loyalty, and the names of the witnesses by whom it 
can be shown. All who receive such certificate will be permitted to 
remove to any military station in this district, or to any part of the 
State of Kansas, except the counties on the eastern borders of the 
State. All others shall remove out of this district. Officers com- 
manding companies and detachments serving in the counties named, 
will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed. 

Second. — All grain and hay in the field, or under shelter, in the 
district from which the inhabitants are required to remove within reach 
of military stations, after the 9th day of September next, will be 
taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officer there, and 
report of the amount so turned over made to district headquarters, 
specifying the names of all loyal owners and the amount of such 
produce taken from them. All grain and hay found in such district 
after the 9th day of September next, not convenient to such stations, 
will be destroyed. 

Third. — The provisions of General Order No. 10, from these 
headquarters, will at once be -vigorously executed by officers com- 
manding in the parts of the district, and at the stations not subject to 
the operations of paragraph First of this Order — and especially in 
the towns of Independence- Westport and Kansas City. 



52 



HISTORY OP MISSOURI. 



Fourth. — Paragraph 3, General Order No. 10, is revoked as to all 
who have borne arms against the Government in the district since 
August 20, 1863. 

By order of Brigadier-General Ewing : 

H. Hannahs, Adjutant, 

October 13. Battle of Marshall. 

January, 1864. General Eosecrans takes command of the Depart- 
ment. 

September, 1864. Battle at Pilot Knob, Harrison and Little Mo- 
reau River. 

October 5, 1864. 
farm. 

October 8, 1864. 

October 20, 1864. 

September 27, 1864. 
derson. 

October 27, 1864. Captain Bill Anderson killed. 

December — , 1864. General Rosecrans relieved 
Dodge appointed to succeed him. 

Nothing occurred specially, of a military character, in the State after 
December, 1864. We have, in th^ main, given the facts as they 
occurred without comment or entering into details. Many of the 
minor incidents and skirmishes of the war have been omitted because 
of our limited space. 

It is utterly impossible, at this date, to give the names and dates of 
all the battles fought in Missouri during the Civil War. It will be 
found, however, that the list given below, which has been arranged for 
convenience, contains the prominent battles and skirmishes which took 
place within the State : — 



Battle at Prince's Ford and James Gordon's 

Battle at Glasgow. 
Battle at Little Blue Creek. 

Massacre at Centralia, by Captain Bill An- 



and General 



Potosi, May 14, 1861. 
Boonville, June 17, 1861. 
Carthage, July 5, 18«1. 
Monroe Station, July 10, 1861. 
Overton's Run, July 17, 1861. 
Dug Spring, August 2, 1861. 
Wilson's Creek, August 10, 1861. 
Athens, August 5, 1861. 
Moreton, August 20, 1801. 
Bennett's Mills, September — , 1861. 
Drywood Creek, September 7, 1861. 
Norfolk, September 10, 1861. 
Lexington, September 12-20, 1861. 



Blue Mills Landing, September 17, 1861. 
Glasgow Mistake, September 20, 1861, 
Osceola, September 25, 1861. 
Shanghai, October 13, 1861. 
Lebanon, October 13, 1861. 
Linn Creek, October 16, 1861. 
Big River Bridge, October 15, 1861. 
Frederick town, October 21, 1861. 
Springfield, October 25, 1861 
Belmont, November 7, 1861. 
Piketon, November 8, 1861. 
Little Blue, November 10, 1861. 
Clark's Station, November 11, 1861. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



53 



Mt. Zion Church, December 28, 1861. 
Silver Creek, January 15, 1862. 
New Madrid, February 28, 1862. 
Pea Ridge, March 6, 1862. 
Neosho, April 22, 1862. 
Rose Hill, July 10, 1862. 
Chariton River, July 30, 1862. 
Cherry Grove, June — , 1862. 
Pierce's Mill, June — , 1862, 
Florida, July 22, 1862. 
Moore's Mill, July 28, 1862. 
Kirksville, August 6, 1862. 
Compton's Ferry, August 8, 1862. 
Yellow Creek, August 13, 1862. 
Independence, August 11, 1862. 



Lone Jack, August 16, 1862. 
Newtonia, September 13, 1862. 
Springfield, January 8, 1863. 
Cape Girardeau, April 29, 1863. 
Marshall, October 13, 1863. 
Pilot Knob, September — , 1864. 
Harrison, September — , 1864. 
Moreau River, October 7, 1864. 
Prince's Ford, October 5, 1864. 
Glasgow, October 8, 1864. 
Little Blue Creek, October 20, 1864. 
Albany, October 27, 1864. 
Near Rocheport, September 23, 1864. 
Centralia, September 27, 1864. 



CHAPTER IX. 



EARLY MILITARY RECORD. 



Black Hawk War — Mormon Difficulties — Florida War — Mexican War. 

On the fourteenth day of May, 1832, a bloody engagement took 
place between the regular forces of the United States, and a part of 
the Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebago Indians, commanded by Black 
Hawk and Keokuk, near Dixon's Ferry in Illinois. 

The Governor (John Miller) of Missouri, fearing these savagea 
would invade the soil of his State, ordered Major-Geueral Richard 
Gentry to raise one thousand volunteers for the defence of the fron- 
tier. Five companies were af"once raised in Boone county, and in 
Callaway, Montgomery, St. Charles, Lincoln, Pike, Marion, Ealls, 
Clay and Monroe other companies were raised. 

Two of these companies, commanded respectively by Captain John 
Jamison of Callaway, and Captain David M. Hickman of Boone 
county, were mustered into service in July for thirty days, and put 
under command of Major Thomas W. Conyers. 

This detachment, accompanied by General Gentry, arrived at Fort 
Pike on the 15th of July, 1832. Finding that the Indians had not 
crossed the Mississippi into Missouri, General Gentry returned to 
Columbia, leaving the fort in charge of Major Conyers. Thirty days 
having expired, the command under Major Conyers was relieved by two 



54 



HISTORY OP MISSOURI. 



other companies under Captains Sinclair Kirtley, of Boone, and Patrick 
Ewing, of Callaway. This detachment was marched to Fort Pike by 
Col. Austin A. King, who conducted the two companies under Major 
Conyers home. Major Conyers was left in charge of the fort, where 
he remained till September following, at which time the Indian troub- 
les, so far as Missouri was concerned, having all subsided, the frontier 
forces were mustered out of service. 

Black Hawk continued the war in Iowa and Illinois, and was finally 
defeated and captured in 1833. 

MORMON DIFFICULTIES. 

In 1832, Joseph Smith, the leader of the Mormons, and the cboseu 
prophet and apostle, as he claimed, of the Most High, came with 
many followers to Jackson county, Missouri, where they located and 
entered several thousand acres of land. 

The object of his coming so far West — upon the very outskiits of 
civilization at that time — was to more securely establish his church, 
and the more effectively to instruct his followers in its peculiar tenets 
and practices. 

Upon the present town site of Independence the Mormons located 
their *'Zion," and gave it the name of *♦ The New Jerusalem." 
They published here the Evening Start and made themselves gener- 
ally obnoxious to the Gentiles, who were then in a minority, by their 
denunciatory articles through their paper, their clanuishness and their 
polygamous practices. 

Dreading the demoralizing influence of a paper which seemed to be 
inspired only with hatred and malice toward them, the Gentiles 
threw the press and type into the Missouri River, tarred and feathered 
one of their bishops, and otherwise gave the Mormons and their lead- 
ers to understand that they must conduct themselves in an entirely 
different manner if they wished to be let alone. 

After the destruction of their paper and press, they became fu- 
riously incensed, and sought many opportunities for retaliation. Mat- 
ters continued in an uncertain condition until the 31st of October, 
1833, when a deadly conflict occurred near Westport, in which two 
Gentiles and one Mormon were killed. 

On the 2d of October following the Mormons were overpowered, 
and compelled to lay down their arms and agree to leave the county 
with their families by January 1st on the condition that the owner 
would be paid for his printing press. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 55 

Leaving Jackson county, they crossed the Missouri and located in 
Clay, Carroll, Caldwell and other counties, and selected in Caldwell 
county a town site, which they called *' Far West," and where they 
entered more land for their future homes. 

Through the influence of their missionaries, who were exertin<y 
themselves in the East and in different portions of Europe, converts 
had constantly flocked to their standard, and *' Far West," and other 
Mormon settlements, rapidly prospered. 

In 1837 they commenced the erection ot a magnificent temple, but 
never finished it. As their settlements increased in numbers, they 
became bolder in their practices and deeds of lawlessness. 

During the summer of 1838 two of their leaders settled in the town 
of De Witt, on the Missouri River, having purchased the land from 
an Illinois merchant. De Witt was in Carroll county, and a good 

point from which to forward goods and immigrants to their town 

Far West. 

Upon its being ascertained that these parties were Mormon leaders 
the Gentiles called a public meeting, which was addressed by some of 
the prominent citizens of the county. Nothing, however, was done at 
this meeting, but at a subsequent meeting, which was held a few days 
afterward, a committee of citizens was appointed to notify Col. Hin- 
kle (one of the Mormon leaders at De Witt), what they intended to 
do. 

Col. Hinkle upon being notified by this committee became indig- 
nant, and threatened extermination to all who should attempt to molest 
him or the Saints. 

In anticipation of trouble, and believing that the Gentiles would 
attempt to force them from De Witt, Mormon recruits flocked to the 
town from every direction, and pitched their tents in and around the 
town in great numbers. 

The Gentiles, nothing daunted, planned an attack upon this en- 
campment, to take place on the 21st day of September, 1838, and, 
accordingly, one hundred and fifty men bivouacked near the town on 
that day. A conflict ensued, but nothing serious occurred. 

The Mormons evacuated their works and fled to some loo- houses 
where they could the more successfully resist the Gentiles, who had 
in the meantime returned to their camp to await reinforcements. 
Troops from Saline, Ray and other counties came to their assist- 
ance, and increased their number to five hundred men. 

Congreve Jackson was chosen Brigadier- General ; Ebenezer Price, 



56 HISTORY OF MISSOURI . 

Colonel ; Singleton Vaughan, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Sarshel Woods, 
Major. After some days of discipline, this brigade prepared for an 
assault, but before the attack was commenced Judge James Earickson 
and William F. Dunnica, influential citizens of Howard county, asked 
permission of General Jackson to let them try and adjust the difficul- 
ties without any bloodshed. 

It was finally agreed that Judge Earickson should propose to the 
Mormons, that if they would pay for all the cattle they had killed be- 
longing to the citizens, and load their wagons during the night and be 
ready to move by ten o'clock next morning, and make no further 
attempt to settle in Carroll county, the citizens would purchase at 
first cost their lots in De Witt and one or two adjoining tracts of 
land. 

Col. Hinkle, the leader of the Mormons, at first refused all attempts 
to settle the difficulties in this way, but finally agreed to the proposi- 
tion. 

In accordance therewith, the Mormons without further delay, 
loaded up their wagons for the town of Far West, in Caldwell county. 
Whether the terms of the agreement were ever carried out, on the 
part of the citizens, is not known. 

The Mormons had doubtless suffered much and in many ways — the 
result of their own acts — but their trials and suflferings were not at 
an end. 

In 1838 the discord between the citizens and Mormons became so 
great that Governor Boggs issued a proclamation ordering Major- 
General David R. Atchison to call the militia of his division to enforce 
the laws. He called out a part of the first brigade of the Missouri 
State Militia, under command of Gen. A. W. Doniphan, who pro- 
ceeded to the seat of war. Gen. John B. Clark, of Howard county, 
was placed in command of the militia. 

The Mormon forces numbered about 1,000 men, and were led by 
G. W. Hinkle. The first engagement occurred at Crooked river, 
where one Mormon was killed. The principal fight took place at 
Haughn's Mills, where eighteen Mormons were killed and the balance 
captured, some of them being killed after they had surrendered. 
Only one militiaman was wounded. 

In the month of October, 1838, Joe Smith surrendered the town of 
Far West to Gen. Doniphan, agreeing to his conditions, viz. : That 
they should deliver up their arms, surrender their prominent leaders 
for trial, and the remainder of the Mormons should, with their 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 57 

families, lenve the State. Indictments were found against a number 
of these leaders, including Joe Smith, who, while being taken to 
Boone county for trial, made his escape, and was afterward, in 1844, 
killed at Carthage, Illinois, with his brother Hiram. 

FLORIDA WAR. 

In September, 1837, the Secretary of War issued a requisition on 
Governor Boggs, of Missouri, for six hundred volunteers for service 
in Florida against the Seminole Indians, with whom the Creek nation 
had made common cause under Osceola. 

The first regiment was chiefly raisecl in Boone county by Colonel 
Richard Gentry, of which he was elected Colonel ; John W. Price, of 
Howard county, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Harrison H. Hughes, also of 
Howard, Major. Four companies of the second regiment were raised 
and attached to the first. Two of these companies were composed of 
Delaware and Osage Indians. 

October 6, 1837, Col. Gentry's regiment left Columbia for the seat 
of war, stopping on the way at Jefferson barracks, where they were 
mustered into service. 

Arriving at Jackson barracks, New Orleans, they were from thence 
transported in brigs across the Gulf to Tampa Bay, Florida. Gen- 
eral Zachary Taylor, who then commanded in Florida, ordered Col. 
Gentry to march to Okee-cho-bee Lake, one hundred and thirty-five 
miles inland by the route traveled. Having reached the Kissemmee 
river, seventy miles distant, a bloody battle ensued, in which Col. 
Gentry was killed. The Missourians, though losing their gallant 
leader, continued the fight until the Indians were totally routed, leav- 
ing many of their dead and wounded on the field. There being no 
further service required of the Missourians, they returned to their 
homes in 1838. 

MEXICAN WAR. 

Soon after Mexico declared war, against the United States, on the 
8th and 9th of May, 1846, the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
Palma were fought. Great excitement prevailed throughout the 
country. In none of her sister States, however, did the fires of 
patriotism burn more intensely than in Missouri. Not waiting for the 
call for volunteers, the " St. Louis Legion ** hastened to the field of 
conflict. The " Legion" was commanded by Colonel A. R. Easton. 
During the mouth of May, 1846, Governor Edwards, of Missouri, 



58 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

called for volunteers to join the "Army of the West," an expedition 
to Sante Fe — under command of General Stephen W. Kearney. 

Fort Leavenworth was the appointed rendezvous for the volunteers. 
By the 18th of June, the full complement of companies to compose 
the first regiment had arrived from Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Sa- 
line, Franklin, Cole, Howard and Callaway counties. Of this regi- 
ment, A. W. Doniphan was made Colonel; C. F. Ruff, Lieutenant- 
Colonel, and Wm. Gilpin, Major. The battalion of light artillery 
from St. Louis was commanded by Captains R. A. Weightman and 
A. W. Fischer, with Major M. L. Clark as field officer ; battalions of 
infantry from Platte and Cole counties commanded by Captains 
Murphy and W. Z. Augney respectively, and the ** Laclede Rangers," 
from St. Louis, by Captain Thomas B. Hudson, aggregating all told, 
from Missouri, 1,658 men. In the summer of 1846 Hon. Sterling 
Price resigned his seat in Congress and raised one mounted regiment, 
one mounted extru battalion, and one extra battalion of Mormon in- 
fantry to reinforce the "Army of the West." Mr. Price was made 
Colonel, and D. D. Mitchell Lieutenant-Colonel. 

In August, 1847, Governor Edwards made another requisition for 
one thousand men, to consist of infantry. The regiment was raised 
at once. John Dougherty, of Clay county, was chosen Colonel, but 
before the regiment marched the President countermanded the order. 

A company of mounted volunteers was raised in Ralls county, com- 
manded by Captain Wm. T. Lafland. Conspicuous among the en- 
gagements in which the Missouri volunteers participated in Mexico 
were the battles of Bracito, Sacramento, Canada, El Embudo, Taos 
and Santa Cruz de Rosales. The forces from Missouri were mustered 
out in 1848, and will ever be remembered in the history of the Mexi- 
can war, for 

"A thousand glorious actions tliat miglit claim 
Triumphant laurels and immortal fame. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 59 

CHAPTER X. 
AGIiTCULTURE AM) MATERIAL WEALTH. 

Missouri as an Agricultural State — The Different Crops— Live Stock — Horses — 
Mules — Milch Cows — Oxen and other Cattle —Sheep — Hogs — Comparisons — 
Missouri adapted to Live Stock — Cotton — Broom-Corn and other Products- 
Fruits- Berries— Grapes— Railroads— First Neigh of the " Iron Horse " in Mis- 
souri—Names of Railroads — Manufactures — Great Bridge at St. Louis. 

Agriculture is the greatest among all the arts of man, as it is the 
first in supplying his necessities. It favors and strengthens popula- 
tion ; it creates and maintains manufactures ; gives employment to 
navigation and furnishes materials to commerce. It animates every 
species of industry, and opens to nations the safest channels of 
wealth. It is the strongest bond of well regulated society, the surest 
basis of internal peace, and the natural associate of correct morals. 
Among all the occupations and professions of life, there is none more 
honorable, none more independent, and none more conducive to health 
and happiness. 

" In ancient times the sacred plow employ'd 
The kings, and awful fathers of mankind ; 
And some, with whom compared your insect tribes 
Are but the beings of a summer's day. 

Have held the scale of empire, ruled the storm 

Of mighty war with unwearied hand, 

Disdaining little delicacies, seized 

The plow and greatly independent lived." 

As an agricultural region, Missouri is not surpassed by any State in 
the Union. It is indeed the farmer's kingdom, where he always reaps 
an abundant harvest. The soil, in many portions of the State, has 
an open, flexible structure, quickly absorbs the most excessive rains, 
and retains moisture with great tenacity. This being the case, it is 
not so easily affected by drouth. The prairies are covered with sweet, 
luxuriant grass, equally good for grazing and hay ; grass not sur- 
passed by the Kentucky blue grass — the best of clover and timothy 
in growing and fattening cattle. This grass is now as full of life-giv- 
ing nutriment as it was when cropped by the buffalo, the elk, the an- 
telope, and the deer, and costs the herdsman nothing. 



go HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

No State or territory has a more complete and rapid system of nat- 
ural drainage, or a more abundant supply of pure, fresh water than 
Missouri. Both man and beast may slake their thirst from a thousand 
perennial fountains, which gush in limpid streams from the hill-sides, 
and wend their way through verdant valleys and along smiling prai- 
ries, varyino- in size, as they onward flow, from the diminutive brooklet 
to the giant river. 

Here, nature has generously bestowed her attractions of climate, 
soil and scenery to please and gratify man while earning his bread in 
the sweat of his brow. Being thus munificently endowed, Missouri 
offers superior inducements to the farmer, and bids him enter her 
broad domain and avail himself of her varied resources. 

We present here a table showing the product of each principal crop 
in Missouri for 1878 : — 

Indian Corn 93,062,000 bushels. 

Wheat 20,196,000 " 

Rye 732,000 " 

Oflts 19,584,000 '• 

Buckwheat 'J 46,400 " 

Potatoes 5,415,000 " 

Tobacco 23,023,000 pounds. 

Hay 1,620,000 tons. 

There were 3,552,000 acres in corn; wheat, 1,836,000; rye, 
48,800; oats, 640,000; buckwheat, 2,900; potatoes, 72,200; to- 
bacco, 29,900; hay, 850,000. Value of each crop: corn, $24,196,- 
224; wheat, $13,531,320; rye, $300,120; oats, $3,325,120; buck- 
wheat, $24,128; potatoes, $2,057,700; tobacco, $1,151,150; hay, 
$10,416,600. 

Average cash value of crops per acre, $7.69 ; average yield of corn 
per acre, 26 bushels ; wheat, 11 bushels. 

Next in importance to the corn crop in value is live stock. The fol- 
lowing table shows the number of horses, mules, and milch cows in 
the different States for 1879 ;-^ 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



61 



States. 



Maine 

New Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts. . .. 

Kiiode Island 

Connecticut 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware.. 

Maryland , 

Virginia 

North Carolina... 
South Carolina... 

Georgia , 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisiana 

Texas 



Arkansas 

Tennessee 

West Virginia. 

Kentucky 

Ohio 

Michigan......... 

Indiana 

Illinois 



Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

Kansas 

Nebraska 

California 

Oregon 

Nevada, Colorado, and Territories. 



Horses. 



81,700 

57.100 

77,400 

131,000 

16,200 

53,500 

898,900 

114,500 

614,500 

19,900 

108,600 

208,700 

144,200 

59,600 

119,200 

22,400 

112,800 

97,200 

79,300 

618,000 

180,500 

323,700 

122,200 

386,900 

772,700 

333,800 

688,800 

1,100,000 

384,400 

247,300 

770,700 

627,300 

275,000 

157,200 

273,000 

109,700 

250,000 



Mules. 



11,800 
14,400 
24,900 
4,000 
11,300 
30,600 
74,000 
51,500 
97,200 
11,900 

111,700 

100,000 
80,700 

180,200 

89,300 

99,700 

2,400 

117,800 

26,700 

4,300 

61,200 

138,000 

8,700 

7,000 

43,400 

191,900 
50,000 
13,600 
25,700 
3,500 
25,700 



MUch 

Cows. 



196,100 

98,100 
217,800 
160,700 

22,000 

116,500 

1,446,200 

152,200 

828,400 

23,200 
100,500 
236,200 
232,300 
131,300 
273,100 

70,000 
215,200 
188,060 
110,900 
544,500 
187,700 
245,700 
130,500 
257,200 
714,100 
416,900 
439,200 
702,400 
477,300 
278,900 
676,200 
616,200 
321,900 
127,600 
495,600 
112,400 
423,600 



It will be seen from the above table, that Missouri is the Jiffh State 
in the number of horses ; Jifth in number of milch cows, and the 
leading State in number of mules, having 11,700 more than Texas, 
which produces the next largest number. Of oxen and other cattle, 
Missouri produced in 1879, 1,632,000, which was more than any other 
State produced excepting Texas, which had 4,800,00. In 1879 Mis- 
souri raised 2,817,600 hogs, which was more than any other State 
produced, excepting Iowa. The number of sheep was 1,296,400. 
The number of hogs packed in 1879, by the different States, is as 
follows : — 



states. 


No. 


Stabes. 


No. 


Ohio . 


932,87-8 

622,321 

3,214,896 

669,763 


MlSSOTJRI 


965,839 


Indiana ,,.. 


Wisconsin 

Kentucky 


472,108 


Illinois 


212,412 


Iowa 







62 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



AVERAGE WEIGHT PER HEAD FOR EACH STATE. 



States. 


Pounds. 


States. 


Pounds. 


Ohio 


210.47 
193.80 
225.71 
211.98 




211.32 


Indiana , 




220.81 


Illinois 




210.11 


Iowa 







From the above it will be seen that Missouri annually packs more 
hogs than any other State excepting Illinois, and that she ranks third 
in the average weight. 

We see no reason why Missouri should not be the foremost stock- 
raising State of the Union. In addition to the enormous yield of 
corn and oats upon which the stock is largely dependent, the climate 
is well adapted to their growth and health. Water is not only inex- 
haustible, but everywhere convenient. The ranges of stock are 
boundless, affording for nine months of the year, excellent pasturage 
of nutritious wild grasses, which grow in great luxuriance upon the 
thousand prairies. 

Cotton is grown successfully in many counties of the southeastern 
portions of the State, especially in Stoddard, Scott, Pemiscot, Butler, 
New Madrid, Lawrence and Mississippi. 

Sweet potatoes are produced' in abundance and are not only sure 
but profitable. 

Broom corn, sorghum, castor beans, white beans, peas, hops, thrive 
well, and all kinds of garden vegetables, are produced in great abun- 
dance and are found in the markets during all seasons of the year. 
Fruits of every variety, including the apple, pear, peach, cherries, 
apricots and nectarines, are cultivated with great success, as are also, 
the strawberry, gooseberry, currant, raspberry and blackberry. 

The grape has not been produced with that success that was at first 
anticipated, yet the yield of wine for the year 1879, was nearly half a 
million gallons. Grapes do well in Kansas, and we see no reason 
why they should not be as surely and profitably grown in a similar 
climate and soil in Missouri, and particularly in many of the counties 
north and east of the Missouri Kiver." 



RAILROADS. 



Twenty-nine years ago, the neigh of the " iron horse '* was heard 
for the first time, within the broad domain of Missouri. His coming 
presaged the dawn of a brighter and grander era in the history of the 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 65 

State. Her fertile prairies, and more prolific valleys would soon bo 
of easy access to the oncoming tide of immigration, and the ores and 
minerals of her hills and mountains would be developed, and utilized 
in her manufacturing and industrial enterprises. 

Additional facilities would be opened to the marts of trade and 
commerce ; transportation from the interior of the State would be se- 
cured ; a fresh impetus would be given to the growth of her towns 
and cities, and new hopes and inspirations would be imparted to all 
her people. 

Since 1852, the initial period of railroad building in Missouri, be- 
tween four and five thousand miles of track have been laid ; addi- 
tional roads are now being constructed, and many others in contem- 
plation. The State is already well supplied with railroads which 
thread her surface in all directions, bringing her remotest districts 
into close connection with St. Louis, that great center of western 
railroads and inland commerce. These roads have a capital stock ag- 
gregating more than one hundred millions of dollars, and a funded 
debt of about the same amount. 

The lines of roads which are operated in the State are the follow- 
ing:— 

Missouri Pacific — chartered May 10th, 1850; The St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Eailroad, which is a consolidation of the Arkan- 
sas Branch ; The Cairo, Arkansas & Texas Railroad ; The Cairo & 
Fulton Eailroad ; The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway ; St. 
Louis & San Francisco Railway ; The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis 
Railroad ; The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad ; The Missouri, Kan- 
sas & Texas Railroad ; The Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Blufis 
Railroad ; The Keokuk & Kansas City Railway Company ; The St. 
Louis, Salem & Little Rock Railroad Company ; The Missouri & 
Western ; The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad ; The St. 
Louis, Hannibal & Keokuk Railroad ; The Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska 
Railway ; The Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad ; The Chicago, 
Rock Island & Pacific Railway; The Burlington & Southwestern 
Railroad. 

MANUFACTURES. 

The natural resources of Missouri especially fit her for a great man- 
ufacturing State. She is rich in soil ; rich in all the elements which 
supply the furnace, the machine shop and the planing mill ; rich in 
the multitude and variety of her gigantic forests ; rich in her marble, 
stone and granite quarries ; rich in her mines of iron, coal, lead and 



64 HISTORY OF MISSODEI. 

zinc ; rich in strong arms and willing hands to apply the force ; rich 
m water power and river navigation ; and rich in her numerous and 
well-built railroads, whose numberless engines thunder along their 
multiplied track- ways. 

Missouri contains over fourteen thousand manufacturing establish- 
ments, 1,965 of which are using steam and give employment to 
80,000 hands. The capital employed is about $100,000,000, the 
material annually used and worked up, amounts to over $150,000,- 
000, and the value of the products put upon the markets $250,000,000, 
while the wages paid are more than $40,000,000. 

The leadino" naanufacturing counties of the State, are St. Louis, 
Jackson, Buchanan, St. Charles, Marion, Franklin, Greene, Lafay- 
ette, Platte, Cape Girardeau, and Boone. Three-fourths, however, of 
the manufacturing is done in St. Louis, which is now about the second 
manufacturing city in the Union. Flouring mills produce annually 
about $38,194,000 ; carpentering $18,763,000 ; meat-packing $16,- 
769,000 ; tobacco $12,496,000 ; iron and castings $12,000,000 ;-liquor3 
$11,^45,000; clothing $10,022,000; lumber $8,652,000; bagging 
and bags $6,914,000, and many other smaller industries iu propor- 
tion. 

REAT BRIDGE AT ST. LOUIS. 

Of the many public improvements which do honor to the State and 
reflect great credit upon the geniiis of their projectors, we have space 
only, to mention the great bridge at St. Louis. 

This truly wonderful construction is built of tubular steel, total 
leno"th of which, with its approaches, is 6,277 feet, at a cost of nearly 
$8,000,000. The bridge spans the Mississippi from the Illinois to 
the Missouri shore, and has separate railroad tracks, roadways, and 
foot paths. In durability, architectural beauty and practical utility, 
there is, perhaps, no similar piece of workmanship that approximates 
it. 

The structure of Darius upon the Bosphorus ; of Xerxes upon the 
Hellespont ; of Csesar upon the Rhine ; and Trajan upon the Danube, 
famous in ancient history, were built for military purposes, that over 
them might pass invading armies with their munitions of war, to de- 
stroy commerce, to lay in waste the provinces, and to slaughter the 
people. 

But the erection of this was for a higher and nobler purpose. Over 
it are coming the trade and merchandise of the opulent East, and 
thence are passing the untold riches of the West. Over it are crowd- 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 65 

ing legions of men, armed not with the weapons of war, but with the 
implements of peace and industry ; men who are skilled in all the arts 
of agriculture, of manufacture and of mining; men who will hasten 
the day when St. Louis shall rank in population and importance, sec- 
ond to no city on the continent, and when Missouri shall proudly fill 
the measure of greatness, to which she is naturally so justly entitled. 



CHAPTEK XI. 

EDUCATION. 



Public School System — Public School System of Missouri — Lincoln Institute — Offi- 
cers of Public School System — Certificates of Teachers — University of Missouri — 
Schools — Colleges — Institutions of Learning — Location — Libraries — Newspa- 
pers and Periodicals — No, of School Children — Amount expended — Value ol 
Grounds and Buildings — " The Press." 

The first constitution of Missouri provided that **one school or more 
shall be established in each township, as soon as practicable and neces- 
sary, where the poor shall be taught gratis." 

It will be seen that even at that early day (1820) the framers of the 
constitution made provision for at least a primary education for the 
poorest and the humblest, taking it for granted that those who were 
able would avail themselves of educational advantages which were not 
gratuitous. 

The establishment of the public-school system, in its essential fea- 
tures, was not perfected until 1839, during the administration of Gov- 
ernor Boggs, and since that period the system has slowly grown into 
f\ivor, not only in Missouri, but throughout the United States. The 
idea of a free or public school for all classes was not at first a popular 
one, especially among those who had the means to patronize private 
institutions of learning. In upholding and maintaining public schools 
the opponents of the system felt that they were not only compromis- 
ing their own standing among their more wealthy neighbors, but that 
they were, to some extent, bringing opprobrium upon their children. 
Entertaining such prejudices, they naturally thought that the training 
received at public schools could not be otherwise than defective ; hence 
many years of probation passed before the popular mind was prepared 



66 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

to appreciate the benefits and blessings which spring from these insti- 
tutions. 

Every year only adds to their popularity, and commends them the 
more earnestly to the fostering care of our State and National Legis- 
latures, and to the esteem and favor of all classes of our people. 

We can hardly conceive of two grander or more potent promoters of 
civilization than the free school and free press. They would indeed 
seem to constitute all that was necessary to the attainment of the hap- 
piness and intellectual growth of the Republic, and all that was neces- 
sary to broaden, to liberalize and instruct. 

*« Tis education forms the common mind; 

* * 4> * * * 

For noble youth there is nothing so meet 
As learning is, to know the good from ill; 
To know the tongues, and perfectly indite, 
And of the laws to have a perfect skill, 
Things to reform as right and justice will; 
For honor is ordained for no cause 
But to see right maintained by the laws." 

All the States of the Union have in practical operation the public- 
school system, governed in the main by similar laws, and not differing 
materially in the manner and methods by which they are taught ; but 
none have a wiser, a more liberal and comprehensive machinery of 
instruction than Missouri. Her school laws, since 1839, have under- 
gone many changes, and always for the better, keeping pace with the 
most enlightened and advanced theories of the most experienced edu- 
cators in the land. But not until 1875, when the new constitution was 
adopted, did her present admirable system of public instruction go 
into effect. 

Provisions were made not only for white, but for children of African 
descent, and are a part of the organic law, not subject to the caprices 
of unfriendly legislatures, or the whims of political parties. The Lin- 
coln Institute, located at Jefferson City, for the education of col- 
ored teachers, receives an annual appropriation from the General 
Assembly. 

For the support of the public schools, in addition to the annual 
income derived from the public school fund, which is set apart by law, 
not less than twenty-five per cent, of the State revenue, exclusive of 
the interest and sinking fund, is annually applied to this purpose. 

The officers having in charge the public school interests are the State 
" Board of Education," the State Superintendent, County Commission- 



68 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

ers, County Clerk and Treasurer, Board of Directors, City and Town 
School Board, and Teacher. The State Board of Education is composed 
of the State Superintendent, the Governor, Secretary of State, and the 
Attorney-General, the executive officer of this Board being the State Su- 
perintendent, who is chosen by the people every four years. His duties 
are numerous. He renders decisions concerning the local applix3ation of 
school law ; keeps a record of the school funds and annually distributes 
the same to the counties ; supervises the work of county school officers ; 
delivers lectures ; visits schools ; distributes educational information ; 
grants certificates of higher qualifications, and makes an annual report 
to the General Assembly of the condition of the schools. 

The County Commissioners are also elected by the people for two 
3'^ears. Their work is to examine teachers, to distribute blanks, and 
make reports. County clerks receive estimates from the local direct- 
ors and extend them upon the tax-books. In addition to this, they 
keep the general records of the county and township school funds, and 
return an annual report of the financial condition of the schools of 
their county to the State Superintendent. School taxes are gathered 
with other taxes by the county collector. The custodian of the school 
funds belono-ing to the schools of the counties is the county treasurer, 
except in counties adopting the township organization, in which case 
the township trustee discharges these duties. 

Districts organized under the special law for cities and towns are 
governed by a board of six directors, two of whom are selected annu- 
ally, on the second Saturday in September, and hold their office for 
three years. 

One director is elected to serve for three years in each school dis- 
trict, at the annual meeting. These directors may levy a tax not 
exceeding forty cents on the one hundred dollars' valuation, pro- 
vided such annual rates for school purposes may be increased in dis- 
tricts formed of cities and towns, to an amount not exceeding one 
dollar on the hundred dollars' valuation, and in other districts to an 
amount not to exceed sixty-five cents on the one hundred dollars' val- 
uation, on the condition that a majority of the voters who are tax-pay- 
ers, voting at an election held to decide the question, vote for said 
inerease. For the purpose of erecting public buildings in school dis- 
tricts, the rates of taxation thus limited may be increased when the 
rate of such increase and the purpose for which it is intended shall 
have been submitted to a vote of the people, and two-thirds of the 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 69 

qualified voters of such school district voting at such election shall 
vote therefor. 

Local directors may direct the management of the school in respect 
to the choice of teachers and other details, but in the discharsre of 
all important business, such as the erection of a school house or the 
extension of a term of school beyond the constitutional period, they 
simply execute the will of the people. The clerk of this board may 
be a director. He keeps a record of the names of all the children and 
youth in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one ; records 
all business proceedings of the district, and reports to the annual 
meeting, to the County Clerk and County Commissioners. 

Teachers must hold a certificate from the State Superintendent or 
County Commissioner of the county where they teach. State certifi- 
cates are granted upon personal written examination in the common 
branches, together with the natural sciences and higher mathematics. 
The holder of such certificate may teach in any public school of the 
State without further examination. Certificates granted by County 
Commissioners are of two classes, with two grades in each class. Those 
issued for a longer term than one year, belong to the first class and are 
susceptible of two grades, ditfering both as to length of time and attain- 
ments. Those issued for one year may represent two grades, marked by 
qualification alone. The township school fund arises from a grant of 
land by the General Government, consisting of section sixteen in each 
congressional township. The annual income of the township fund is ap- 
propriated to the various townships, according to their respective 
proprietary claims. The support from the permanent funds is supple- 
mented by direct taxation laid upon the taxable property of each dis- 
trict. The greatest limit of taxation for the current expenses is one 
per cent ; the tax permitted for school house building cannot exceed 
the same amount. 

Among the institutions of learning and ranking, perhaps, the first 
in importance, is the State University located at Columbia, Boone 
County. When the State was admitted into the Union, Conoresa 
granted to it one entire township of land (46,080 acres) for the sup- 
port of "A Seminary of Learning." The lands secured for this pur- 
pose are among the best and most valuable in the State. These 
lands were put into the market in 1832 and brought $75,000, which 
amount was invested in the stock of the old bank of the State of Mis- 
souri, where it remained and increased by accumulation to the sum of 
4100,000. In 1839, by an act of the General A^sserably, five commis- 



70 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

sioners were appointed to select a site for the State University, the 
site to contain at least fifty acres of land in a compact form, within 
two miles of the county seat of Cole, Cooper, Howard, Boone, Calla- 
way or Saline. Bids were let among the counties named, and the 
county of Boone having subscribed the sum of $117,921, some 
$18,000 more than any other county, the State University was located 
in that county, and on the 4th of July, 1840, the corner-stone was 
laid with imposing ceremonies. 

The present annual income of the University is nearly $65,000. 
The donations to the institutions connected therewith amount to 
nearly $400,000. This University with its different departments, 
is open to both male and female, and both sexes enjoy alike its 
rights and privileges. Among the professional schools, which form a 
part of the University, are the Normal, or College of Instruction in 
Teaching ; Agricultural and Mechanical College ; the School of Mines 
and Metallurgy ; the College of Law ; the Medical College ; and the 
Department of Analytical and Applied Chemistry. Other departments 
are contemplated and will be added as necessity requires. 

The following will show the names and locations of the schools and 
institutions of the State, as reported by the Commissioner of Education 
in 1875: — 

TTNTVKRSITIES AND COLLEGES. 

Christian University Canton. 

St. Vincent's College Cape Girardeau 

University of Missouri Columbia. 

Central College Fayette. 

Westminster College Fulton. 

Lewis College Glasgow. 

Pritchett School Institute Glasgow. 

Lincoln College Greenwood. 

Hannibal College Hannibal. 

Woodland College Independence. 

Thayer College Kidder. 

La Grange College La Grange. 

William Jewell College Liberty. 

Baptist College Louisiana. 

St, Joseph College SU Joseph. 

College of Christian Brothers St, Louis. 

St. Louis University St. Louis. 

Washington University St. Louis. 

Drury College Springfield. 

Central Wesleyan College Warrenton. 

FOB SUPERIOR INSTRUCTION OF WOMEN. 

SL Joseph Female Seminary St. Joseph. 

Christian College ..Columbia. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 71 

Stephens College Columbia. 

Howard College Fayette. 

Independence Female College Independence, 

Central Female College Lexington. 

Clay Seminary Liberty. 

Ingleside Female College Palmyra. 

Lindenwood College for Young Ladies St. Charles. 

Mary Institute (Washington University) St. Louis. 

St. Louis Seminary St. Louis. 

Ursuline Academy St. Louis. 

FOR SECONDARY INSTRUCTION. 

Arcadia College , Arcadia. 

St. Vincent's Academy Cape Girardeau. 

Chillicothe Academy Chillicothe. 

Grand Eiver College Edinburgh. 

Marionville Collegiate Institute Marionville. 

Palmyra Seminary Palmyra. 

St. Paul's College Palmyra. 

Van Rensselaer Academy Rensselaer. 

Shelby High School Shelbyville. 

Stewartaville Male and Female Seminary Stewartsville. 

6CH00L3 OB" SCIENCE. 

Missouri Agricultural and Mechanical College (University of Missouri) Columbia. 

Schools of Mines and Metallurgy (University of Missouri) Rolla. 

Polytechnic Institute (Washington University) St. Louis. 

SCHOOLS or THEOLOGY. 

8t. Vincent's College (Theological Department) Cape Girardeau. 

Westminster College (Theological School). Fulton. 

Vardeman School of Theology (William Jewell College) Liberty. 

Concordia College St Louis. 

SCHOOLS OP LAW. 

Law School of the University of Missouri Columbia. 

Law School of the Washington University St. Louis. 

SCHOOLS OF MEDICINK. 

Medical College, University of Missouri Columbia 

College of Physicians and Surgeons St. Joseph. 

Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons Kansas City. 

Hospital Medical College St. Joseph. 

Missouri Medical College St. Louis, 

Northwestern Medical College St. Joseph, 

St. Louis Medical College St. Louis. 

Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri St. Louis. 

Missouri School of Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children St. Louis. 

Missouri Central College St. Louis. 

St. Louia College of Pharmacy St. Louis. 



72 



HISTORY OP MISSOURI. 

lABGKST PITBLIO LIBRARIES. 



Name. 



Location. 



Volumes. 



St. Vincent's College 

Southeast Missouri State Normal School 

University of Missouri 

Athenian Society 

Union Literary Society 

Law College 

Westminster College 

liBwis College 

Mercantile Library 

Library Association 

Fruitland Normal Institute 

State Library 

Fetterman's Circulating Library 

Law Library 

Whittemore's Circulating Library 

North Missouri State Normal School 

William Jewell College 

Bt. Paul's College 

Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy 

St. Charles Catholic Library 

Carl Frielling's Library 

Law Library 

Public School Library 

Walworth & Colt's Circulating Library 

Academy of Science 

Academy of Visitation 

College of the Christian Brothers 

Deutsche Institute 

German Evangelical Lutheran, Concordia College. 

Law Library Association 

Missouri Medical College 

Mrs. Cuthbert's Seminary (Young Ladies) 

Odd Fellow's Library 

Public School Library 

St Louis Medical College 

St. Louis Mercantile Library 

St. Louis Seminary 

St. Louis Turn Verein 

St. Louis University 

St. Louis University Society Libraries 

Ursuline Academy 

Washington University 

St. Louis Law School 

Young Men's Sodality . 

Library Association 

Public School Library 

Drury College 



Cape Girardeau. 
Cape Girardeau. 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Fulton 

Glasgow 

Hannibal 

Independence.... 

Jackson 

Jefferson City... 

Kansas Citj' 

Kansas City 

Kansas City 

Kirksville 

Liberty , 

Palmyra 

Rolla 

St. Charles 

St. Joseph 

St. Joseph 

St Joseph 

St Joseph 

St Louis 

St. Louis 

St Louis 

St. Louis 

St. Louis 

Louis 

St. Louis 

St. Louis 

St. Louis 

St. Louis , 

St. Louis , 

St. Louis 

St. Louis 

St Louis 

St. Louis 

St Louis , 

St. Louis , 

St Louis , 

St Louis 

St Louis , 

Sedalia 

Sedalia 

Springfield 



6,500 
1,225 

10,000 
1,200 
1,200 
1,000 
6,000 
8,000 
2,219 
1,100 
1,000 

13,000 
1,300 
8,000 
1,000 
1,050 
4,000 
2,000 
1,478 
1,716 
6,000 
2,000 
2,500 
1,500 
2,744 
4,000 

22,000 
1,000 
4,800 
8,000 
1,000 
1,500 
4,000 

40,097 
1,100 

45,000 
2,000 
2,000 

17,000 
8,000 
2,000 
4,500 
8,000 
1,327 
1,500 
1,015 
2,000 



IN 1880. 
Newspapers and Periodicals 481 



CHARITIES. 

State Asylum for Deaf and Dumb 

St Bridget's Institution for Deaf and Dumb 

Listitution for the Education of the Blind 

State Asylum for Insane 

State Asylum for the Insane 



....Fulton. 
.&t. Louis. 
.St Louis. 
....Fulton. 
.St. Louis. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 75 

NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

Normal Institute Bolivar. 

Southeast Missouri State Normal School Cape Girardeau. 

Normal School (University of Missouri) Columbia. 

Fruitland Normal Institute Jackson. 

Lincoln Institute (for colored) ..Jefferson City. 

City Normal School St. Louis. 

Missouri State Normal School Warrensburg. 

IN 1880. 
Number of school children „ 



IN 1878. 

Estimated value of school property $8,321,399 

Total receipts for public schools 4,207,617 

Total expenditures , 2,406,139 

NUMBER OP TEACHERS. 

Male teachers 6.239; average monthly pay $36.33 

Female teachers .-. 5,060; average monthly pay 28.09 

The fact that Missouri supports and maintains four hundred and 
seventy-one newspapers and periodicals, shows that her inhabitants 
are not only a reading and reflecting people, but that they appreciate 
•' The Press," and its wonderful influence as an educator. The poet 
has well said : — 

But mightiest of the mighty means, 
On which the arm of progress leans, 
Man's noblest mission to advance, 
His TFoes assuage, his vpeal enhance. 
His rights enforce, his wrongs redress — 
Mightiest of mighty '^ the Presa. 



CHAPTER XIL 

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. ' 

Baptist Church — Its History — Congregational — When Founded — Its History — 
Christian Church — Its History — Cumberland Presbyterian Church — Its History — 
Methodist Episcopal Church — Its History — Presbyterian Church — Its History — 
Protestant Episcopal Church — Its History — United Presbyterian Church — Its 
History — Unitarian Church — Its History — Roman Catholic Church — Its History. 

The first representatives of religious thought and training, who 
penetrated the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys, were Pere Marquette, 
La Salle, and others of Catholic persuasion, who performed missionary 



74 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

labor among the Indians. A century afterward came the Protestants. 
At that early period 

" A church in every grove that spread 
Its living roof above their heads," 

constituted for a time their only house of worship, and yet to them 

•* No Temple built with hands could vie 
In glory with its majesty." 

In the course of time, the seeds of Protestantism were scattered 
along the shores of the two great rivers which form the eastern and 
western boundaries of the State, and still a little later they were sown 
upon her hill-sides and broad prairies, where they have since bloomed 
and blossomed as the rose. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The earliest anti-Catholic religious denomination, of which there is 
any record, was organized in Cape Girardeau county in 1806, through 
the efforts of Rev. David Green, a Baptist, and a native of Virginia. 
In 1816, the first association of Missouri Baptists was formed, which 
was composed of seven churches, all of which were located in the 
southeastern part of the State. In 1817 a second association of 
churches was formed, called the Missouri Association, the name being 
afterwards changed to St. Louis Association. In 1834 a general con- 
vention of all the churches of this denomination, was held in Howard 
county, for the purpose of effecting a central organization, at which 
time was commenced what is now known as the *♦ General Association 
of Missouri Baptists.** 

To this body is committed the State mission work, denominational 
education, foreign missions and the circulation of religious literature. 
The Baptist Church has under its control a number of schools and 
colleges, the most important of which is William Jewell College, 
located at Liberty, Clay county. As shown by the annual report for 
1875, there were in Missouri, at that date, sixty-one associations, one 
thousand four hundred churches, eight hundred and twenty-four min- 
isters and eighty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty church members. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

The Congregationalists inaugurated their missionary labors in the 
State in 1814. Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torringford, Connecticut, 
and Rev. Daniel Smith, of Bennington, Vermont, were sent west by 
the Massachusetts Congregational Home Missionary Society during 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 75 

that year, and in November, 1814, they preached the first regular 
Protestant sermons in St. Louis. Rev. Samuel Giddings, sent out 
under the auspices of the Connecticut Congregational Missionary 
Society, organized the first Protestant church in the city, cousistino- 
of ten members, constituted Presbyterian. The churches organized 
by Mr. Giddings were all Presbyterian in their order. 

No exclusively Congregational Church was founded until 1852, 
when the "First Trinitarian Congregational Church of St. Louis" 
was organized. The next church of this denomination was organized 
at Hannibal in 1859. Then followed a Welsh church in New Cambria 
in 1864, and after the close of the war, fifteen churches of the same 
order were formed in difierent parts of the State. In 1866, Pilgrim 
Church, St. Louis, was organized. The General Conference of 
Churches of Missouri was formed in 1865, which was changed in 1868, 
to General Association. In 1866, Hannibal, Kidder, and St. Louis 
District Associations were formed, and following these were the Kan- 
sas City and Springfield District Associations. This denomination in 
1875, had 70 churches, 41 ministers, 3,363 church members, and had 
also several schools and colleges and one monthly newspaper. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

The earliest churches of this denomination were organized in Cal- 
laway, Boone and Howard Counties, some time previously to 1829. 
The first church was formed in St. Louis in 1836 by Elder R. B. 
Fife. The first State Sunday School Convention of the Christian 
Church, was held in Mexico in 1876. Besides a number of private 
institutions, this denomination has three State Institutions, all of 
which have an able corps of professors and have a good attendance of 
pupils. It has one religious paper published in St. Louis, '* The GhriS' 
tiaUf** which is a weekly publication and well patronized. The mem- 
bership of this church now numbers nearly one hundred thousand in 
the State and is increasing rapidly. It has more than five hundred 
organized churches, the greater portion of which are north of the 
Missouri River. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

In the spring of 1820, the first Presbytery of this denomination 
west of the Mississippi, was organized in Pike County. This Pres- 
bytery included all the territory of Missouri, western Illinois and 
Arkansas and numbered only four ministers, two of whom resided at 



76 HISTORY OF MISSOUR 

that time in Missouri. There are now in the State, twelve Presby- 
teries, three Synods, nearly three hundred ministers and over twenty 
thousand members. The Board of Missions is located at St. Louis. 
They have a number of High Schools and two monthly papers pub- 
lished at St. Louis. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

In 1806, Rev. John Travis, a young Methodist minister, was sent 
out to the " Western Conference," which then embraced the Missis- 
sippi Valley, from Green County, Tennessee. During that year Mr. 
Travis organized a number of small churches. At the close of his 
conference year, he reported the result of his labors to the Western 
Conference, which was held at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1870, and showed 
an aggregate of one hundred and six members and two circuits, one 
called Missouri and the other Meramec. In 1808, two circuits had 
been formed, and at each succeeding year the number of circuits and 
members constantly increased, until 1812, when what was called the 
Western Conference was divided into the Ohio and Tennessee Confer- 
ences, Missouri falling into the Tennessee Conference. In 1816, 
there was another division when the Missouri Annual Conference was 
formed. In 1810, there were four traveling preachers and in 1820, fif- 
teen travelling preachers, with over 2,000 members. In 1836, the terri- 
tory of the Missouri Conference was again divided when the Missouri 
Conference included only the State. In 1840 there were 72 traveling 
preachers, 177 local ministers and 13,992 church members. Between 
1840 and 1850, the church was divided by the organization of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1850, the membership of the 
M. E. Church was over 25,000, and during the succeeding ten years 
the church prospered rapidly. In 1875, the M. E. Church reported 
274 church edifices and 34,156 members ; the M. E. Church South, 
reported 443 church edifices and 49,588 members. This denomina- 
tion has under its control several schools and colleges and two weekly 
newspapers. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The Presbyterian Church dates the beginning of its missionary 
efibrts in the State as far back as 1814, but the first Presbyterian 
Church was not organized until 1816 at Bellevue settlement, eight 
miles from St. Louis. The next churches were formed in 1816 and 
1817 at Bonhomme, Pike County. The First Presbyterian Church 
was organized in St. Louis in 1817, bv Rev. Salmon Gidding. The 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 77 

first Presbytery was organized in 1817 by the Synod of Tennessee 
with four ministers and four churches. The first Presbyterian house 
of worship (which was the first Protestant) was commenced in 1819 
and completed in 1826. In 1820 a mission was formed among the 
Osage Indians. In 1831, the Presbytery was divided into three: 
Missouri, St. Louis, and St. Charles. These were erected with a 
Synod comprising eighteen ministers and twenty-three churches. 

The church was divided in 1838, throughout the United States. In 
1860 the rolls of the Old and New School Synod together showed 109 
ministers and 146 churches. In 1866 the Old School Synod was di- 
vided on political questions springing out of the war — a part form- 
ing the Old School, or Independent Synod of Missouri, who are con- 
nected with the General Assembly South. In 1870, the Old and New 
School Presbyterians united, since which time this Synod has steadily 
increased until it now numbers more than 12,000 members with more 
than 220 churches and 150 ministers. 

This Synod is composed of six Presbyteries and has under its con- 
trol one or two institutions of learning and one or two newspapers. 
That part of the original Synod which withdrew from the General 
Assembly remained an independent body until 1874 when it united 
with the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Synod in 1875 num- 
bered 80 ministers, 140 churches and 9,000 members. It has under 
its control several male and female institutions of a high order. The 
St. Louis Preshyteriani a weekly paper, is the recognized organ of 
the Synod. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The missionary enterprises of this church began in the State in 
1819, when a parish was organized in the City of St. Louis. In 1828, 
an agent of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, visited the 
city, who reported the condition of things so favorably that Rev. 
Thomas Horrell was sent out as a missionary and in 1825, he began 
his labors in St. Louis. A church edifice was completed in 1830. In 
1836, there were five clergymen of this denomination in Missouri, 
who had organized congregations in Boonville, Fayette, St. Charles, 
Hannibal, and other places. In 1840, the clergy and laity met in 
convention, a diocese was formed, a constitution, and canons adopted, 
and in 1844 a Bishop was chosen, he being the Rev. Cicero S. 
Hawks. Through the efforts of Bishop Kemper, Kemper College was 
founded near St. Louis, but was afterward given up on account of 



78 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

pecuniary troubles. In 1847, the Clark Mission began and in 1849 
the Orphans' Home, a charitable institution, was founded. In 1865, 
St. Luke's Hospital was established. In 1875, there were in the city 
of St. Louis, twelve parishes and missions and twelve clergymen. 
This deuomnation has several schools and colleges, and one newspaper. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

This denomination is made up of the members of the Associate and 
Associate Keformed churches of the Northern States, which two 
bodies united in 1858, taking the name of the United Presbyterian 
Church of North America. Its members were generally bitterly 
opposed to the institution of slavery. The first congregation was 
organized at Warrensburg, Johnson County, in 1867. It rapidly 
increased in numbers, and had, in 1875, ten ministers and five hundred 
members. 

UNITARIAN CHURCH. 

This churcn was formed in 1834, by the Rev. W. G. Eliot, in St. 
Louis. The churches are few in number throughout the State, the 
membership being probably less than 300, all told. It has a mission 
house and free school, for poor children, supported by donations. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The earliest written record of the Catholic Church in Missouri shows 
that Father Watrin performed ministerial services in Ste. Genevieve, 
in 1760, and in St. Louis in 1766. In 1770, Father Menrin erected a 
small log church in St. Louis. In 1818, there were in the State four 
chapels, and for Upper Louisiana seven priests. A college and semi- 
nary were opened in Perry County about this period, for the 
education of the young, being the first college west of the Mississippi 
River. In 1824, a college was opened in St. Louis, which is now 
known as the St. Louis University. In 1826, Father Rosatti was 
appointed Bishop of St. Louis, and through his instrumentality the 
Sisters of Charity, Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Visitation were 
founded, besides other benevolent and charitable institutions. In 
1834 he completed the present Cathedral Church. Churches were 
built in difi'erent portions of the State. In 1847 St. Louis was created 
an arch-diocese, with Bishop Kenrick, Archbishop. 

In Kansas City there were five parish churches, a hospital, a con- 
vent and several parish schools. In 1868 the northwestern portion of 
the State was erected into a separate diocese, with its seat at St. Joseph, 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 79 

and Right-Reverend John J. Hogan appointed Bishop. There were, 
in 1875, in the city of St. Louis, 34 churches, 27 schools, 5 hospitals, 
3 colleges, 7 orphan asylums and 3 female protectorates. There were 
also 105 priests, 7 male and 13 female orders, and 20 conferences of 
St. Vincent de Paul, numbering 1,100 members. In the diocese, out- 
side of St. Louis, there is a college, a male protectorate, 9 convents, 
about 120 priests, 150 churches and 30 stations. In the diocese of 
St. Joseph there were, in 1875, 21 priests, 29 churches, 24 stations, 
1 college, 1 monastery, 5 convents and 14 parish schools : 

Number of Sunday Schools in 1878 , , 2,067 

Number of Teachers in 1878 ... , , , 18,010 

Number of Pupils in 1878 , 139,578 

THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 

Instruction preparatory to ministerial work is given in connection 
with collegiate study, or in special theological courses, at: 

Central College (M. E. South) 

Central Wesleyan College (M. E. Church) . 

Christian University (Christian) 

Concordia College Seminary TEvangelical Lutheran) . 
Lewis College (M. E. Church) .... 
St. Vincent College (Eoman Catholic) 
Vardeman School of Theology (Baptist) 

The last is connected with William Jewell College. 



Fayette. 

. Warrenton. 

Canton. 

St. Louis. 

Glasgow. 

Cape Girardeau. 

• Liberty. 



CHAPTER Xm. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN. 

Nomination and election of Thomas T. Crittenden— Personal Mention — Marmaduke*8 
candidacy — Stirring events — Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Death of Jesse 
James — The Fords — Pardon of the Gamblers. 

It is the purpose in this chapter to outline the more important 
events of Governor Crittenden's unfinished administration, stating 
briefly the facts in the case, leaving comment and criticism entirely to 
the reader, the historian having no judgment to express or prejudice 
to vent. • 

Thomas T. Crittenden, of Johnson county, received the Demo- 
cratic nomination for Governor of Missouri at the convention at Jefier- 



80 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

son City, July 22d, 1880. Democratic nomination for a State office in 
Missouri is always equivalent to election, and the entire State ticket 
was duly elected in November. Crittenden's competitors before the 
convention were Gen. John S. Marmaduke, of St. Louis, and John 
A. Hockaday, of Callaway county. Before the assembling of the 
convention many persons who favored Marmaduke, both personally 
and politically, thought the nomination of an ex-Confederate might 
prejudice the prospects of the National Democracy, and therefore, as 
a matter of policy, supported Crittenden. 

His name, and the fame of his family in Kentucky — Thomas T. 
being a scion of the Crittendens of that State, caused the Democracy 
of Missouri to expect great things from their new Governor. This, 
together with the important events which followed his inauguration, 
caused some people to overrate him, while it prejudiced others against 
him. The measures advocated by the Governor in his inaugural 
address were such as, perhaps, the entire Democracy could endorse, 
especially that of refunding, at a low interest, all that part of the State 
debt that can be so refunded ; the adoption of measures to relieve the 
Supreme Court docket ; a compromise of the indebtedness of some of 
the counties, and his views concerning repudiation, which he con- 
temned. 

HANNIBAL & ST. JOE RAILROAD CONTROVERSY. 

By a series of legislative acts, beginning with the act approved 
February 22, 1851, and ending with that of March 26, 1881, the 
State of Missouri aided with great liberality in the construction of a 
system of railroads in this State. 

Among the enterjDrises thus largely assisted was the Hannibal and 
St. Joseph Railroad, for the construction of which the bonds of the 
State, to the amount of $3,000,000, bearing interest at 6 per cent per 
annum, payable semi-annually, were issued. One half of this amount 
was issued under the act of 1851, and the remainder under the act of 
1855. The bonds issued under the former act were to run twenty 
years, and those under the latter act were to run thirty years. Some 
of the bonds have since been funded and renewed. Coupons for the 
interest of the entire $3,000,000 were executed and made payable in 
New York. These acts contain numerous provisions intended to 
secure the State against loss and to require the railroad company to 
pay the interest and principal at maturity. It was made the duty of 
the railroad company to save and keep the State from all loss on 
account of said bonds and coupons. The Treasurer of the State was 



I 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 81 

to be exonerated from any advance of money to meet either principal 
or interest. The State contracted with the railroad company for com- 
plete indemnity. She was required to assign her statutory morto-ao-e 
lien only upon payment into the treasury of a sum of money equal to 
all indebtedness due or owing by said company to the State by reason 
of having issued her bonds and loaned them to the company. 

In June, 1881, the railroad, through its attorney, Geo. W. Easley, 
Esq., paid to Phil. E. Chappell, State Treasurer, the sum of $3,000,- 
000, and asked for a receipt in full of all dues of the road to the 
State. The Treasurer refused to give such a receipt, but instead gave 
a receipt for the sum " on account." The debt was not yet due, but 
the authorities of the road sought to discharge their obligation pre- 
maturely, in order to save interest and other expenses. The railroad 
company then demanded its bonds of the State, which demand the 
State refused. The company then demanded that the $3,000,000 be 
paid back, and this demand was also refused. 

The railroad company then brought suit in the United States Court 
for an equitable adjustment of the matters in controversy. The $3, 
000,000 had been deposited by the State in one of the banks, and was 
drawing interest only at the rate of one-fourth of one per cent. It 
was demanded that this sum should be so invested that a larger rate 
of interest might be obtained, which sum of interest should be allowed 
to the company as a credit in case any sum should be found due from 
it to the State. Justice Miller, of the United States Supreme Court, 
who heard the case upon preliminary injunction in the spring of 1882, 
decided that the unpaid and unmatured coupons constituted a liability 
of the State and a debt owing, though not due, and until these were 
provided for the State was not bound to assign her lien upon the road. 

Another question which was mooted, but not decided, was this: 
That, if any, what account is the State to render for the use of the 
$3,000,000 paid into the treasury by the complainants on the 20th of 
June? Can she hold that large sum of money, refusing to make any 
account of it, and still insist upon full payment by the railroad 
company of all outstandhig coupons ? ^ 

Upon this subject Mr. Justice Miller, in the course of his opinion, 
said : '* I am of the opinion that the State, having accepted or got this 
money into her possession, is under a moral obligation (and I do not 
pretend to commit anybody as to how far its legal obligation goes) to 
so use that money as, so far as possible, to protect the parties who 
have paid it against the loss of the interest which it might accumulate, 



82 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

and which would go to extinguish the interest on the State's obliga- 
tions." 

March 26, 1881, the Legislature, in response to a special message of 
Gov. Crittenden, dated February 25, 1881, in which he informed 
the Legislature of the purpose of the Hannibal and St. Joseph com- 
pany to discharge the full amount of what it claims is its present 
indebtedness as to the State, and advised that provision be made 
for the '* profitable disposal" of the sum when paid, passed an act, 
the second section of which provided. 

** Sec. 2. Whenever there is sufficient money in the sinking fund to 
redeem or purchase one or more of the bonds of the State of Missouri, 
such sum is hereby appropriated for such purpose, and the Fund 
Commissioners shall immediately call in for payment a like amount 
of the option bonds of the State, known as the " 5-20 bonds," 
provided, that if there are no option bonds which can be called in for 
payment, they may invest such money in the purchase of any of the 
bonds of the State, or bonds of the United States, the Hannibal and 
St. Joseph railroad bonds excepted." 

On the 1st of January, 1882, the regular semi-annual payment of 
interest on the railroad bonds became due, but the road refused to 
pay, claiming that it had already discharged the principal, and of 
course was not liable for the interest. Thereupon, according to the 
provisions of the aiding act of 1855, Gov. Crittenden advertised the 
road for sale in default of the payment of interest. The company 
then brought suit before U. S. Circuit Judge McCrary at Keokuk, 
Iowa, to enjoin the State from selling the road, and for such other 
and further relief as the court might see fit and proper to grant. 
August 8, 1882, Judge McCrary delivered his opinion and judgment, 
as follows : 

*i First. That the payment by complainants into the treasury of the 
State of the sum of $3,000,000 on the 26th of June, 1881, did not 
satisfy the claim of the State in full, nor entitle complainants to an 
assignment of the State's statutory mortgage. 

'■^Seoond. That the State was bound to invest the principal sum 
of $3,000,000 so paid by the complainants without unnecessary delay 
in the securities named in the act of March 26, 1881, or some of 
them, and so as to save to the State as large a sum as possible, 
which sum so saved would have constituted as between the State and 
complainants a credit pro tanto upon the unmatured coupons now in 
controversy. 



HISTORY OP MISSOURI. 83 

**Third. That the rights and equity of the parties are to be deter- 
mined upon the foregoing principles, and the State must stand 
charged with what would have been realized if the act of March, 
1881, had been complied with. It only remains to consider what the 
rights of the parties are upon the principles here stated. 

<' In order to save the State from loss on account of the default of 
the railroad company, a further sum must be paid. In order to deter- 
mine what that further sum is an accounting must be had. The ques- 
tion to be settled by the accounting is, how much would the State 
have lost if the provisions of the act of March, 1881, had been 
complied with ? » * ♦ • I think a perfectly fair basis of settle- 
ment would be to hold the State liable for whatever could have been 
saved by the prompt execution of said act by taking up such 5-20 
option bonds of the State as were subject to call when the money was 
paid to the State, and investing the remainder of the fund in the 
bonds of the United States at the market rates. 

** Upon this basis a calculation can be made and the exact sum still to 
be paid by the complainant in order to fully indemnify and protect the 
State can be ascertained. For the purpose of stating an account 
upon this basis and of determining the sum to be paid by the com- 
plainants to the State, the cause will be referred to John K. Cravens, 
one of the masters of this court. In determining the time when the 
investment should have been made under the act of March, 1881, the 
master will allow a reasonable period for the time of the receipt of the 
said sum of $3,000,000 by the Treasurer of the State — that is to say, 
such time as would have been required for that purpose had the offi- 
cers charged with the duty of making said investment used reason- 
able diligence in its discharge. 

*♦ The Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad is advertised for sale for the 
amount of the instalment of interest due January 1, 1882, which 
instalment amouiits to less than the sum which the company must pay 
in order to discharge its liabilities to the State upon the theory of this 
opinion. The order will, therefore, be that an injunction be granted 
to enjoin the sale of the road upon the payment of the said instal- 
ment of interest due January 1, 1882, and if such payment is made 
the master will take it into account in making the computation above 
mentioned." 

KILLING OF JESSE JAMES. 

The occurrence during the present Governor's administration which 
did most to place his name in everybody's mouth, and even to herald 



O* HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

it abroad, causing the European press to teem with leaders announcing 
the fact to the continental world, was the '* removal" of the famous 
Missouri brigand, Jesse W. James. The career of the James boys, 
and the banditti of whom they were the acknowledged leaders, is too 
well-known and too fully set forth in works of a more sensational 
character, to deserve further detail in these pages ; and the ♦* removal " 
of Jesse will be dealt with only in its relation to the Governor. 

It had been long conceded that neither of the Jameses would ever be 
taken alive. That experiment had been frequently and vainly tried, 
to the sorrow of good citizens of this and other States. It seems to 
have been one of the purposes of Gov. Crittenden to break up this 
band at any cost, by cutting off its leaders. Soon after the Winston 
train robbery, on July 15, 1881, the railroads combined in empower- 
ing the Governor, by placing the money at his disposal, to offer heavy 
rewards for the capture of the two James brothers. This was ac- 
cordingly done by proclamation, and, naturally, many persons were 
on the lookout to secure the large rewards. Gov. Crittenden worthed 
quietly, but determinedly, after offering the rewards, and by some 
means learned of the availability of the two Ford boys, young men 
from Eay county, who had been tutored as juvenile robbers by the 
skillful Jesse. An understanding was had, when the Fords declared 
they could find Jesse — that they were to "turn him in." Robert 
Ford and brother seem to have been thoroughly in the confidence of 
James, who then (startling as it was to the entire State) resided in 
the city of St. Joseph, with his wife and two children 1 The Fords 
went there, and when the robber's back was turned, Eobert shot him 
dead in the hack of the head! The Fords told their story to the 
authorities of the city, who at once arrested them on a charge of mur- 
der, and they, when arraigned, plead guilty to the charge. Promptly, 
however, came a full, free and unconditional pardon from Gov. Crit- 
tenden, and the Fords were released. In regard to the Governor's 
course in ridding the State of this notoripus outlaw, people were 
divided in sentiment, some placing him in the category with the Ford 
boys and bitterly condemning his action, while others — the majority 
of law-abiding people, indeed, — though deprecating the harsh meas- 
ures which James' course had rendered necessary, still upheld th 
Governor for the part he played. As it was, the "Terror of Mis- 
souri " was effectually and finally *« removed," and people were glad 
that he was dead. Robert Ford, the pupil of the dead Jesse, had 



HISTOET OP MISSOURI. 85 

been selected, and of all was the most fit tool to use in the extermina- 
tion of his preceptor in crime. 

The killing of James would never have made Crittenden many ene- 
mies among the better class of citizens of this State ; but, when it 
came to his 

PARDON OF THE GAMBLERS. 

The case was different. Under the new law making gaminghouse- 
keeping a felony, several St. Louis gamblers, with Robert C. Pate at 
their head, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Governor, 
much to the surprise of the more rigid moral element of the State, 
soon granted the gamblers a pardon. This was followed by other 
pardons to similar offenders, which began to render the Governor quite 
unpopular which one element of citizens, and to call forth from some 
of them the most bitter denunciations. The worst feature of the case, 
perhaps, is the lack of explanation, or the setting forth of sufficient 
reasons, as is customary in issuing pardons, This, at least, is the bur- 
den of complaint with the faction that opposes him. However, it 
must be borne in mind that his terra of office, at this writing, is but 
half expired, and that a full record can not, therefore, be given. Like 
all mere men. Gov. Crittenden has his good and his bad, is liked by 
some and disliked by others. The purpose of history is to set forth 
the facts and leave others to sit in judgment; this the historian has 
tried faithfully to do, leaving all comments to those who may see fit to 
make them. 



HISTORY 



OF 



MONROE COUNTY, MISSOURI. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory — What Time has Done — Importauce of Early Beginnings — First Settle- 
ments made in the Timber — Parts of the County first Settled — Names of Pioneers — 
Postal and Mill Facilities — County Organized and Named — The Name — James 
Monroe. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

History " is but a record of the life and career of peoples and na- 
tions. " The historian, in rescuing from oblivion the life of a nation, 
or a particular people, should " nothing extenuate, nor set down 
aught in malice. " Myths, however beautiful, are but fanciful ; tra- 
ditions, however pleasing, are uncertain ; and legends, though the 
very essence of poesy and song, are unauthentic. The novelist will 
take the most fragile thread of romance, and from it weave a fabric of 
surpassing beauty. But the historian should put his feet on the solid 
rock of truth, and turning a deaf ear to the allurements of fancy, he 
should sift with careful scrutiny the evidence brought before him, 
from which he is to give the record of what has been. Standing 
down the stream of time, far removed from its source, he must re- 
trace with patience and care, its meanderings, guided by the relics of 
the past which lie upon its shores, growing fainter, and still more faint 
and uncertain as he nears its fountain, ofttimes concealed in the debris 
of ages, and the mists of impenetrable darkness. Written records 
grow less and less explicit, and finallv fail altogether, as he approaches 

1 ^' (87) 



88 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

the beginning of the community whose lives he is seeking to rescue 
from the gloom of a rapidly receding past. 

Memory, wonderful as are its powers, is yet frequently at fault, and 
only by a comparison of its many aggregations can he be satisfied 
that he is pursuing stable-footed truth in his researches amid the early 
paths of his subject. It can not then be unimportant or uninteresting 
to trace the progress of Monroe county from its embryotic period to 
its present proud position among its sister counties. To this end, 
therefore, we have endeavored to gather the scattered and loosening 
threads of the past into a compact web of the present, trusting that 
the harmony and perfectness of the work may speak with no uncertain 
sound to the future. 

WHAT TIME HAS DONE. 

Fifty-three years have passed since Monroe county was organized. 
Most wonderful have been the changes, and mighty have been the 
events and revolutions, the discoveries and inventions, that have oc- 
curred within this time. 

Perhaps since " God formed the earth and the world, " and tossed 
them from the hollow of his hand into space, so many great things 
have not been accomplished in any fifty-three years. Reflection can not 
fail to arouse wonder, and awaken thankfulness, that God has ap- 
pointed us the place we occupy in the eternal chain ©f events. Ten- 
nyson and Browning, Bryant and Whittier, Lowell and Longfellow 
have sung. The matchless Webster, the ornate Sumner, the eloquent 
Clay, the metaphysical Calhoun and Seward have since reached the 
culmination of their powers and passed into the grave. Macauley, 
Theirs, Gizot and Fronde have written in noble strains the history of 
their lands ; and Bancroft and Prescott and Hildreth and Motley have 
won high rank among the historians of the earth. Spurgeon and 
Beecher and Moody have enforced, with most persuasive eloquence, 
the duties of morality and religion. Carlyle and Emerson, Stuart 
Mill and Spencer have given the results of their speculations in high 
philosophy to the world. Mexico has been conquered ; Alaska has 
been purchased ; the center of population has traveled more than 250 
miles along the thirty-ninth parallel, and a majority of the States 
composing the American Union have been added to the glorious con- 
stellation on the blue field of our flag. Great cities have been founded 
and populous countries developed ; and the stream of emigration is still 
tending westward. Gold has been discovered in the far West, and 
the great Civil War — the bloodiest in all the annals of time — has 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 89 

been fought. The telegraph, the telephone and railroad have been 
added to the list of the most important inventions. In fact, durin^'' 
this time, our country has increased in population from a few millions 
of people to fifty millions. From a weak, obscure nation it has be- 
come strong in all the elements of power and influence, and is to-day 
the most marvelous country for its age that ever existed. 



IMPORTANCE OF EARLY BEGINNINGS. 

Every nation does not possess an authentic account of its orio-in. 
Neither do all communities have the correct data whereby it is possi- 
ble to accuratelv predicate the condition of their first beo-innino-s. 
Nevertheless, to be intensely interested in such things is characteristic 
of the race, and it is particularly the province of the historian to deal 
with first causes. Should these facts be lost in the mythical tradi- 
tions of the past, as is often the case, the chronicler invades the realm 
of the ideal and compels his imagination to paint the missing picture. 
The patriotic Roman was not content until he had found the " first 
settlers," and then he was satisfied, although they were found in 
the very undesirable company of a wolf, and located on a drift, 
which the receding waters of the Tiber had permitted them to pre- 
empt. 

One of the advantages pertaining to a residence in a new country, 
and one seldom appreciated, is the fact that we can go back to the 
first beginning. We are thus enabled to not only trace results to their 
causes, but also to grasp the facts which have contributed to form and 
mold these causes. We observe that a State or county has attained 
a certain position, and we at once try to trace out the reasons for this 
position in its settlement and surroundings, in the class of men by 
whom it was peopled, and in many chances and changes which have 
wrought out results, in all recorded deeds of mankind. In the history 
of Monroe county we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the 
Eastern States and in the countries of the Old World. We may fol- 
low the course of the early backwoodsman, from the " Buckeye " or 
" Hoosier " State, and from Kentucky and Virginia on his way West, 
" to grow up with the country," trusting only to his strong arm and 
willing heart to work out his ambition for a home for himself and 
wife, and a competence for his children. Again, we will see that 
others have been animated with the impulse to move on, after making 
themselves a part of the community, and have sought the newer por- 



ilO HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

tioiis of the extreme West, where civilization had not penetrated, or 
returned to their native heath. 

We shall find something of that distinctive New England character, 
which has contriI)utcd so many men and women to other portions of 
the West. We shall also find many an industrious native of Germany, 
us well as a number of the sons of the Emerald Isle, all of whom have 
contributed to modify types of men already existing here. Those who 
have noted the career of the descendants of these brave, strong men, 
in subduing the wilds and overcoming the obstacles and hardships of 
early times, can but admit that they are worthy sons of illustrious 
sires. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS MADE IN THE TIMBER. 

The first settlements in the county were invariably made in the tim- 
l)er or contiguous thereto. The early settlers did so as a matter of 
necessity and convenience. The presence of timber aided materially 
in bringing about an early settlement, and it aided in two ways ; first, 
the country had to depend on emigration from the older settled States 
of the East for its population, and especially Kentucky and Tennessee. 
These States originally were almost covered with dense forests, and 
farms were made by clearing off" certain portions of the timber. Al- 
most every farm there, after it became thoroughly improved, still re- 
tained a certain tract of timber commonly known as " the woods." 
" The woods " was generally regarded as the most important part of 
the farm, and the average farmer regarded it as indispensable. When 
he emigrated to the West, one objection was the scarcity of timber, 
and he did not suppose that it would be possible to open up a farm 
on the bleak prairie. To live in a region devoid of the familiar sight 
of timber seemed unendurable, and the average Kentuckian could not 
entertain the idea of founding a home away from the familiar forest 
trees. Then again the idea entertained by the early immigrants to 
Missouri, that timber was a necessity, was not simply theoretical. The 
early settler must have a house to live in, fuel for cooking and heat- 
ing purposes, and fences to inclose his claim. At that time there were 
no railroads by which lumber could be transported. No coal mine 
had yet been opened, and few if any had been discovered. Timber 
was an absolute necessity, without which material improvement was 
an impossibility. 

No wonder that a gentleman from the East, who in early times came 
to the prairie region of Missouri on a prospecting tour, with a view of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 91 

permanent location, returned home in disgust and embodied his views 
of the country in the following rhyme: — 

"Oh! lonesome, wiudy, ii;i-assy place, 

Where buffalo and snakes prevail ; 
The first with dreadful looking face. 

The last with dreadful sounding tail ! 
I'd rather live on camel hump, 

And be a Yankee Doodle beggar. 
Than where I never see a stump. 

And shake to death with fever'n ager." 

The most important resource in the development of this Western 
country was the belts of timber which skirted the streams ; and the 
settlers who first hewed out homes in the timber, while at present 
not the most enterprising and progressive, were, nevertheless, an 
essential factor in the solution of the problem. 

Along either side of the various streams which flow across the 
country, were originally belts of timber ; at certain places, generally 
near the mouths of the smaller tril^utaries, the belt of timber widened 
out, thus forming a grove, or what was frequently called a point, and 
at these points or groves were the first settlements made ; here were 
the first beginnings of civilization; here "began to operate those 
forces which have made the wilderness a fruitful place and caused the 
desert to bud and blossom as the rose." 

Much of the primeval forest has been removed for the building of 
houses and the construction of fences ; other portions, and probably 
the largest part, have been ruthlessly and improvidently destroyed. 

PARTS OF THE COUNTRY FIRST SETTLED. 

As early as 1817 parties came into what w^as then Pike county, and 
in the vicinity of Middle Grove located tracts of land, but no per- 
manent settlement was made within the boundaries of Monroe county 
until 1820. The first settlement was begun in the county about three 
and a half miles east of Middle Grove, by Ezra Fox, Andrew and 
Daniel Wittenliurg and others. For many years afterward this was 
known as Fox's settlement. About the same time a settlement was 
commenced between the Middle and North forks of Salt river be- 
tween Paris and Florida, by Joseph Smith, Sr., Alexander W. Smith, 
Joseph Smith, Jr., Samuel H. Smith and others. This was desig- 
nated by the early settlers as the "Smith settlement." Not long 
subsequent to the formation of these settlements others were begun, 
namely : On the Elk fork, south and east of Paris, by the McGees 
and others. On the Middle fork, east of Madison, by Daniel and 



92 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Urbin East and others. On the North fork, in the vicinity of Clin- 
ton, by Robert Martin, Col. Gabriel Jones, Caleb Wood and others, 
and also in the neighborhood of Florida, by Robert Greening, Samuel 
Nesbit, William Wilkerson, John and James Dale and others. 

As early as 1820 Benjamin Young settled on the South fork not far 
from Santa Fe. He was the only settler in that portion of the county 
until 1828. Only eight families were living in this settlement when 
the county was organized. For eleven years after the first settlements 
were commenced, the history of the county is connected with that of 
Ralls. These were years of toil and hardship, of hope and disap- 
pointment, of genuine hospitality and true friendships. There was no 
squinting at aristrocracy among the people, no formalities, all were on 
one common footing, grappling with nature in a united effort to reduce 
it to the uses of civilization. Rude cabins with puncheon floors or 
without even this resemblance of a floor, without windows, except a 
hole closed with apiece of greased paper to let in the light, were built, 
forests were felled and cleared away by the united efforts of the pio- 
neers. Immigration came in slowly ; gradually the settlements began 
to lose that distinctiveness of separation which characterized them 
during their earliest years ; gradually the monotony of the wide 
stretches of country intervening between the settlements was broken 
up by rude cabins of the pioneers, scattered here and there ; gradually 
the settlements were linked together. There were no trading places, 
blacksmith-shops nor mills in the county for a number of years. The 
settlements supplied their few wants at the trading posts or towns on 
the Missouri or Mississippi rivers. The first blacksmith shop in the 
county was opened on the Louisiana road, near where Upton's old 
shop now stands, by Charles Eales. Among the first, and perhaps 
the first store in the county, was opened in the fall of 1830, one-half 
mile south of Florida, near where Hickman's mills now stand, by 
Maj. W. N. Penn. The town of Florida was laid out during the 
winter of 1831. Robert Donaldson, John Witt, Dr. Keenan, Joseph 
Grigsby, W. N. Penn and Hugh A. Hickman were its founders. Soon 
after the town was laid out Maj. Penn moved his stock of goods to the 
site, and became the first merchant of Florida. 

It is said that the first mill in the county was built by Benjamin 
Bradley, about two miles north-east of Florida. It was simple in con- 
struction, and was run b}^ horse power. Some amusing incidents are 
told to illustrate the slow operation of grinding on these mills, but 
our space will not permit us to reproduce them here. Some of these 
mills are yet to be seen in the county — memorials of the old time. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 93 

The first public road established in the county was what is now known 
as the "Old London Trace." Traces of it are yet to be seen. It 
beojan at Fox's settlement, followed aloni>: down the dividino; ridge 
between the Elk Fork and the South Fork, crosshig the latter near 
where the Louisiana road now crosses the same stream, thence throusrh 
White's neighborhood and on to New London. This road was sur- 
veyed and laid out by Alexander W. Smith, Robert Hickland and J. 
C. Fox, pursuant to an order of the county court of Ralls county. ^ 

POSTAL AND MILL FACILITIES. 

The early settlers of the county, for several years after they built 
their cabins, had neither postal nor mill facilities, and were compelled 
to travel from 25 to 50 miles in order to reach a post-office, or to get 
their meal. Their usual way of sending or receiving tidings from 
their friends and the news of the great world, which lay towards the 
east and south of them, was generally by the mouth of the stranger 
coming in, or by the settler who journeyed back to his old home, in 
Kentucky or Virginia. Postage at that time was very high, and if 
the old settler sent or received two or three letters during the year, 
he considered himself fortunate. His every-day life in the wilds of 
the new country to which he had come to better his condition, was so 
much of a sameness that he had, indeed, but little to communicate. 
His wants were few, and these were generally supplied by his rod and 
his gun, the latter being considered an indispensable weapon of defense, 
as well as necessary to the support and maintenance of himself and 
family. No wonder that the pioneer loved his " old flint lock," 
and his faithful dog, whose honest bark would so often — 
** Bay deep-mouth'd welcome as he drew near home." 

MONROE COUNTY FORMED AND ORGANIZED. 

During the years 1829-30 emigration came in rapidly. The incon- 
venience of being so remote from the county seat, New London, and 
the hope of more rapid settlement, induced the pioneers during the 
latter part of the year 1830 to take steps to secure the organization 
of a new county. The subject was laid before the General Assembly 
of the State, was favorably considered, and on January 6, 1831, the 
following act was passed creating a new county : " All that portion of 
the territory within the county of Ralls lying within the following 
boundaries, to wit : Beginning on the township line between towu- 



^ W. L. Smiley's sketch of county. 



94 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ships 52 and 53 at the first sectional line east of the range line between 
ranges 7 and 8, thence with said sectional line on a parallel with said 
range north, to the southern boundary of the county of Marion ; 
thence west along the Marion county line with the township line 
between townships 56 and 57, to the range line between 12 and 13, 
it being the eastern boundary line of Randolph county, thence south 
with said range line to the township line between townships 52 and 
53, thence east with said township line to the place of beginning, be 
and the same is hereby declared to be a separate and distinct county, 
to be known and called by the name of " Monroe county " (Laws of 
Missouri). These boundaries have not been materially changed. 

The same act appointed Hancock S.Jackson, of Randolph ; Stephen 
Glascock, of Ralls, and Joseph HoUiday of Pike, commissioners to 
select the seat of justice for the county. These were men possess- 
ing integrity and purity of character. Joseph Holliday afterwards 
removed to the county, where he lived and died, respected by all who 
knew him. Hancock S. Jackson was afterward elected Lieutenant- 
Governor of the State, and was one of the most highly respected men 
in the State. 

The first entries of land were made by the following persons : — 
Township 53, range 8, George Markham, in 1819 ; township 54, 
range 8, Bennet Goldsberry in 1818 ; township 54, range 8, John 
Hicklin, in 1819 ; township 54, range 8, Joseph HoUidav, in 1818 ; 
township 54, range 8, Benton R. Gillett, in 1819 ; township 54, range 
8, Andrew Rogers, in 1819 ; township 55, range 8, Daniel McCoy, in 
1819 ; township 54, range 9, Joseph R. Pool, in 1819 ; township 55, 
range 9, James Adams, in 1819. 

THE NAME. 

A great dramatist intimates that there is nothing in a name ; but 
a name sometimes means a great deal. In many instances, it indi- 
cates, in a measure, the character of the people who settle the country 
and have given to it its distinctive characteristics. Names are some- 
times given to towns and countries by accident; sometimes they 
originate in the childish caprice of some individual, whose d ctate by 
reason of some real or imaginary superiority is law. Whether the 
policy of naming counties after statesmen and generals be good or 
bad, the Missouri Legislature has followed the practice to such an 
extent, that fully three-fourths of the counties composing the State 
bear the names of men who are more or le.^s distinguished in the his- 
tory of the country. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 95 



THE NAMES OF PIONEERS. 

When we consider that more than half a century has passed since 
the men whose names we append below, pitched their tents within the 
present limits of tiie county, it will be readily understood how diffi- 
cult has been the task of collecting them. 

In placing these names upon record we have doubtless made mis- 
takes and omissions, but feel confident that the errors will be over- 
looked, when it is remembered that we have spared no little effort 
to be accurate and perfect. 

They who in the early dawn of Western civilization first *« bearded 
the lion in his den, " opened a path through the wilderness, drove out 
the wild beasts and tamed the savage Indian, are entitled to one of 
the brightest pages in all the record of the past. 

The old pioneers of Monroe county — the advance guard of civil- 
ization — have nearly all passed away; those remaining may be 
counted on the fingers of one hand. A few more years of waiting 
and watching, and they, too, will have joined — 

"The innumerable caravan, that moves 
To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take 
His chamber in the silent halls of death." 

Fresh hillocks in the cemetery will soon be all the marks that will 
be left of a race of giants who grappled nature in her fastness and 
made a triumphant conquest in the face of the greatest privations, 
disease and difficulty. The shadows that fall upon their tombs as time 
recedes are like the smoky haze that enveloped the prairies in the 
early days, saddening the memory and giving to dim distance only a 
faint and phantom outline, to which the future will often look back 
and wonder at the great hearts that lie hidden under the peaceful 
canopy. 

These are the names of the old settlers : — 

HenryAshcraft, J. R. Abernathy, R. D. Austin, Ovid Adams, Otho 
Adams, William Atterbury, James Alfred, George Abbott, Chris. C. 
Acufl", Jerry Burton, Dr. John Bybee, Reuben Burton, Elijah Burton, 
John Burton, Benjamin Blubaugh, Lawrence Boggs, Thomas Bras- 
hears, Thomas Bell, Benjamin Bradley, James Bell, Isam. Belcher, 
Elijah Bozarth, Ezekial Biliington, Ephraim Brink, Shadrack Burnes, 
Abraham Bush, Elijah Creed, Samuel Crow, Augustin Creed, James 
Cox, Jeremiah Crigler, John G. Collison, Samuel Creed, A. B. Combs, 
Charles Clay, Triposa Clay, Samuel Curtright, John H. Curry, John 



96 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Colvin, Eichard Cave, Green Y. Caldwell, Isaac Coppedge, Simon 
Duckworth, John Dale, James Dickson, James Dale, Ramey Dye, 
Phanty Dye, George Dry, William Donaldson, Robert Donaldson, 
Thomas Davis, Van. Davis, Reese Davis, William Delauey, John De- 
laney. Fount Leroy Dye, Edward Damrell, Joseph Donaldson, Cor- 
nelius Edwards, Urban East, Daniel East, Charles Eales, Enoch 
Fruit, Ezra Fox, J. C. Fox, Pleasant Ford, Jacob Ford, Sr., Daniel 
Ford, John Foreman, Joseph Foreman, Hasting Fike, Thomas M. 
Glendy, Thomas Gundy, Angle Gillespie, Robert George, John Gee 
Martin B. Gay, Robert Greening, Edward Goodnight, Robert Gwyn, 
David Gough, Spencer Grogin, F. Gillett, Jonathan Gore, Leonard 
Green, Clem. Green, James Gilmore, William Goforth, Stephen 
Glascock, George Glenn, William B. Grant, Bartholomew Grogin, 
Joseph Holliday, Hackney T. Hightower, John Hocker, Hugh A. 
Hickman, John B. Hatton, Amon. Hicks, Salmon Humphrey, Edward 
M. Holden, John Howe, Ezra Hunt, Paul Hereford, Henry Howard, 
Esom Hannon, Robert Harris, James Herndon, Dr. Sylvester Hagan, 
Joseph Hagan, Samuel Harper, Robert Hanna, Asaph E. Hubbard, 
William Horn, John Ivie, William Jett, Col. Gabriel Jones, James 
Jackson, Daniel H. Johnson, John Johnson, Jeremiah Jackson, 
George Kipper, Henry Kinote, Thomas Kelley, William Kipper, 
Abraham Kirkland, John Kipper, Lewis Kincaid, Samuel Kipper, 
Dr. Keenan, David Kirby, Marshall Kelley, Thomas Kilgore, John 
McGee, James McGee, John S. McGee, William McGee, John Mc- 
Kamey, D. E. McKamey, Joseph H. McKamey, E. W. McBride, 
Charles McGrew, Hiram Manama, Boaz Maxey, John C. Milligan, 
Travis S. Moore, William McSwain, R. C. Mansfield, James Mappin, 
Matthew Mappin, Henry Miller, Robert Martin, Pay ton Maghan, 
Benjamin Mothershead, Samuel Nesbit, M. Newland, James Noel, 
Joel Noel, Garnet Noel, Elijah Owens, Mrs. Ownby, John Porter, 
Jesse Pavey, Maj. James Poage, James Powers, Richard D. Powers, 
Thomas G. Poage, Minor Perry, Samuel Pool, William N. Penn, 
Ezekiel Phelps, William H. Proctor, Aniel Rogers, Achilles Rogers, 
Andrew Rogers, Joseph Rigsby, Archibald Rice, Nathaniel Rice, 
William Runkle, John Rigsby, George Rouse, Jones Reavis, Nathaniel 
Riggs, Daniel Rhodes, Edward Shropshire, Harrison Sparks, Harvey 
Swinney, Robert Swinney, Austin Swinney, Joseph Stephens, David 
F. Sloan, Joseph J. Sumner, Samuel G. Sutton, William Smith, 
Joseph Smith, Sr., Alex. W. Smith, Joseph Smith, Jr., Samuel H. 
Smith, John B. Smith, Robert Simpson, John Simpson, John Shoots, 
Peter Stice, Joseph Sproul, William P. Stephenson, Stephen Scobee, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



97 



Kobert Scobee, Cavil Shearer, Davis Scott ,^ Robert Snider, Wilson S. 
Spotswoocl, George Sraizer, George Saling, Ephraim Smith, Larken 
Stamper, Milton Smizer, Eumsey Saling, Robert Smithey, Richmond 
Saling, James Stewart, George Stubblefield, Bostick Talliaferro, 
Thomas Thompson, Michael Trombo, Alexander Thompson, Hiram 
Thompson, Jacob Trumbo, Peter B. Thomas, Thomas Threldkeld, 
William K. Van Arsdell, James Vaughn, Andrew Whittenburg, Daniel 
Whittenburg, Joseph Weldon, James Weldou, John Willingham, John 
Wright, William Wilcoxson, Caleb Wood, Thomas Wood, Fielder 
Wood, Milton Wilkerson, Hiram Williams, S. J. Williams, Huron 
Williams, David Weatherford, M. C. Warren,- Joseph White, William 
Wilkerson, John Witt, James Woods, Giles H. Welch, George W. 
White, Jacob Young, Benjamin Young, John Yates, Vincent Yates. 
In addition to the names above given, others will be mentioned in 
giving the history of the different townships. 



1 Still living, in his 90th year. 
'' Still livins. 




CHAPTEK II. 

PIONEER LIFE. 

The Pioneers' Peculiarities — Conveniences and iQconveniences — Tlie Historical Log 
Cabin — Agricultural Implements — Household Furniture — Pioneer Corn-bread — 
Hand Mills and Hominy Blocks — Going to Mill — Trading Points — Hunting — Bee 
Trees — Shooting Matches andQuiltings. 

The people in the early history of Monroe county took no care to 
preserve history — they were too busily engaged in making it. His- 
torically speaking, those were the most important years of the county, 
for it was then the foundation and corner stones of all the county's 
history and prosperity were laid. Yet this history was not remarka- 
ble for stirring events. It was, however, a time of self-reliance and 
brave, persevering toil ; of privations cheerfully endured through faith 
in a good time coming. The experience of one settler was just about 
the same as that of others. Nearly all of the settlers were poor ; they 
faced the same hardships and stood generally on an equal footing. 

All the experience of the early pioneers of this county goes far to 
confirm the theory that, after all, happiness is pretty evenly balanced 
in this world. They had their privations and hardships, but they had 
also their own peculiar joys. If they were poor, they were free from 
the burden of pride and vanity; free also from the anxiety and care 
th^t always attends the possession of wealth. Other people's eyes 
cost them nothing. If they had few neighbors, they were on the best 
of terms with those they had. Envy, jealousy and strife had] not 
crept in. A common interest and a common sympathy bound them 
together with the strongest ties. They were a little world to them- 
selves, and the good feeling that prevailed was all the stronger because 
they were so far removed from the great world of the East. 

Among these pioneers there was realized such a community of in- 
terest that there existed a community of feeling. There were no 
castes, except an aristocracy of benevolence, and no nobility, except 
a nobilitv of generosity. They were bound together with such a 
strong bond of sympathy, inspired by the consciousness of common 
hardship, that they were practically communists. 
(98) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 99 

Neighbors did not even wait for an invitation or request to help one 
another. Was a settler's cabin burned or blown down? No sooner 
was the fact known throughout the neighborhood than the settlers as- 
sembled to assist the unfortunate one to rebuild his home. They came 
with as little hesitation, and with as much alacrity, as though they 
were all members of the same family and bound together by ties of 
blood. One man's interest was every other man's interest. Now, 
this general state of feeling among the pioneers was by no means 
peculiar to these counties, although it was strongly illustrated here. 
It prevailed generally throughout the West during the time of the 
early settlement. The very nature of things taught the settlers the 
neeessity of dwelling together iu this spirit. It was their only protec- 
tion. They had come far away from the well established reign of law, 
and entered a new country, where civil authority was still feeble and 
totally unable to afford protection and redress grievances. Here the 
settlers lived some little time before there was an officer of the law in 
the county. Each man's protection was in the srood will and friend- 
ship of those about him, and the thing that any man might well dread 
was the ill will of the comrauuit}'. It was more terrible than the law. 
It was no uncommon thing in the early times for hardened men, who 
had no fears of jails or penitentiaries, to stand in great fear of the 
indignation of a pioneer community. Such were some of the charac- 
teristics of Monroe county. 

HOUSE AND HOME COMFORTS. 

The first buildings in the county were not just like the log cabins that 
immediately succeeded them. The latter required some help and a 
great deal of labor to build. The very first buildings constructed 
were a cross between " hoop cabins " aud Indian bark huts. As soon 
as enough men could be got together for a '' cabin raising," then log 
cabins were in style. Many a pioneer can remember the happiest time 
of his life as that when he lived in one of these homely but comforta- 
ble old cabins. 

A window with sash and glass was a rarity, and was an evidence of 
wealth and aristocracy which but few could support. They were often 
made with greased paper put over the window, which admitted a little 
light, but more often there was nothing whatever over it, or the 
cracks between the logs, without either chinking or daubing, were the 
dependence for light and air. The doors were fastened with old-fash- 
ioned wooden latches, and for a friend, or neighbor, or traveler, the 
string always hung out, for the pioneers of the West were hospitable 



100 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, 

and entertained visitors to the best of their ability. It is noticeable 
with what affection the pioneers speak of their old log cabins. It may 
be doubted whether palaces ever sheltered happier hearts than those 
homely cabins. The following is a good description of those old 
landmarks, but few of which now remain : — 

" These were of round logs, notched together at the corners, ribbed 
with poles and covered with boards split from a tree. A puncheon 
floor was then laid down, a hole cut in the end and a stick chimney 
run up. A clapboard door is made, a window is opened by cutting 
out a hole in the side or end two feet square and finished without 
glass or transparency. The house is then ' chinked ' and ' daubed ' 
with mud. The cabin is now ready to go into. The household and 
kitchen furniture is adjusted, and life on the frontier is begun in 
earnest. 

*'The one-legged bedstead, now a piece of furniture of the past, 
was made by cutting a stick the proper length, boring holes at one end 
one and a half inches in diameter, at right angles, and the same sized 
holes corresponding with those in the logs of the cabin the length and 
breadth desired for the bed, in which are inserted poles. 

"Upon these poles the clapboards are laid, or linn bark is inter- 
woven consecutively from pole to pole. Upon this primitive structure 
the bed is laid. The convenience of a cook stove was not thought of, 
but instead, the cooking was done by the faithful housewife in pots, 
kettles or skillets, on and about the big fire-place, and very frequently 
over and around, too, the distended pedal extremities of the legal sov- 
ereign of the household, while the latter was indulging in the luxuries 
of a cob-pipe and discussing the probable results of a contemplated 
deer hunt on Salt river or some one of its small tributaries." 

These log cabins were reall}'' not so bad after all. 

The people of to-day, familiarized with "Charter Oak" cooking 
stoves and ranges, would be ill at home were they compelled to pre- 
pare a meal with no other conveniences than those provided in a pioneer 
cabin. Rude fire-places were built in chimneys composed of mud and 
sticks, or, at best, undressed stone. These fire-places served for heat- 
ing and cooking purposes ; also, for ventilation. Around the cheerful 
blaze of this fire the meal was prepared, and these meals were not so 
bad, either. As elsewhere remarked, they were not such as would 
tempt an epicure, but such as afforded the most healthful nourishment 
for a race of people who were driven to the exposure and hardships 
which were their lot. We hear of few dyspeptics in those days. An- 
other advantage of these cooking arrangements was that the stove- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 101 

pipe never fell down, and the pioneer wiis spared being subjected to 
the most trying of ordeals, and one probably more productive of pro- 
fanity than any other. 

Before the country became supplied with mills which were of easy 
access, and even in some instances afterward, hominy-blocks were 
used. They exist now only in the memory of the oldest settlers, but 
as relics of the "long ago," a description of them will not be unin- 
teresting: — 

A tree of suitable size, say from eighteen inches to two feet in 
diameter, was selected in the forest and felled to the ground. If a 
cross-cut saw happened to be convenient, the tree was " butted," that 
is, the kerf end was sawed off, so that it would stand steady when 
ready for use. If there was no cross-cut saw in the neighborhood, 
strong arms and sharp axes were ready to do the work. Then the 
proper length, from four to five feet, was measured off and sawed or 
cut square. When this was done the block was raised on end and the 
work of cutting out a hollow in one of the ends was commenced. 
This was generally done with a common chopping ax. Sometimes a 
smaller one was used. When the cavity was judged to be large 
enough, a fire was built in it, and carefully watched till the ragged 
edges were burned away. When completed the hominy-block some- 
what resembled a druggist's mortar. Then a pestle, or something to 
crush the corn, was necessary. This was usually made from a suitably 
sized piece of timber, with an iron wedge attached, the large end 
down. This completed the machinery, and the block was ready for 
use. Sometimes one hominy-block accommodated an entire neigh- 
borhood and was the means of staying the hunger of many mouths. 

In giving the bill of fare above we should have added meat, for of 
this they had plenty. Deer would be seen daily trooping over the 
prairie in droves of from 12 to 20, and sometimes as many as 50 
would be seen grazing together. Elk were also found, and wild tur- 
keys and prairie chickens without number. Bears were not un- 
known. Music of the natural order was not wanting, and every night 
the pioneers were lulled to rest by the screeching of panthers and the 
howling of wolves. When the dogs ventured too far out from the 
cabins at night, they would be driven back by the wolves chasing 
them up to the very cabin doors. Trapping wolves became a very 
profitable business after the State began to pay a bounty for wolf 
scalps. 

All the streams of water also abounded in fish, and a good supply 
of these could be procured by the expense of a little time and labor. 



102 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Those who years ago improved the fishing advantages of the country 
never tire telling of the dainty meals which the streams afforded. 
Sometimes large parties would get together, and, having been pro- 
vided with cooking utensils and facilities for camping out, would go 
off some distance and spend weeks together. No danger then of be- 
ing ordered off a man's premises or arrested for trespass. One of the 
peculiar circumstances that surrounded the early life of the pioneers 
was a strange loneliness. The solitude seemed almost to oppress 
them. Months would pass during which they would scarcely see a 
human face outside their own families. 

On occasions of special interest, such as election, holiday celebra- 
tions, or camp-meetings, it was nothing unusual for a few settlers who 
lived in the immediate neighborhood of the meetins^to entertain scores 
of those who had come from a distance. 

Rough and rude though the surroundings may have been, the 
pioneers were none the less honest, sincere, hospitable and kind in 
their relations. It is true, as a rule, and of universal application, that 
there is a greater degree of real humanity among the pioneers of any 
country than there is when the country becomes old and rich. If 
there is an absence of refinement, that absence is more than compen- 
sated in the presence of generous hearts and truthful lives. They are 
bold, industrious and enterprising. Generally speaking, they are 
earnest thinkers, and possessed of a diversified fund of useful, prac- 
tical information. As a rule they do not arrive at a conclusion by 
means of a course of rational reasoning, but, nevertheless, have a 
queer way at getting at the facts. They hate cowards and shams of 
every kind, and above all things, falsehoods and deception, and culti- 
vate an integrity which seldom permits them to prostitute themselves 
to a narrow policy of imposture. Such were the characteristics of the 
men and women who pioneered the way to the country of the Sacs 
and Foxes. A few of them yet remain, and although some of their 
descendants are among the wealthy and most substantial of the people 
of the county, they have not forgotten their old time hospitality and 
free and easy ways. In contrasting the present social affairs with 
pioneer times, one has well said : — 

" Then, if a house was to be raised, every man ' turned out,' and 
often the women, too, and while the men piled up the logs that fash- 
ioned the primitive dwelling-place, the women prepared the dinner. 
Sometimes it was cooked by big log fires near the site where the cabin 
was building ; in other cases it was prepared at the nearest cabin, and 
at the proper hour was carried in to where the men were at work. If 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 103 

one man in the neihgborhood killed a beef, a pig or a deer, every 
other family in the neighborhood was sure to receive a piece. 

" We were all on an equality. Aristocratic feelings were unknown, 
and would not have been tolerated. What one had we all had, and 
that was the happiest period of my life. But to-day, if you lean 
against a neighbor's shade tree he will charge you for it. If you are 
poor and fall sick, you may lie and suffer almost unnoticed and 
unattended, and probably go to the poor-house; and just as like as 
not the man who would report you to the authorities as a subject of 
county care would charge the county for making the report." 

Of the old settlers, some are still living in the county in the enjoy- 
ment of the fortunes they founded in early times, " having reaped an 
hundredfold." Nearly all, however, have passed away. A few of 
them have gone to the far West, and are still playing the part of 
pioneers. But wherever they maybe, whatever fate may betide them, 
it is but truth to say that they were excellent men as a class, and 
have left a deep and enduring impression upon the county and the 
State. " The}^ builded better than they knew." They were, of course, 
men of activity and energy, or they would never have decided to face 
the trials of pioneer life. The great majority of them were poor, but 
the lessons taught them in the early days were of such a character that 
few of them have remained so. They made their mistakes in business 
pursuits like other men. Scarcely one of them but allowed golden 
opportunities, for pecuniary profit, at least, to pass by unheeded. 
What now are some of the choicest farms in Monroe county were 
not taken up by the pioneers, who preferred land of very much less 
value. They have seen many of their prophecies fulfilled, and others 
come to naught. Whether they have attained the success they 
desired, their own hearts can tell. 

To one looking over the situation then, from the standpoint now, it 
certainly does not seem very cheering, and yet- from the testimony of 
some old pioneers, it was a most enjoyable time, and we of the 
present live in degenerate days. 

At that time it certainly would have been much more difficult for 
those old settlers to understand how it could be possible that sixty- 
iive years hence the citizens of the present age of the county's pro- 
gress would be complaining of hard times and destitution, and that 
they themselves, perhaps, would be among that number, than it is 
now for us to appreciate how they could feel so cheerful and contented 
with their meager means and humble lot of hardships and deprivations 
during those early pioneer days. 

2 



104 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

The secret was, doubtless, that they lived within their means, how- 
ever limited, not coveting more of luxury and comfort than their 
income would afford, and the natural result was prosperity and con- 
tentment, with always room for one more stranger at the fireside, and 
a cordial welcome to a place at their table for even the most hungry 
guest. 

Humanity, with all its ills, is, nevertheless, fortunately character- 
ized with remarkable flexibility, which enables it to accommodate 
itself to circumstances. After all, the secret of happiness lies in one's 
ability to accommodate himself to his surroundings. 

It is sometimes remarked that there were no places for public 
entertainment till later years. The truth is, there were many such 
places ; in fact, every cabin was a place of entertainment, and these 
hotels were sometimes crowded to their utmost capacity. On such 
occasions, when bedtime came, the first family would take the back 
part of the cabin, and so continue filling up by families until the limit 
was reached. The young men slept in the wagon outside. In .the 
morning, those nearest the door arose first and went outside to dress. 
Meals were served on the end of a wagon, and consisted of corn bread, 
buttermilk, and fat pork, and occasionally coffee, to take away the 
morning chill. On Sundays, for a change, they had bread made of 
wheat " tramped out" on the ground by horses, cleaned with a sheet, 
and pounded by hand. This was the best the most fastidious could 
obtain, and this only one day in seven. Not a moment of time was 
lost. It was necessary that they should raise enough sod corn to take 
them through the coming winter, and also get as much breaking done 
as possible. They brought with them enough corn to give the horses 
an occasional feed, in order to keep them able for hard work, but in 
the main they had to live on prairie grass. The cattle got nothing else 
than grass. 

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

An interesting comparison might be drawn between the conven- 
iences which now make the life of a farmer comparatively an easy one, 
and the almost total lack of such conveniences in early days. A brief 
description of the acommodations possessed by the tillers of the soil 
will now be given. 

Let the children of such illustrious sires draw their own compari- 
sons, and may the results of these comparisons silence the voice of 
complaint which so often is heard in the land. 

The only plows they had at first were what they styled " bull 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 105 

plows." The mold-boards were generally of wood, but in some cases 
they were half wood and half iron. The man who had one of the lat- 
ter description was looked upon as something of an aristocratic. But 
these old " bull plows " did good service, and they must be awarded 
the honor of first stirring the soil of Monroe county, as well as that of 
the oldest counties of the State. 

The amount of money which some farmers annually invest in agri- 
cultural implements would have kept the pioneer farmer in farming 
utensils during a whole lifetime. The pioneer farmer invested little 
money in such things, because he had little money to spare, and then 
again because the expensive machinery now used would not have been 
at all adapted to the requirements of pioneer farming, " The bull 
plow" was probably better suited to the fields abounding in stumps 
and roots than would the modern sulkey plow have been, and the old- 
fashioned wheat cradle did better execution than would a modern 
harvester under like circumstances. The prairies were seldom settled 
till after the pioneer periodj and that portion of the country which 
was the hardest to put under cultivation, and the most difficult to 
cultivate after it was improved, first was cultivated ; it was well for 
the country that such was the case, for the present generation, famil- 
iarized as it is with farming machinery of such complicated pattern, 
would scarcely undertake the clearing off" of dense forests and culti- 
vating the ground with the kind of implements their fathers used, and 
which they would have to use for some kinds of work. 

MILLS AND TRADING POINTS. 

Notwithstanding the fact that some of the early settlers were ener- 
getic millwrights, who employed all their energy and what means 
they possessed, in erecting mills at a few of the many favorite mill- 
sites which abound in the county, yet going to mill in those days, 
when there were no roads, no bridges, no ferry boats, and scarcely 
any conveniences for traveling, was no small task, where so many 
rivers and treacherous streams were to be crossed, and such a trip 
was often attended with great danger to the traveler when these 
streams were swollen beyond their banks. But even under these cir- 
cumstances, some of the more adventurous and more ingenious ones, in 
case of emergency, found the ways and means by which to cross the swol- 
len stream, and succeed in making the trip. At other times again, all 
attempts failed them, and they were compelled to remain at home un- 
til the waters subsided, and depend on the generosity of their fortunate 
neisrhbors. 



106 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Some stories are related with reoard to the danger, perils and hard- 
ships of forced travel to mills, and for provisions, which remind one 
of forced marches in military campaigns, and when we hear of the 
heroic and daring- conduct of the hardy pioneers in procuring bread 
for their loved ones, we think that here were heroes more valiant than 
any of the renowned soldiers of ancient or modern times. 

During the first two years, and perhaps not until some time after- 
ward, there was not a public highway established and worked on which 
they could travel ; and as the settlers were generallj'^ far apart, and 
mills and trading points were at great distances, going from place to 
place was not only very tedious, but attended sometimes with great 
dano-er. Not a railroad had yet entered the State, and there was 
scarcely a thought in the minds of the people here of such a thing ever 
reaching the wild West ; and, if thought of, people had no concep- 
tion of what a revolution a railroad and telegraph line through the 
county would cause in its progress. Then there was no railroad in 
the United States, not a mile of track on the continent ; while now 
there are over 100,000 miles of railroad extending their trunks and 
branches in every direction over our land. 

Supplies in those days were obtained at Hannibal. Mail was car- 
ried by horses and wagon transportation, and telegraph dispatches 
were transmitted by the memory and lips of emigrants coming in or 
strangers passing through. 

The first mill was built in the county in 1827, and was known as 
Benj. Bradley's mill. At first the mill only ground corn, which had 
to be sifted after it was ground, as there were no bolts in the mill. 
There was onl}^ one run of buhrs, which, as well as the mill irons, 
were brought from St. Louis. They were shipped up the Missouri 
river. The mill cost about $50. The mill had no gearing, the buhrs 
being located over the wheel, and running with the same velocity as 
the wheel. It was a frame mill, one stor}^ high, and had a capacity 
of 25 bushels a day. People came from far and near, attracted by 
the reports of the completion of the mill, with their grists, so that, 
for days before it was ready for work, the creek bottom was dotted 
over with hungry and patient men, waiting until it was ready to do 
their work, so that they might return with their meal and flour to 
supply their families, and those of their neighbors, thus enduring the 
hardships of camp life in those early days in order that they might be 
able to secure the simple necessaries of life, devoid of all luxuries. 
Bradley's mill was located about two miles north-east of Florida. 



1 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 107 



HUNTING AND TRAPPING. 

The sports :iiid means of recreation Avere not so numerous and varied 
among the early settlers as at present, but they were more enjoyable 
and invigorating than now. 

Hunters nowadays would only be too glad to be able to find and en- 
joy their favorable opportunity for hunting and fishing, and even travel 
many miles, counting it rare pleasure to spend a few weeks on the water- 
courses and wild prairies, in hunt and chase and fishing frolics. There 
were a good many excellent hunters here at an early day, who enjoyed 
the sport as well as any can at the present day. 

Wild animals of almost every species known in the wilds of the West 
were found in great abundance. The prairies and woods and streams 
and various bodies of water were all thickly inhabited before the white 
man came, and for some time afterward. Although the Indians slew 
many of them, yet the natural law prevailed here as well as elsewhere — 
*' wild men and wild beast thrive together." 

Serpents were to be found in such large numbers, and of such im- 
mense size, that some stories told by the early settlers would be 
incredible were it not for the large array of concurrent testimony, 
which is to be had from the most authentic sources. Deer, turkeys, 
ducks, geese, squirrels, and various other kinds of choice game were 
plentiful, and to be had at the expense of killing only. The fur animals 
were abundant; such as the otter, beaver, mink, muskrat, raccoon, 
panther, fox, wolf, wild-cat and bear. 

An old resident of the county told us that, in 1809, while he was 
traveling a distance of six miles he saw as many as 73 deer, in herds 
of from six to ten. ^ 

HUNTING BEE TREES. 

Another source of profitable recreation among the old settlers was 
that of hunting bees. The forests along the water-courses were es- 
pecially prolific of bee trees. They were found in great numbers on 
the Salt rivers and their confluents, and, in fact, on all the important 
streams in the county. Many of the early settlers, during the late 
summer, would go into camp for days at a time, for the purpose of 
hunting and securing the honey of the wild bees, which was not only 
extremely rich and foun^ in great abundance, but always commanded 
a good price in the home market. 

The Indians have ever regarded the honey bee as the forerunner of 
the white man, while it is a conceded fact that the quail always follows 
the footprints of civilization. 



108 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

The following passage is found in the " Report of the Exploring 
Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in the year 1842, by Captain John, 
C. Fremont," page 69: — 

" Here on the summit, where the stillness was absolute, unbroken 
by any sound, and the solitude complete, we thought ourselves beyond 
the regions of animated life ; but while we were sitting on the rocks 
a solitary bee came winging its flight from the eastern valley and lit on 
the knee of one of the men. We pleased ourselves with the idea that 
he was the first of his species to cross the mountain barrier, a solitary 
pioneer to foretell the advance of civilization." 

Gregg, in his " Commerce of the Prairies," page 178, Vol. 1, says ; 
*'The honeybee appears to have emigrated exclusively from the east, 
as its march has been observed westward. The bee, among Western 
pioneers, is the proverbial precursor of the Anglo-American popula- 
tion. In fact, the aborigines of the frontier have generally corrobor- 
ated this statement, for they used to say that they knew the white man 
was not far behind when the bees appeared among them." 

There were other recreations, such as shooting matclies and quilting 
parties, which prevailed in those days, and which were enjoyed to the 
fullest extent. The quilting parties were especially pleasant and 
agreeable to those who attended. The established rule in those days 
at these parties was to pay either one dollar in money or split one 
hundred rails during the course of the day. The men would generally 
split the rails, and the women would remain in the house and do the 
quilting. After the day's work was done the night would be passed 
in dancing. 

All the swains that there abide 
With jigs and rural dance resort. 

When daylight came the music and dancing would cease, and the gal- 
lant young men would escort the fair ladies to their respective homes. 

WOLVES. 

One of the oldest pioneers tells us that for several years after he 
came to what is now known as Monroe county the wolves were very 
numerous, and that he paid his taxes for many years in wolf scalps. 
His cabin was at the edge of the timber that skirted Elk Fork creek, 
and at night the howls of these animals were so loud and incessant 
that to sleep at times was almost impossible. | 

Often at midnight, all 

" At once there rose so wild a yell, 
Within that dark and narrow dell, 
As all the fiends from heaven that fell, 
Had pealed the banner cry of hell." 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



109 



At such times the whole air seemed to be filled with the vibrations of 
their most infernal and diabolical music. The wolf was not only a 
midnight prowler here, but was seen in the day-time, singly or in 
packsr warily skulking upon the outskirts of a thicket, or sallying 
cautiously along the open path with a sneaking look of mingled 
cowardice and cruelty. 




CHAPTEK III. 

Early Kecords and Public Buildings — First County Court — Its Proceedings — First 
Circuit Court — First, Second and Third Grand Juries — First Deed Eecorded — 
Early Marriages — Public Buildings — First Court House and Jail — Second Court 
House and Jail. 

We plead guilty to possessing much of the antiquarian spirit, — 
" old wine, old books, old friends," are the best, you know. We love 
to sit at the feet of the venerable old pioneers of the country, and 
listen to the story of their early exploits, when the fire of youth 
beamed in their eyes, and the daring spirit of adventure quickened 
their pulses. How they fought with savage Indians and prowling 
beasts to wrest this goodly land from the primeval wilderness as a 
rich heritage for the children to come after them ; how they hewed 
down the forest, turned " the stubborn glebe," watched and toiled, 
lost and triumphed, struggled against poverty and privation to bring 
the country into subjection to civilization and enlightened progress, — 
all this has an absorbing interest to us. Much as modern literature 
delights us, we had rather talk an hour with one of these venerable 
gray-beards, who are found here and there, as the scattered repre- 
sentatives of a purer and more heroic age, than to revel in the most 
bewitching poem that ever flashed from the pen of a Byron or a Poe, 
or dream the time away in threading the mazes of the plot and imagery 
of the finest romance ever written. Moved by this kind of a spirit, 
we have been delving among the musty records of the county and 
circuit courts, where we found many an interesting relic of the past 
history of the county, some of which we here reproduce. 

FIRST COUNTY COURT. 

The first county court of Monroe county was held at the house oi 
Green V. Caldwell, on Saturday, February 26, 1831. Andrew 
Rogers, John Curry and William P. Stephenson had been com- 
missioned justices of the court by Gov. John Miller, and all were 
present and took their seats. They were commissioned to serve four 
years, unless sooner removed according to law. 
(110) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. Ill 

The court, after organizing, appointed Ebenezer W. McBride^ 
clerk of the court, who immediately executed a bond in the sum of 
$3,000, with Edward M. Holder, David Gentry, Richard Cave and 
Christopher C. Acuff as sureties. The appointment of McBride was 
all the business transacted by the court at its first term. During 
vacation, and on March 25th following, the court having failed to 
appoint an assessor for the county, E. W. McBride, the clerk, 
appointed John S McGee assessor to that office. 

The next regular term of the court was held on the 2d day of May, 
1831, commencing on Monday. In the meantime, and during the vaca- 
tion, John Curry and William P. Stephenson, two of the justices who 
were first commissioned, resigned, and Robert Simpson and Reese 
Davis were appointed to fill the vacancies. The two latter named, 
with Arthur Rogers, constituted the court. Robert Simpson was 
chosen president. The court then appointed William Runkle sherift', 
and Samuel H. Smith collector of the county. It then proceeded to 
divide the county into townships as follows : — 

All that portion of the county lying east of a line running north and 
south across the county, including ten miles in width, composed the 
lower or eastern township, and was called Jefferson township ; the 
middle township embraced eleven miles in width, and was called 
Jackson, and all the territory lying west of Jackson township and at- 
tached to Monroe county was called Union township, making three 
original townships. 

After laying out and naming the townships, the court designated 
the places of holding elections and appointing the judges thereof as 
follows : — 

Jefferson township, at the residence of John Witt ; judges, Asaph 
E. Hubbard, Richard Cave and Robert Donaldson. 

Jackson township, at the residence of Green V. Caldwell ; judges, 
James Mappin, Joseph Sprowl and John W. Kenney. 

Union township, at the residence of Reese Davis ; judges, Joseph 
Stephens, Jacob Whittenburg and George Saling. 



I 



1 McBride was drowned in January, 1867, in the Mississippi river, sis miles below 
Memphis, Tenn. He was at the time of his death en route for Greenville, Miss., 
whither he was going to collect some debts due him at that place. He took the 
steamer Platte Valley, at St. Louis, and when reaching a point, as stated above, six 
miles below Memphis, the boat struck the wreck of the old gunboat Jeff. Thompson, 
and sank. Mr. McBride and one of the employes of the boat — a boy — floated off on 
an ice-chest. The chest finally sank; the boy swam to a snag near by and was res- 
cued, but Mr. McBride, who was then an old man, was drowned. Mr. McBride had 
accumulated quite a fortune, and was one of the most highly respected citizens of the 
county. He traded in horses and mules, which he sold to Southern markets. 



112 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Isaac Coppedge was appointed constable for Jackson township, Mil- 
ton Wilkerson, for Jefferson, and Elliott Burton, for Union. 

Asaph E. Hubbard and Robert Donaldson, for Jefferson township, 
and Jacob Whittenburg and George Saling and Eeese Davis and 
Joseph Stephens, for Union township, were recommended by the court 
to the Governor as suitable persons for justices of the peace. 

Court met ao;ain June 4th, 1831, at the residence of Green V. 
Caldwell (Caldwell having recently died), the judges last mentioned 
being present. The clerk was ordered to issue ten licenses for mer- 
chandise. Stephen Glascock was paid $4 out of funds arising from 
the sale of lots in Paris for surveying the town site. 

It was ordered that John S. McGee be allowed one dollar and 
seventy-five cents per day for twenty-five days' services, rendered in as- 
sessing the county. This would amount to only $35 for assessing the 
entire county in 1831. The assessor now (1884) receives about $1,- 
200 for assessing the personal and real estate. 

James E,. Abernathy was appointed commissioner of the township 
school lands. 

John S. McGee was appointed county surveyor. 

James C. Fox was appointed town commissioner of Paris. 

It was ordered that seventy-five cents be levied as a county tax. 

Reuben Burton was allowed $4.50 out of his state and county tax. 

The court met again June 21st, 1831, at the same place. Present, 
Robert Simpson and Reese Davis. 

In the proceedings we find the following: — 

Ordered by the court. That James C. Fox, commissioner of the 
town of Paris, the seat of justice for Monroe county, proceed to give 
notice of the sale of lots in said town of Paris, by having it inserted 
in two public newspapers printed in this State, sixty days previous to 
the day of sale, and said commissioner shall proceed to sell said lots, 
in said town of Paris, on the 12th day of September next, on a credit 
of six, twelve and eighteen months, one-third payable at each term. 

The first license for the sale of wines and spirituous liquors was is- 
sued at this term of the court ; also the first license for a tavern or 
public house of entertainment. 

The first road overseers were appointed at the August term of the 
court. 

Robert Greening was appointed overseer of road district number 
1, of the Palmyra road, which was upon the line of Marion and 
Monroe counties. 

Abram Kirtland was made overseer of district number 2, which 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 113 

laid between the North fork of Salt river and the township line divid- 
ing Jefferson and Jackson townships. 

Matthew Mappin was made overseer of district number 3, be- 
tween the township line dividing Jefferson and Jackson townships, and 
ransre line dividins; range 9 and 10. 

Stephen Scobee was made overseer of road district number 1, of 
the old London road in Jefferson township, which laid between the 
Monroe county line east and John A. Ives. 

Charles Eales was appointed overseer of district number 2, of 
the London road, which laid between John A. Ives, and township line 
dividing Jefferson and Jackson townships. 

James S. McGee, Alexander Thompson, Hasten Fike, Grant Noel 
James Noel and Larken Stamper were appointed road overseers of 
other districts. 

Roads were then ordered to be laid off from the town of Paris to 
Columbia, Boone county ; from Paris to the London road at the west 
«nd of John McLamey's lane ; from Paris to intersect the Fayette 
and Franklin road ; from Paris to the town of Florida. 

Archibald Rice was the first guardian appointed by the court. His 
ward was Lourey Adams, child of William Adams, deceased. His 
bond was fixed at $600. 

Quill pens were evidently used in those days, for in looking over 
the proceedings of the court, November term, 1831, we find this 
order : — 

It is ordered by the court, that the sum of $5 be allowed to 
Ebenezer W. McBride, clerk of this court, for paper, ink powder and 
quills furnished by him for the use of his office, to be paid out of any 
money in the county treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

For the year 1832, the delinquent State tax amounted to $13.97 
and the delinquent county tax to $9.89. 

Edward M. Holden was granted a license to keep a ferry across the 
Middle fork of Salt river, near the town of Paris, at the place where 
the road leading from Paris to Palmyra crosses that stream. The 
court fixed the charges for ferriage as follows : Single person, 10 
cents; horse, mule or jack, 5 cents ; horse and gig, 50 cents ; horse 
and dearborn, 62i cents; two horses and Avagon, 62|- cents; four 
horses and wagon, 75 cents ; neat cattle, 5 cents each ; hogs and 
sheep, 2 cents each. 

Five hundred dollars were appropriated by the court to the clearing 
out of Salt river below the forks. 

A bridge was built across the Middle fork of Salt river, opposite 
Paris, in 1834. 



114 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



CIRCUIT COURT. 



The circuit court for Monroe county convened for the first time 
June 20, 1831, at the residence of Green V. Caldwell, the same place 
designated as the place for holding the county court. Hon. 
Priestly H. McBride^ was the judge, William Runkle, sheriff; Edward 
M. Holden, clerk, and Ezra Hunt, circuit attorney. 

FIRST GRAND JURY. 

Robert Donaldson, foreman ; Alexander W. Smith, Eleri Rogers,. 
Robert Hanna, John H. Curry, Samuel Curtright, John S. McGee, 
Ezekiel Bryan, James L. McGee, William Wilcoxen, John New- 
son, John L. Grigsby, Otho Adams, John M. Burton, Minor Perry, 
David A. Sloan, Joseph Sprowl, David Enoch, Joel Noel, Michee 
Maupin, William P. Stephenson. 

All of the above named grand jurors are dead, excepting Samuel 
Curtrio;ht and James L. McGee, both of whom are still residents of 
Monroe county ; the former is eighty-three years of age, and the lat- 
ter is about eighty. The grand jury having nothing before it, was 
discharged. 

The first business that engaged the attention of the court was a 
petition from Joseph Sprowl, asking leave to build a water, grist and 
saw mill, on the west half of the south-west quarter, of section 28, 
township 54, range 9. 

This was followed by another petition from John Sali ng, asking 
the privilege of erecting a water, grist and saw mill, on the east half 
of the south-east quarter of section 5, township 54, range 10. 

The first case upon the docket was an appeal case from the justice 
court, and was entitled, "Joseph Swinney against Simeon Burton." 
This cause was dismissed for want of an affidavit and the papers re- 
manded to the justice. The attorneys present were Ezra Hunt , 
Adam B. Chambers, William K. VanArsdall, Benjamin O. Clark, and 
Austin A. King. 

The second term of court was held at the residence of Matthew 
Walton, near the town of Paris, commencing October 18, 1831. 

SECOND GRAND JURY. 

John H. Curry, foreman ; Benjamin Bradley, Paul Herryford, Pey- 
ton N. Mahan, John Woods, Thomas Donaldson, Charles S. Clay, 



1 Judge of the Second Judicial Circuit. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 115 

Ezra Fox, Anderson Willis, Eobert Harris, John Kyle, Joseph Smith, 
Jacob Trumbo, Richard D. Powers, Elijah Burton, Jacob Whitten- 
burg, William Bvbee, Archibald Woods. 

At this term of the court, Ezra Hunt, circuit attorney, being 
absent, A. B. Chatnbers, Esq., was appointed in his place. The fol- 
lowing attorneys were then enrolled : Albert G. Harrison, James A. 
Clark, Sinclair Kirtley, Philip Williams and Samuel Moore. The 
second civil action was entitled, "Richard J. Curl against Lewis 
Beaman and David Gentry, attachment and action of debt. " 

THIRD GRAND JURY. 

Thomas Nelson, foreman ; Daniel East, William McLean, William 
Bell, Simeon Burton, Evan Davis, Andrew Baker, James Davis, Johri 
Burton, Sr., Samuel Hodge, Samuel H. Smith, Ovid Adams, Jere- 
miah Jackson, Christopher C. Acuff, Pleasant Ford, William Grant. 

The first murder case was the State of Missouri ajjainst Buroess 
Oglesby, John J. Callison et al. This case was tried after one or 
two delays, in 1835, and the defendants acquitted. Sinclair Kirtlev 
was prosecuting attorney in the case, and Austin A. King defended. 
The defendant, Oglesby, was chnrged with killing Robert Donaldson 
by striking him with a stick of wood, and Callison and others were 
charged as being his accomplices. 

FIRST DEED RECORDED. 

This indenture made this second day of May in the year of our 
Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, between Anderson 
Ivie and Sarah Ivie, his witb, of the one part, and John T. Grigsby 
of the other part, witnesseth, that the said Anderson Ivie and Sarah 
Ivie, his wife, for and in consideration of the sum of five hundred 
dollars, to them in hand paid in good and lawful money of the United 
States, b}'^ the said John T. Grigsby, before the ensealing and delivery 
of these presents, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledo-ed, 
have this day bargained and sold, and by these presents do grant, 
bargain and sell unto the aforesaid John T, Grigsby, his heirs and 
assigns forever, the west half of the south-west quarter of section 15, 
in township 54, of range eight, west of the fifth principal meridian, in 
Monroe county, Missouri ; also five acres adjoining the aforemen- 
tioned 80 acres : beginning at the south-east corner of the said 80 
acres, and running south with an open line in section 22, 28 poles ; 
thence west so far as will include five acres to a stone, in or near a 
branch ; thence north to intersect with the section line between 15 
and 22 ; thence east to the beginning ; the said land to remain to the 
only proper use and behoof of the said John T. Grigsby, with all 
the appurtenances thereon or belonging thereto, the said Anderson 



116 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Ivie and Sarah Ivie, his wife, for themselves and heirs, forever bind 
themselves to warrant and defend against all persons claiming of the 
said John T. Grigsby, his heirs or assigns, the aforementioned tract 
or parcel of land, together with all the appurtenances thereon or be- 
longing thereto. 

In testimony whereof, I, Anderson Ivie and Sarah Ivie, my wife, 
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this day and date first above 
mentioned. Anderson Ivie, [seal.] 

Sarah Ivie. [seal.] 

early marriages. 

I do hereby certify that James H. Smith and Rosey Ann Mc- 
Keamy presented themselves before me, a minister of the Gospel, and 
were fully, legally joined in the bonds of matrimony, on the 12th day 
of May, 1831. Alfred Wright. 

State of Missouri, } 

County of Monroe. 5 * * 

This is to certify, by the authority vested in me as a preacher of 
the Gospel, that on the sixth day of May, 1831, I joined together in 
the bonds of matrimony, William Sparks and Mary Delaney, daughter 
of Mary Delaney, as man and wife, both of the county and State afore- 
said — parents' consent obtained. 

Witness my hand, this third day of July, 1831. 

Edward Turner. 

State of Missouri, 

County of Monroe. 

Be it remembered that on the 23d day of June, A. D. 1831, per- 
sonally came William Jones and Sally Sadler before me, and were 
joined in the bonds of matrimony. Given under my hand this day 
and year. Jacob Whittenburg, J. P. 

State of Missouri, 

Monroe County. 

I do hereby certify that William Pennick and Patsey Kelly, 
daughter of Thomas Kelly, were married on the fourth of August, 
1831, by me. Given under my hand, this ninth day of October, 
1831. Joseph Stevens, J. P. 

I do hereby certify that George Tooley and Elize Toard presented 
themselves before me, Edward M. Holden, a justice of the peace for 
the county of Monroe, and were legally joined in the bonds of matri- 
mony on the 29th day of October, A. D. 1831. 

Edw^ard M. Holden, J. P. 

State of Missouri, > 

County of Monroe. 5 
Be it remembered, that on the seventh day of January in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, personally 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 117 

appeared Reuben Riggs and Nancy Riggs, and were by me legally 
joined together in matrimony. Certified the day and year aforesaid. 

Archibald Patterson, 
Preacher of the Gospel. 

To the Honorable Clerk of Monroe County, Mo.: 

I, a minister of the Gospel, belonging to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and properly authorized to celebrate the rites of matrimony, 
united Mr. Wesley Andrews and Miss Eliza Swinney in the bonds of 
wedlock. Given under my hand, this 5th day of February, 1832. 

Richard Sharp. 

I, Joseph Stevens, a justice of the peace for Union township, and 
said county, and authorized by the laws of the State to solemnize the 
rites of matrimony, did on the 25th day of December, 1831, join 
together in the holy estate of matrimony, Samuel D. Hodge and Sarah 
Marney. Given under my hand, this 18th day of February, A. D. 
1832. 

Joseph Stevens, J. P. 

public buildings. 

Notwithstanding the fact that a large number, probably a majority, 
of people in every county have very little practical experience in 
courts, and although they have the legal capacity to sue and be sued, 
never improve their opportunities, and never appear in court, unless 
it be on compulsion as witnesses and jurors ; yet, as the one great 
conservator of peace, and as the final arbiter in case of individual or 
neighborhood disputes, the court is distinguished above and apart 
from all and every other institution in the land, and not only the pro- 
ceedings of the court, but the place of holding court, is a matter of 
interest to the average reader. 

Not only so, but in many counties the court-house was the first, and 
usually the only public building in the county. The first court-houses 
were not very elaborate buildings, to be sure, but they are enshrined 
in memories that the present can never know. 

Their uBes were general rather than special, and so constantly were 
they in use, day and night, when the court was in session, and when 
it was not in session, for judicial, educational, religious and social 
purposes, that the doors of the old court-houses, like the gates of 
gospel grace, stood open night and day ; and the small amount invested 
in these old hewn logs and rough benches returned a much better 
rate of interest on the investment than do those stately piles of brick 
or granite which have taken their places. The memorable court- 
house of early times was a house adapted to a Ajariety of purposes, 
and had a career of great usefulness. School was taught, the Gospel 



118 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

was preached, and justice dispensed within its substantial walls. 
Then it served frequently as a resting place for weary travelers. 
And, indeed, its doors always swung on easy hinges. If the old set- 
tlers are to be believed, all the old court-houses, when first erected in 
this Western country, often rang on the pioneer Sabbath with a more 
stirring eloquence than that which enlivens the pulpit of the present 
time. Many of the earliest ministers officiated in their walls, and if 
they could but speak, they would doubtless tell many a strange tale 
©f pioneer religion that is now lost forever. 

To those old court-houses, ministers came of different faiths, but 
all eager to expound the simple truths of the sublime and beautiful 
religion, and point out for comparisons the thorny path of duty, and 
the primrose way of dalliance. Often have those old walls given back 
the echoes of those who have sung the songs of Zion, and many a 
weary wanderer has had his heart moved to repentance thereby, more 
strongly than ever, by the strains of homely eloquence. With Mon- 
day morning, the old building changed in character, and men went 
thither, seeking not the justice of God, but the mercy of man. The 
scales were held with an even hand. Those who presided knew every 
man in the county, and they dealt out substantial justice, and the 
broad principles of natural equity prevailed. Children went there to 
school, and sat at the feet of teachers who knew little more than 
themselves ; but, however humble the teacher's acquirements, he was 
hailed as a wise man and a benefactor, and his lessons were heeded 
with attention. 

The old people of the settlement went there to discuss their own 
affiiirs, and learn from visiting attorneys the news from the great, 
busy world, so far away to the southward and eastward. In addition 
to the orderly assemblies which formerly gathered there, other meet- 
ings no less notable occurred. 

It was a sort of a forum, whither all classes of people went, for the 
purpose of loafing and gossiping and telling and hearing some new 
thing. As a general thing, the first court-house, after having served 
the purpose of its erection, and served that purpose well, is torn 
down and conveyed to the rear of some remote lot, and thereafter is 
made to serve the purpose of an obscure cow-stable on some dark 
alley. 

There is little of the romantic or poetic in the make-up of Western 
society, and the old court-house, after the building of the new one, 
ceases to be regarded with reverence and awe. In a new country, 
where every energy of the people is necessarily employed in the prac- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 119 

tical work of earning a living, and the always urgent and ever present 
question of bread and butter is up for solution, people can not be ex- 
pected to devote much time to the poetic and ideal. It therefore fol- 
lows that nothing was retained as a useless relic that could be turned 
to some utility ; but it is a shame that the people of modern times 
have such little reverence for the relics of former days. After these 
houses ceased to be available for business purposes they should have 
been preserved to have at least witnessed the semi-centennial of the 
county's history. It is said, in their hurry to grow rich, so few even 
have a care for the work of their own hands. How many of the first 
settlers have preserved their first habitations? The sight of that 
humble cabin would be a source of much consolation in old age, as it 
reminded the owner of the trials and triumphs of other times, and its 
presence would go far toward reconciling the coming generation with 
their lot, when comparing its lowly appearance with the modern resi- 
dence whose extensive apartments are beginning to be too unpreten- 
tious for the enterprising and irrepressible " Young Americans." 

FIRST COURT-HOUSE. 

The order authorizing the building of the first court-house was 
issued at the November term of the court, 1831. It was to be erected 
in the public square, and was to be constructed as follows : Fifty 
feet square and two stories high ; foundation to be laid with stone ; 
wall 26 inches thick ; brick walls 22 inches thick in the first story and 
18 inches in the second storj'^ ; first story to be 15 feet high and the 
second, 12 ; the roof to be hipjjed with a wood cornice, and a cupola 
of 10 feet square in the base ; the base to be 4 feet high with an ofi*- 
set of 14 inches and 8 feet octagon, Avith Venetian blinds on each 
side ; the roof of the cupola to be covered with tin ; four windows in 
each of the three fronts of the lower story, to consist of 24 panes of glass, 
10 by 12 each, with a large circular door in each side and one window 
in the first and second story of the back or other side ; the windows in 
the three before-mentioned fronts to be the same in the second story 
as in the lower, with an additional window over every door; the sills 
of each window to be of dressed stone; the frames to be boxed, and 
the sash to be hoist with waiters ; the lower floor to be laid with brick 
as far as the bar; the bar floor to be of wood, elevated 4 feet above 
the brick ; no floor to be in the second story ; but joist, framing, etc., 
to be furnished. The whole to be done in a workmanlike manner. 

Sylvester Hagan was appointed superintendent of the building. 

3 



120 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

An order was made at the same term of court for the building of a 
jail, and $1,000 appropriated for its construction. 

SECOND COURT-HOUSE. 

The second court-house — which is the present building — was built 
in 1867 at an expense of $45,000. It ranks among the finest and 
most substantial buildings of the kind in the State. It is constructed 
of brick, two stories high, and contains nine rooms and two vaults; 
the circuit and county court-rooms, the jury and witness-rooms, and 
the county offices. The court-house is located on the public square — 
near the west side ; it is a large, imposing building, and is sur- 
mounted by a large and sightly dome, from which may be seen much 
of the surrounding country. There are but a few court-houses in the 
State that cost more money or that have been so well and con- 
veniently arranged. 




CHAPTER ly. 

TOWNSHIP SYSTEM AND GOVERNMENT SURVEYS. 

County and Township Systems — Government Surveys — Organization of Town- 
ships — Physical Features. 

ORIGINAL TOWNSHIPS. 

Before proceeding any further, we deem it proper, since we are 
about to enter upon the history of the townships, to give some expla- 
nations of the county and township systems and government surveys, 
as much depends in business and civil transactions upon county limits 
and county organizations. 

COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP SYSTEMS. 

With regard to the origin of dividing individual States into county 
and township organizations, which, in an important measure, should 
have the power and opportunity of transacting their own business and 
governing themselves, under the approval of, and subject to, the 
State and general government, of which they both form a part, we 
quote from Elijah M. Haines, who is considered good authority on the 
subject. 

In his " Laws of Illinois, Kelative to Township Organizations, " 
he says : — 

" The county system originated with Virginia, whose early settlers 
soon became large landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living 
apart in almost baronial magnificence, on their own estates, and own- 
ing the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a 
town were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a 
great area. 

" The county organization, where a few influential men managed 
the wholesale business of a community, retaining their places almost 
at their pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and per- 
mitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might 
direct, was moreover consonant with their recollections or traditions 
of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aristocracy of En- 
gland, in descent from whom the Virginia gentlemen felt so much 
pride. In 1834 eight counties were organized in Virginia, and the 

(121) 



122 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

system extending throughont the State, spread into all the Southern 
States and some of the Northern States ; unless we except the nearly 
similar division into ' districts ' in South Carolina, and that into 
* parishes ' in Louisiana, from the French laws. 

" Illinois, which, with its vast additional territory, became a county 
of Virginia, on its conquest by Gen. George Rogers Clark, retained 
the count}' organization, which was formerly extended over the State 
by the constitution of 1818, and continued in exclusive use until 
the constitution of 1848. Under this system, as in other States 
adopting it, much local business was transacted by the commission- 
ers in each county, who constituted a county court, Avith quarterly 
sessions. 

" During the period ending with the constitution of 1847, a large 
portion of the State had become filled up with a popnlation of New 
England birth or character, daily growing more and more compact 
and dissatisfied with the comparatively arbitrary and inefficient county 
system. It was maintained by the people that the heavily populated 
districts would always control the election of the commissioners to 
the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections — in short, 
that under that system ' equal and exact justice ' to all parts of the 
county could not be -secured. 

" The township S3^stem had its origin in Massachusetts, and dates 
back to 1635. 

" The first legal enactment concerning the system provided that, 
whereas, ' particular townshi[)S have many things which concern only 
themselves and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of 
l)usiness in their own town^^' therefore the ' freemen of every tow^n- 
ship, or a majority part of them, shall only have power to dispose of 
their own lands and woods, with all the appurtenances of said town, 
to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well order- 
ing of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders estab- 
lished by the general court. ' 

" They might also, " says Mr. Haines, "impose fines of not more 
than twenty shillings, and ' choose their own particular officers, as 
constables, surveyors for the highway, and the like. ' 

" Evidently this enactment relieved the general court of a mass of 
municipal details without any danger to the power of that body in 
controlling general measures of public policy. 

" Proi>ably, also, a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt 
for the control of their own home concerns. 

" The New England colonies were first governed by a general court 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 123 

or Legislature, composed of a Governor and a small council, which 
court, consisted of the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and 
exercised both legislative and judicial powers, which were limited only 
by the wisdom of the holders. 

'*They made laws, ordered their execution by officers, tried and 
decided civil and criminal causes, enacted all manner of municipal 
regulations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony. " , 

Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the 
first constitution in Connecticut, adopted in 1639, and the plan of 
township organization, as experience proved its remarkable economy, 
efficiency and adaptation to the requirements of a free and intelligent 
people, became universal throughout New England, and went west- 
ward with the immigrants from New England, into New York, Ohio 
and other Western States. 

Thus we find that the valuable system of county, township and 
town organizations had been thorough l}'^ tried and proven long before 
there was need of adopting it in Missouri, or any of the broad region 
west of the Mississippi river. But as the new country began to be 
opened, and as Eastern people began to move westward across the 
mighty river, and formed thick settlements along its western bank, 
the Territory and State, and county and township organizations soon 
followed in quick succession, and those diflerent systems became more 
or less improved, according as deemed necessary by the experience 
and judgment and demands of the people, until they have arrived at 
the present stage of advancement and efficiency. In the settlement 
of the Territory of Missouri, the Legislature began organizing 
counties on the Mississippi river. As each new county was formed, 
it was made to include under legal jurisdiction all the country bor- 
derino- west of it, and required to grant to the actual settlers electoral 
privileges and an equal share of the county government with those 
who properly lived in the geographical limits of the county. 

The counties first organized along the eastern borders of the State 
were o-iven for a short time iurisdiction over the lands and settlements 
adjoining each on the west, until these localities became sufficiently 
settled to support organizations of their own. 

GOVERNMEMT SURVEYS. 

No person can intelligently understand the history of a country 
without at the same time knowing its geography, and in order that a 
clear and correct idea of the geography of Monroe county may be 
obtained from the language already used in defining diflerent localities 



124 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and pieces of laud, we insert herewith the plan of government surveys 
as given in Mr. E. A. Hickman's property map of Jackson county, 
Missouri : — 

"Previous to the formation of our present government, the east- 
ern portion of North America consisted of a number of British colo- 
nies, the territory of which was granted in large tracts to British 
^noblemen. By treaty of 1783, these grants were acknowleged as valid 
by the colonies. After the Revolutionary War, when these colonies 
were acknowledged independent States, all public domain within their 
boundaries was acknowledged to be the property of the colony within 
the bounds of which said domain was situated. 

" Virginia claimed all the north-western territory, including what 
is now known as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and 
Illinois. After a meeting of the representatives of the various States 
to form a Union, Virginia ceded the north-west territory to the United 
States government. This took place in 1784 ; then all this north- 
west territory became government land. It comprised all south 
of the lakes and east of the Mississippi river and north and west 
of the States having definite boundary lines. This territory had been 
known as New France, and had been ceded by France to England in 
1768. In the year 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte sold to the United 
States all territory west of the Mississippi river and north of Mexico, 
extending to the Rocky mountains. 

" While the public domain was the property of the colonies, it was 
disposed of as follows: Each individual caused the tract he desired 
to purchase to be surveyed and platted. A copy of the survey was 
then filed with the registrar of lands, when, by paying into the State 
or Colonial treasury an agreed price, the purchaser received a patent 
for the land. This method of disposing of public lands made law. 
suits numerous, owing to different surveys often including the same 
ground. To avoid the difliculties and effect a general measurement 
of the territories, the United States adopted the present mode or 
system of land surveys, a description of which we give as follows : — 

" In an unsurveyed region, a point of marked and changeless topo- 
graphical features is selected as an initial point. The exact latitude 
and longitude of this point is ascertained by astronomical observation, 
and a suitable monument of iron or stone, to perpetuate the position, 
is thus reared. Through this point a true north and south line is run, 
which is called a 'pi'incipal meridian. This principal meridian may 
be extended north and south any desired distance. Along this line 
are placed, at distances of one-half mile from each other, posts of 



HISTORY OF MONllOE COUNTY. 125 

wood or stone or mounds of earth. These posts are said to establish 
the line, and are called section and quarter section posts. Principal 
meridians are numbered in the order in which they are established. 
Through the same initial point from which the principal meridian was 
surveyed, another line is now run and established by mile and half 
mile posts, as before, in a true east and west direction. This line is 
called the base line, and like the principal meridian, may be extended 
indefinitely in either direction. These lines form the basis of the 
survey of the country into townships and ranges. Township lines 
extend east and west, parallel with the base line, at distances of six 
miles from the base line and from each other, dividing the country 
into strips six miles wide, which strips are called townships. Range 
lines run north and south, parallel to the principal meridian, dividing 
the country into strips six miles wide, which strips are called ranges. 
Township strips are numbered from the base line, and range strips 
are numbered from the principal meridian. Townships lying north 
of the base line are ' townships north ; ' those on the south are ' town- 
ships south.' The strip lying next the base line is township one, the 
next one to that, township tivo, and so on. The range strips are num- 
bered in the same manner, counting from the principal meridian east 
or west, as the case may be. 

" The township and range lines thus divide the country into six- 
mile squares. Each of these squares is called a congressional town- 
ship. All north and south lines north of the equator approach each 
other as they extend north, finally meeting at the north pole ; there- 
fore north and south lines are not literally parallel. The east and 
west boundary lines of any range being six miles apart in the latitude 
of Missouri and Kansas, would, in thirty miles, approach each other 
at 2.9 chains, or 190 feet. If, therefore, the width of the range when 
started from the base line is made exactly six miles, it would be 2.9 
chains too narrow at the distance of thirty miles, or five townships 
north. To correct the width of ranges and keep them to the proper 
width, the range lines are not surveyed in a continuous straight line, 
like the principal meridian, entirely across the State, but only across 
a limited number of townships, usually five, where tbe \Vidth of the 
range is corrected by beginning a new line on the side of the range 
most distant from the principal meridian, at such a point as will make 
the range its correct width. All range lines are corrected in the same 
manner. The east and west township lines on which these correc- 
tions are made are called correction lines, or standard parallels. The 
surveys of the State of Missouri were made from the fifth principal 



126 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



meridian, which runs throughout the State, and its ranges are num- 
bered from it. The State of Kansas is surveyed and numbered from 
the sixth. Congressional townships are divided into thirty-six square 
miles, called sections, and are known by numbers according to their 
position. The following diagram shows the order of numbers and the 
sections in congressional townships : — 



-15- 



-20- 



-22- 



-23- 



-24- 



30 29 28- 



-31- 



-32- 



-26- 



-25- 



-33- 



-34- 



-35- 



-36- 



" Sections are divided into quarters, eighths and sixteenths, and are 
described by their position in the section. The full section contains 
640 acres, the quarter 160, the eighth 80, and the sixteenth 40. In 
the following diagram of a section, the position designated by a is 
known as the north-west quarter ; i is the north-east quarter of the 
north-east quarter ; d would be the south half of the south-east quar- 
ter, and would contain 80 acres. 



Sec. post. 



i Sec. post, 



Sec. post, 



i Sec. post. 



a 




h 


i 


1 60 acres 


f 


g 


b 


c 


e 


d 



Sec. post. 



i Sec. post. 



Sec. post. 



J Sec. post. 



" Congressional townships, as we have seen, are six-mile squares of 
land, made by the township and range lines, while civil or municipal 
townships are civil divisions, made for purposes of government, the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 127 

one having no reference to the other, though simiUir in name. On 
the county map we see both kinds of townships — the congressional 
usually designated by numbers and in squares ; the municipal or civil 
township by name and in various forms. 

" By the measurement thus made by the government, the courses 
and distances are defined between any two points. St. Louis is in 
township 44 north, range 8 east, and Independence is in township 49 
north, range 32 west; how far, then, are Independence and St. Louis 
apart on a direct line? St. Louis is 40 townships east — 240 
miles — and 5 townships south — 30 miles ; the base and perpendicu- 
lar of a right-angled triangle, the hypothenuse being the required 
distance." 

ORGANIZATION OF TOWNSHIPS. 

The " township," as the term is used in common phraseology, in 
many instances is widely distinguished from that of "town," though 
many persons persist in confounding the two. '♦ In the United States 
many of the States are divided into townships of five, six, seven, or 
perhaps ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are 
vested with certain powers for regulating their own affairs, such as 
repairing roads and providing for the poor. The township is subor- 
dinate to the county." A "town" is simply a collection of houses,, 
either large or small, and opposed to " country." 

The most important features connected with this system of town- 
ship surveys should be thoroughly understood by every intelligent 
farmer and business man ; still there are some points connected with 
the understanding of it, which need close and careful attention. The 
law which established this system required that the north and south 
lines should correspond exactly with the meridian passing through 
that point; also, that each township should be six miles square. To 
do this would be an utter impossibility, since the figure of the earth 
causes the meridians to converge toward the pole, making the north 
line to each township shorter than the south line of the same town- 
ship. To obviate the errors which are, on this account, constantly 
occurring, correction lines are established. They are parallels bound- 
ing a line of townships on the north, when lying north of the principal 
base from which the surveys, as they are continued, are laid out anew ; 
the range lines again starting at correct distances from the principal 
meridian. In Michigan these correction lines are repeated at the end 
of every tenth township, but in Oregon they have been repeated with 
every fifth township. The instructions to the surveyors have been 



128 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

that each range of townships should be made as much over six miles 
in width where it closes on to the next correction line north ; and it is 
further provided that in all cases where the exterior lines of the town- 
ships shall exceed, or shall not extend, six miles, the excess of defi- 
ciency shall be specially noted, or added to or deducted from the 
western or northern sections or half sections in such township, accord- 
ing as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or 
from south to north. In order to throw the excess of deficiencies on 
the north and on the west sides of the township, it is necessary to 
survey the section lines from south to north, on a true meridian, leav- 
ing the result in the north line of the township to be governed by the 
convexity of the earth and the convergency of the meridians. 

Navigable rivers, lakes and islands are " meandered " or surveyed 
by the compass and chain along the banks. " The instruments em- 
ployed on these surveys, besides the solar compass, are a surveying 
chain 33 feet long, of 50 links, and another of smaller wire, as a 
standard to be used for correcting the former as often at least as 
every other day; also 11 tally pins, made of steel, telescope, tar- 
gets, tape-measure and tools for marking the lines upon trees or 
stones. In surveying through woods, trees intercepted by the line 
are marked with two chips or notches, one on each side ; these are 
called sight or line trees. Sometimes other trees in the vicinity are 
blazed on two sides quartering toward the line ; but if some distance 
from the line, the two blazes should be near together on the side facing 
the line. These are found to be permanent marks, not wholly recog- 
nizable for many years, but carrying with them their old age by the 
rings of growth around the blaze, which may at any subsequent time 
be cut out and counted as years; and the same are recognized in 
courts of law as evidence of the date of survey. They can not be 
obliterated by cutting down the trees or otherwise without leaving 
evidence of the act. Corners are marked upon trees if found at the 
right spot, or else upon posts set in the ground, and sometimes a mon- 
ument of stones is used for a township corner, and a single stone for 
n section corner ; mounds of earth are made when there are no stones 
nor timber. The corners of the four adjacent sections are designated 
by distinct marks cut into a tree, one in each section. These trees, 
facing the corner, are plainly marked with the letters B. T. (bearing 
tree) cut into the wood. Notches cut upon the corner posts or trees 
indicate the number of miles to the outlines of the township, or, if on 
the boundaries of the township, to the township corners." 



CHAPTER V. 

JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 

Physical Features — Old Settlers — William Goodlow — A Sad Incident — Caldwell 
Opens a Store —Paris — When Laid Out— Names of Commissioners — Florida a 
Candidate — Paris named by Mrs. J. .C. Fox — Donations for County Seat — Sale 
of Town Lots — Names of Some of the Purchasers — Parties Associated in Laying 
Out the town — Spotted Fawn — Pioneer Business Men — Old Race Track — Secret 
Orders — Banks and Bankers — Woolen Mills and Carding Machines — Flouring 
Mills— Paris Baud — Dedicatory Services of the New Christian Church — Public 
Schools of Paris — Business Directory. 

Jackson township is the central municipal division of the county, 
and contains the county seat. Its area is larger than that of any 
other township in the county, embracing 122 square miles. About 
one-fifth of the township is prairie. The land along the water 
courses is generally hilly and broken, with here and there a nar- 
row strip of bottom land, which is very productive. The southern 
portion of the township is best for agricultural purposes. The prin- 
cipal streams are Otter creek, the Middle and Elk forks of Salt 
river and Long branch. These water courses are well distributed, 
and form an admirable system of drainage. The township, taken as 
a whole, is a fair, average township, and the farmers are generally 
prosperous. 

OLD SETTLERS. 

The early settlers of Jackson township were generally from Ken- 
tucky, and, in fact, that grand old State has contributed more to the 
settlement of this entire region, including the Boone's Lick country, 
than any other two States combined. Her sons and her daughters 
have ever been in the front rank of civilization, and wherever they 
located, lived and died, there may be found, even to this day, among 
the present generation, many of the traits of character which they 
possessed. 

Of course, it is not expected that we will, or can give, the names of 
all the early settlers of Jackson township, or any other township in 
the county. This would, at the present time, be simply impossible, 
as more than a half century has intervened since the pioneers began 
to make their settlements, and no record of that date has been made 

(129) 



130 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

or preserved. We should be glad to record the names of all the men 
who braved the dangers and difficulties of pioneer times, and present 
a brief sketch of their lives, together with a few of their prominent 
characteristics. But time and space would preclude us from entering 
into details, which would doubtless prove to be of so much interest to 
the reader, and consequently we must content ourselves with the names 
of such of the pioneers as we have been enabled to secure. 

Of the pioneers of Jackson township we record the following names : 
James Runkle, Samuel Pool, Jeremiah Foreman, Samuel Curtright, 
Aaron "James, William Jackson, Rumsey Saling, Edmund Maddox, 
Reuben Burton, Charles Allen, James M. S. Berry, John W. McKin- 
ney, William Armstrong, Philip Williams, AVilliam Davis, Durrit 
Wills, George Adams, James Poage, Samuel Sprowl, Thomas D. 
Reed, Henry Thomas, Hiram McManama, John Forman, William H. 
Forman, Simon Duckworth, Otho Adams, Ovid Adams, Samuel S. 
Rowe, James Jackson, Charles Clay, Triposa Clay, Hiram Williams, 
Johnson Williams, Austin Moore, Travis Moore, William Arnold, Sr., 
William Arnold, Jr., Harvey Arnold, Talliaferro Bostick, John 
McKamey, Isaac Burris, Sandford Hoskins, Robert Simpson, Branch 
Miller, Davis Scott, John Saling, Jake Trumbo, Mike Trumbo, 
William Runkle, Paul Hereford, James Collins, James Robert, 
William Saling, James Saling, Daniel Saling, James Woods, John 
Woods, Archibald Rice, James Vaughn, Samuel Murray, John S. 
McGee, William McGee and John McGee. 

In giving the histor}^ of Paris, we will mention the names of the old 
settlers, including a number of the early business men of the town. 

Sandford Hoskins operated a distillery about the year 1837, nearly 
one mile east of Paris. An early school was taught by Rev. John 
Wright, a Presbyterian minister, just south of town. 

William Armstrong erected the first mill that was put up in the 
township. Although it was small and unpretentious, it did the grind- 
ing for a number of 3'ears for a large section of country. This mill 
ground both corn and wheat, and stood on the bank of the Middle 
fork of Salt river, about one mile east of Paris, and was a grist and 
saw mill. It was built in 1833. John Sears operated the first 
pottery, about five miles north of Paris, about the year 1838. 

William Goodlow was recognized as one of the best fiddlers in the 
country, and when spending an evening with his friends, he possessed 
the happy faculty of discoursing to them the most delightful music, 
often accompanying his instrument with an unique and improvised 
song, which was replete with wise and startling hits and felicitous 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 131 

iniiiiendoes, touching the vulnerability of some one or more of his 
entranced and rustic auditors. Goodlow was especially happy when 
playing for a dance. Upon such occasions the scintillations of his 
wit were resplendently luminous, and even the instrument itself 
seemed to be inspired with new life, and gave back its most thrilling 
notes to the amorous touch of its rustic owner. Never did Trouba- 
dour sweep the strings of his harp with half as much pride and self- 
assurance as did Goodlow when he sounded the notes of his violin at 
a country dance. He played many pieces to the delight of the 
dancers, but none permeated their very souls like that old familiar 
tune called, in yeoman parlance, "Chicken Pie." So irresistibly 
happyfyiug in its effects was it that even old age forgot its wonted 
infirmities, and was often found threading the mazes of the dance. 
The words of this memorable song were verj^ suggestive, the first two 
lines of which ran as follows : — 

Chicken pie and pepper, oh ! 
Are good for the ladies, oh! 

While " Chicken Pie" was universally liked as a favorite dish and 
as a favorite dance song, there was another melody that always en- 
livened the dancers, as they listened to its inspiring measures. This 
was " Buftalo Gals," and seemed to be played especially on moon- 
light nights, when the v^eather would permit of a dance under the be- 
witching beams of a silver moon. 

In these dances the women would often take part in the jigs, and 
although they did not make as much noise as the men, they success- 
fully vied with them in the intricacies and evolutions of the dance. 

A SAD INCIDENT. 

John McGee, w^iose name appears last in the list of old settlers 
above mentioned, together with his daughter, met with a painful and 
tragic death soon after he settled in the township. The incident was 
related to the writer hereof by one of the party who accompanied Mr. 
McGee to the county, and who was near by at the time of the unfortu- 
nate occurrence. 

John McGee and family emigrated from Kentuck}^ Mercer county, 
to Howard county, Missouri, in 1822. McGee remained in Howard 
long enough to make two crops, and in the spring of 1824 came to 
Monroe county — to Jackson township — and built a cabin, to which 
he moved his family. He had brought from Howard county nearly 
all of his household goods, and while returning with the last wagon 
load, he and his grown daughter Mollie had reached a point on the 



132 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

prairie on the head of Brush creek, and near the present farm of David 
McKamey, when they observed that the tall, dry prairie was on fire 
and burning rapidly towards them. They were driving some hogs at 
the time, and seeing a small ravine at the right of the road they 
drove the hogs down into it and laid down themselves in the ravine, 
thinking that they would in a manner be safe from the devouring 
flames. Mr. McGee took his coat off and covered his daughter with 
it, so as to shield her as much as possible. But a few moments 
passed before the fire, which was blown by a strong wind, was upon 
them. It soon passed over them, but burned them so severely that 
they died in about eight days thereafter. It was noticed that their 
hair and clothes were burned to such an extent that but little of either 
was left when they arrived at the house, which was about a mile away. 
They walked home after the occurrence and did not suffer much until 
about the third day. There was no physician nearer than forty miles, 
and none was sent for. The neighbors, who were very kind, but few 
in number, did all they could for the sufferers. They applied every- 
thing they could think of to alleviate the pain, which was intense 
after the third day, until they died. Poultices made of slippery-elm 
bark and flax seed were then the pioneer remedies, and were freely 
used. 

Mr. Ephraim Smith, who is now 72 years ©f age, and still a resi- 
dent of Monroe county, came with Mr. McGee to the county, and was 
driving Mr. McGee's cattle upon the day of the fire. He had just 
passed along the same road, and was at McGee's cabin when the latter 
and his daughter came up. Mr Smith says that the prairie caught on fire 
just before sundown. Some emigrant wagons had camped in the edge 
of the prairie the night before, and leaving their camp-fire still burn- 
ing in the morning, and a strong wind springing up late in the afternoon 
of that day, the fire was blown into the grass, which being very dry 
and inflammable, the prairie was soon a vast blazing sheet. 

CALDWELL OPENS A STORE. 

Green V. Caldwell came from New London, Ralls county, Missouri, 
in 1831, and located on the main highway, leading from Maple Grove 
in Monroe county, to New London in Ralls. Monroe county had not 
at that time been organized. Caldwell opened a small store and sold 
goods from 1831 until his death, which occurred about the latter part 
of the same year. His store was about two and a half miles south- 
east of the present town of Paris — where the poor farm is now 
located. He knew that a new county would soon be erected out of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 133 

the present territory of Monroe county, and located where he did, 
believing that the county seat would ultimately be established at his 
place of business. 

According to information furnished by James R. Abernathy, Esq., 
Caldwell opened the first store in the county. Middle Grove also 
claims the honor of having the first, but from the best and most reli- 
able of living witnesses, it is generally conceded that Maj. William 
N. Penn sold the first goods at Stice's mill, near Florida, in 1831. 

PARIS. 

Paris, the county seat of Monroe county, M^as laid out in the sum- 
mer of 1831, the location having been selected by Hancock S. Jackson, 
of Randolph county ; Stephen Glascock, of Ralls county, and Joseph 
Holliday, of Pike county. The act creating and organizing the county 
named the above parties as commissioners to select the county seat. 

The town of Florida, which was laid out in 1831, was also a candi- 
date for the prospective honor of being selected as the seat of justice. 
Although not centrally located, it was at that time the most conven- 
ient trading point for the early settlers, who had generally taken 
claims in the eastern portion of the county. Besides, Florida Avas 
located on Salt river, which was thought to be a navigable stream for 
small boats, or rather that it could be made navigable by a small out- 
lay of money. A river port possessed superior advantages over what 
was termed an inland town. Steamboats were the very life of the 
town and lessened the expense of transportation for both passengers 
and freight. They contributed in the same measure to the growth 
and prosperity of the country or town as the railroads do to-day. 
The commissioners, however, doubtless having an eye single to the 
convenience of the entire population of Monroe county, after every 
portion of it should become settled, and not having any faith in the 
practical navigation of Salt river, very wisely selected the site of 
Paris as the location for the county seat. 

After they had performed their work and made the selection, they 
went to the home of J. C. Fox, then near Middle Grove, and perhaps 
as some consideration for the kind hospitality extended to them, Mrs. 
Fox was permitted the honor of naming the new town, which she 
called Paris, after Paris, Kentucky, her old home. 

DONATIONS FOR COUNTY SEAT. 

The following record, which was made at the first term of the circuit 
com-t in June, 1831, shows the names of the parties donating land to 



134 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

the county for the town-site of Puris, and the number of acres donated 
by each : — 

The commissioners appointed by an act of the General Assembly of 
this State entitled, " An Act to Organize the County of Monroe," ap- 
proved January 6, 1831, produced in court a deed from Hightower T. 
Hackney and Elizabeth, his wife, for ten acres of land, to be laid off 
on the east side of the north half of a tract of land known as the east 
half of the north-east quarter of section 10, in township 54, range 10, 
and bounded west by a line running parallel to the section line, be- 
tween sections 10 and 11, in said township; also one other tract of 
land contiguous to the aforesaid described ten acres, and also 
being a part of the aforesaid described half quarter section, to wit : 
iifteen acres to be hiid ofF in the north end of the south half of a tract 
known as the east half of the north-east quarter of section 10, of 
township 54, of range 10 ; also to be bounded south b}- a line running- 
parallel to the south boundary line of section 10, in the aforesaid 
township ; also a deed from James R. Abernathy and Rosana, his wife, 
for a tract of nine acres of land, being a part of the east half of the 
north-west quarter of section 11, township 54, range 10, to be run out 
contiguous to the land conveyed by James C. Fox and Ann, his wife, 
to the county of Monroe, and adjoining said lands on the east, (o be 
run out by an east boundar}^ line, parallel with the sectional line, and 
to be 90 poles in length upon the lines running north and south, and 
to be 16 poles wide upon the lines running east and west ; also a deed 
from James C. Fox and Ann, his wife, for a tract of 45 acres of land, 
to be laid off in the north end of the west half of the north-west 
quarter of section 11, township 54, range 10, west, by a line running 
parallel to the southerly boundary line of said section 11, which said 
deeds were severally made to the aforesaid commissioners, for the use 
of the said county of Monroe, and were duly acknowledged by the 
makers thereof, as appears by the certificates indorsed thereon. 

The above deeds of conveyance were considered sufficient by the 
court to pass the title to the town site, and were approved accordingly. 
The whole number of acres donated was 79. 

SALE OF TOWN LOTS. 

The first sale of lots took place September 12, 13 and 14, 
1831. During the three days 128 lots were sold, the sum realized be- 
ing $4,847.05. November 4, 1833, a second sale of 24 lots, which 
had not been paid for, and which had been forfeited, took place. These 
forfeited lots brought $254.81V3. It appears that Marshall Kelley 
purchased the two first lots that were sold ; the two purchased by him 
were lots 6 and 7, in block 12, for which he paid $301. These 
lots are now occupied by the Glenn House, and are assessed at 
|fi,500. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 135 

We will give the names of ti number of the parties who purchased 
lots, as they included many of the pioneers of Monroe county : — 

Edward M. Holden, Alexander Eobertson, George W. White, 
William Blakey, Thomas Barbee, P. K. W. Estle, Alexander Thomp- 
son, William D. Wise, Archibald Patterson, William Morrison, Abel 
M. Conner, Absalom Hurt, Robert Shaw, John Doss, Robert Hutch- 
inson, Jeff. E. Powers, Thomas Tyre, George Saling, Jordan Size- 
more, Thomas Hayes, Pleasant Ford, Alexander Colvin, John Burton, 
Samuel Roverty, Martin B. Gray, William W. Compton, Spencer 
Grogin, Francis Ratcliff, Bluford Davis, William Armstrong, Edward 
Camplin, Austin A. King, E. W. McBride, James Barnes, Austin 
Swinney, James H. Smith, Joel H. Gentry, Thomas Thompson, Will- 
iam Runkle, David Gentry, Moses Barter, William K Van Arsdale, 
James R. Abernathy, Simeon Burton, J. D. Caldwell, Eli Bozarth, 
Peter Keriiey, George Harrison, Wesley Hill, J. H. Curry, C. C. 
Acuff, J. C. Fox, Edward Turner, James Mappin, Silas King, John 
B. Hatten. 

PARTIES ASSISTING IN LAYING OUT THE TOWN. 

John S. McGee surveyed the town site. The following persons who 
assisted in and about the laying out of Paris, received for their ser- 
vices the sums set opposite their names : — 

Aka Adams, $7.50 ; John S. McGee, $35 ; Solomon Humphrey, 
$3.75; Joseph Holliday, $10; James R. Abernathy (clerk of sale of 
lots), $8; James C. Fox, $79.87V2 and $11.25 ; Ebenezer W. Mc- 
Bride, $6.26; Marshall Kelley, $19.08. 

SPOTTED FAWN. 

When the court-house square was being surveyed, the parties en- 
gaged in the work caught a wild spotted fawn. It was taken by 
James R. Abernathy to his home and raised until it grew to be a large 
deer. The court-house square was covered with hazel brush and a 
heav}' growth of large white oak trees. The hazel brush and oak 
trees have long since been supplanted by ornamental shade trees, 
and a beautiful and stately editice. * 

PIONEER BUSINESS MEN. 

The first houses in the town were erected by J. C. Fox and High- 
tower T. Hackney. The former commenced building a log house one 
year before the county seat was located. It still stands in the rear of 
the residence built by J. C. Fox. Hackney had put up a small cabin 

4 



136 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

some time before the county was organized, near the spot where the 
Old School Baptist Church stands. The first store house was built by 
J. C. Fox, on the corner of Main and Caldwell streets, and was occu- 
pied immediately by Fox & Caldwell with a small stock of goods. 
About the same time, or perhaps a little later, a man by the name of 
Conner opened a store in one room of the house which at that time 
stood where J. H. Hugley's residence is now located, on the east 
and north side of the river. He soon afterwards moved his goods 
into a building which was located about where Frank Margruter now 
lives, north of the square. The next store-house was built and opened 
by Maj. William Blakey, upon the site afterwards occupied by the 
Virginia house. 

John G. Caldwell and Thomas S. Miller, as Caldwell & Miller, 
Jeff. Wilcoxen, J. B. Howard & Co., Perry Gentry, James McMurtry 
and John Forsythe, as McMurtry & Forsythe, John E. Shropshire, 
Richmond Saling, Robert Caldwell, George Glenn and others were 
among the earliest business men. 

The first hotel was kept by Marshall Kelley, in a log building, 
where the Glenn House now stands. J. Lair, Alfred Wilson, John 
Davis, Henry Davis, Newton Wilson and William Turner were early 
blacksmiths. William Willis was one of the first shoemakers. Tallia- 
ferro Bostick and Jonathan Gore were saddlers ; William Armstrong 
and William Stephens were tailors. 

Among the more prominent and influential citizens of the town 
were the witty and eloquent Charles W. Flannagan, the self-made and 
earnest Ben Davis, the shrewd and positive William K Van Arsdale, 
the good and exemplary Anderson Woods and Alfred Wilson, the 
industrious and never-fagging James M. Bean and a host of others 
whose names have been forgotten. Near the town lived Dr. G. M. 
Bower, a member of Congress from this district in 1844. These men 
have all passed from the stage of action, some of them resting in the 
old cemetery north of the railroad, where — 

" The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep, " 

while others found honorable sepulture in newer and more distant 
homes. 

OLD RACE TRACK. 

In the early history of Paris, a few of the old settlers, to amuse 
themselves, opened a race track about a mile and a quarter south-west 
of the town, near Thomas and Christopher Burke's farm. Here met 
the sporting men and lovers of the turf for several years, drawn thither 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. lo7 

at stated times, to witness the speed of some strange or favorite horse. 
Among those famous coursers, whose popuhirity has come down to 
this day, were " Tom " and " Charlemagne," the former the property 
of Reuben Frigate, and the latter the property of the Bufords. The 
Bufords came from Kentucky, and were related to the Buford family 
of that State — many of whom have since been noted for their fond- 
ness for fine-blooded racers. To these races, people would come 
from a wide section of country, and would wager money, whisky, 
stock, or anything that they had, upon their favorite horse. Here 
could always be purchased the apple-cider and gingerbread of the 
olden time — a repast that the boys of that day can never forget. 
Here, too, were held the old-fashioned field musters, which were so 
common in the early settlement of this country. Associated with 
these musters is the memory of Gen. R. D. Austin and Col. William 
M. Sharp, who were the general oflBcers. The race track and the 
muster are now things of the past, so far as they pertain to Old 
Monroe. 

A fire occurred in Paris on the last day of December, 1873. 

SECRET ORDERS. 

Paris Lodge, iVo. 29, I.O.O.F. — Was organized March 2, 
1848, the charter members being William Taylor, A. J. Caplinger, P. 
A. Heitz, Marion Brown and Joseph Lefever. The above named 
members withdrew from the Hannibal lodge and organized the Paris 
lodge. The present officers are A. D. F. Armstrong, N. G. ; E. M. 
Alexander, V. G. ; William Rawlings, secretary ; J. T, Moss, P. S. ; 
M. W. Speed, treasurer. The lodge contains about 80 members; it 
owns the building where the lodge meets, is out of debt, and is in a 
flourishing condition. 

The Triple Link, of May 15, 1884, in speaking of the above lodge, 
says : — 

While in the hall of No. 29, at Paris, on the 26th, we looked into 
their records and investigated to some extent the history of the lodge. 
Their charter was issued under the administration of 1. M. Veitch, 
then Grand Master of Missouri, now a Past Grand Sire, and is dated 
March 21, 1848. The charter members were from Hannibal, having 
taken cards from Mystic Lodge, No, 17, for the purpose of instituting 
No. 29. Of these, we understand, but two are living, viz., A. J. 
Caplinger, of Paris, and Judge James Carr, of St. Louis, both of 
whom still retain membership in No. 29. 

The Bible in the lodge was purchased by the contributions of 36 
ladies of the place, whose names appear on the inside of the cover, the 
record bearing date March 15, 1849. How many of these good 



138 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

women are now living we were unable to ascertain, but it is safe to 
say that the majority have crossed the l)oundless river. Many of 
their posterity, however, hold membership in the lodge, the principles 
and teachings of which are in accord with the sacred book lying before 
them at everv meeting, and which was presented by the mothers for 
the o;uidance of their sons. 

Paris Lodge, No. 127, A. O. U. TF.— Was chartered May 25, 
1879, with the following charter members: Martin Bodine, George 
C. Brown, George Seibert, M. W. Speed, F. O. Collins, R. M. Bur- 
gess, H. P. Vaughn, John E. Horn, George W. Crow, T. G. Harley, 
B. F. Blanton, John Bower and C. Alexander. Its present officers are 
M. W. Speed, M. W. ; D. O. Bean, P. M. W. ; B. C. Smith, O. ; B. 
F. Blanton, G. ; S. S. Bassett, R. ; W. H. Strean, F. ; George Seibert, 
S. ; John S. Pool, R. 

Paris Union Lodge, No. 19, A. F. & A. M. — Was chartered 
March 1, 1835, with Stephen Barton as W. M. ; W. K. Van Arsdale, 
S.W., and John Heard, J. W. The officers for 1884 are: Theo. 
Bruce, W. M. ; E. T. Wetmore, S. W.; Henry P. Long, J. W. ; 
William F. Buckner, T. ; Joe^' M. Moss, Sec'y ; J. T. Hickey, S. D. ; 
J. M. Worrell, J. D. ; Richard Gentry, tyler. The finance commit- 
tee consists of D. H. Moss, G. B. Caldwell and J. S. McGee. 
The hall committee are S. S. Bassett, T. T. Rodes, H. P. Long. 
The regular times of meeting are the first and second Saturdays in 
each month. 

Monroe Chapter, No. 16, B. A. M. — The charter of this order 
was issued October 10, 1867, to replace the charter lost about 1861. 
At this time Abner E. Gore was made M. E. H. P. ; W. F. Buckner, 
E. K. ; Drury Ragsdale, E. S. The officers for 1884 are George B. 
Caldwell, M. E. H. P. ; Richard Thomas, E. K. ; James D. Evans, 
E. S. ; William F. Buckner, Treas. ; Joe M. Moss, Sec'y; Henry P. 
Long, C. of H. ; E. T. Wetmore, P. S. ; Sam. S. Bassett, R. A. G. ; 
William G. Smizer, M. 3d V. ; Thomas Chowning, M. 2d V. ; James 
S. McGee, M. 1st V. ; James L. Fisher, Sent. The first Monday in 
each month is their time of meeting. 

Parsifal Commandery, No. 44, K. T. — Was chartered May 6, 
1884. The charter members were A. Wood Terrill, George C. 
Brown, Jas. S. McGee, Theo. Brace, Geo. B. Caldwell, T. T. Rodes, 
S. S. Bassett, Jos. M. Moss, L. D. Finch, J. W. Wayland, A. Noland, 
J. L. Fisher. The officers for 1884 are Sirs A. Wood Terrill, 
E. C. ; Geo. C. Brown, G. ; Jas. S. McGee, C. G. ; Theo. Brace, P. ; 
Geo. B. Caldwell, S. W. ; T. T. Rodes, J. W. ; S. S. Bassett, T. ; 



HISTORY OF MOISEOE COUNTY. 139 

Jos. M. Moss, R. ; L. D. Finch, S. B. ; A. M. Burgess, S. B. ; Henry 
P. Long, W. ; Jus. L. Fisher, C. of G. ; Jno. C. Peirsol, 1st G. ; 
E. T. Wetraore, 2d G. ; Jno. R. Crosswhite, 3d G. 

Father Matthew Lodge, iYo. 358, I. 0. G. T. — Was organized on 
the 26th day of October, 1871, with the following as charter mem- 
bers:— Theo. Brace, Mrs A. E. Fowkes, T. B. Lunsford, W. J. 
Powell, Miss V. C. McCann, H. C. Kenyon, Mrs. Bell Mounce, W. 
H. Dawson, Miss Nettie Burnett, Miss Sallie Dawson, D. Myers, Miss 
Lucy Burnett, Mrs. R. L. Hocker, B. B. Broughton, Miss Mary J. 
Runkle, Miss Ella Matchett, Dr. A. E. Gore, John E. Horn, George 
W. Monson, Geo. W. Cunningham, Jas. C. Bean, R. S. Wilburn, 
John Matchett, H. W. Shortridge, J. C. Fox, W. W. Moffat, John 
W. Mounce, A. J. Caplinger, Thos. B. Veal, Miss Sallie Caplinger. 
The officers for the quarter ending July 31, 1884, were T. B. 
Broughton, AV. C. T. ; Miss Eva Dawson, W. V. T. ; Miss Bessie 
Manu'el, W. R. S. ; B. B. Broughton, W. F. S. ; Mrs. A. W. Brough- 
ton, W. T. ; John G. Harley, W. C. ; D. C. Greenman, W. M. ; Mrs. 
Eliza Dauson, W. I. G. ; Chas. Grow, W. C. G. ; Wm. H. Dauson, 
L. D. W. C. T. 

Paris Lodge, No. 1994, Knights of Honor. — Was organized on 
the 12th day of January, 1880, by J. W. Halsted, with the following- 
charter members: — James A. Robinson, Thos. J. Marsh, Thos. B. 
Broughton, P. J. Clapp, J. W. Mountjoy, F. A. Asmuth, R. H. West, 
T. LrFox, B. G. Dysart, Jas. Wilson, Jas. L. Fisher, R. B. Worrell, 
E. S. Reynolds, W. B. Craig, N. Ashcraft, C. F. Vaughn, A. W. 
Riggs, W. R. Vaughn, T. P. Bashaw, A. J. Austin, T. f. Ruby, N. 
G. Gosney, J. D. Bounds, F. V. Ragsdale, Theo. Brace, F. P. Vaughn, 
T. M. Dawson, Wm. L. Combs, C. M. Schrader. The officers for 
the term ending the 31st of December, 1884, are Thos. W. McCrary, 
dictator; W. T. Grear, vice dictator; B. F. Blanton, assistant dic- 
tator ; T. B. Broughton, reporter; R. H. West, Hnancial reporter; 
T. S. Shaw, treasurer ; Geo. C. Brown, chaplain; W. R, Basket, 
guide , J. L. Fisher, guardian ; J. G. Harley, sentinel ; N. Ash- 
craft, E. S. Reynolds, T. B. Broughton, trustees ; B. G. Dysart, 
medical examiner; T. B. Broughton, lodge deputy grand dictator. 

BANKS AND BANKERS. ' 

A branch of the Farmers' Bank of Missouri was established at 
Paris, in July, 1858, with Thomas Crntcher, president, and O. P. 
Gentry, cashier. It continued to do business until 1863, when W. F. 
Buckner, who was cashier at that time, proceeded to wind up the busi- 



140 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



ness ; his hist statement of the utfairs of the bunk, was made in 1865. 
The next banking enterprise was that of the Monroe Savings Asso- 
ciation, which commenced business October 1, 18(55. David H. Moss 
was president and John S. Conjers, cashier. Tlie capital stock was 
$20,000. It ran until May 1, 1871, when it was succeeded by the First 
National Bank of Paris, with a capital of $100,000, paid in. David 
H. Moss is president, John S. Conyers, cashier, and W. F. Buckner, 
assistant cashier. The statement of the First National Bank of Paris 
is as follows : — 



RESOURCES. 

Discounts 8181,352 0-1 

U.S. Bonds 125,000 00 

County and township bonds. 4G,G00 00 
Nat. Park Bank, New York. 31,973 59 
Tliird Nat. Bank, St. Louis. 35,049 38 
Continental Bank, St. Louis. 10,045 4(J 
M'rch'nts' Nat. Bank, Cliicajio 3,948 41 
Furniture and fixtures . . 1,000 00 

Expense 1,296 30 

Taxes 409 50 

Treasurer U. S 4,531 37 

Real Estate (3,000 00 

Premiums 4,275 00 

Casli 70,150 59 



LIABILITIES. 

Capital stock . . . 
Circulation .... 

Deposits 

Surplu 

Undivided profits . . 



.f 100,000 00 

90,000 00 

284,451 48 

31,000 00 

16,169 86 

$521,631 64 



^521,631 64 



WOOLEN MILLS AND CARDING MACHINES. 

The first carding machine that was operated in the county was put 
up by Green V.Caldwell, al)out where the poor farm is located, in 
1830. Caldwell opened a store at the same place as early as 1831. 
After the county l^ecame settled, carding machines were run at Florida 
and other places in the same vicinit}^ and several were located at 
Paris at different intervals. Among these was that of Charles Daw- 
son, who established a custom roll carding machine prior to 1866, 
which he continued to operate until about the year 1868. 

In 1866 Broughton Bros. (Benj. B and Thomas B.) erected at 
Paris what is known as a one set mill, which runs 200 spindles and 
two sets of custom cards. This mill manufactures about 15,000 yards 
of pure woolen goods everv season, which is sold to the local trade — 
purchasers coming also from the adjoining counties. These gentle- 
men employ upon an average 13 hands, and work up about 20,000 
pounds of wool, for which they pay from 15 to 50 cents per pound. 
Their pa3'^-roll sometimes shows an expenditure of nearly $1,800 dur- 
ing the season. They now have on hand $4,000 worth of goods and 
about 5,000 pounds of vvool. The mill is a three-story,brick ; the cost 
of building and machinery to the present time was $20,000. J. S. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 141 

Conyers was ti partnei- in the mill from 186(3 to 1871, and H. C.Ken- 
yon from 1871 to 1881. 

FLOURING MILLS. 

Among the early millers of Paris were Robb, Wallace and Crutcher, 
John, George and Frank Crow, and others whose names we could not 
get. The successors of the Crow Bros, were Grimes and Withers 
(G. P. Grimes and G. R. Withers), who rebuilt the mill in 1881 and 
in 1882. It is a fine brick building; is run by roller process, has a 
buhr for making cornmeal, and has the capacity to grind 125 barrels 
of flour per day. The mill has five sets of double and one set of 
single rollers, one 4-reel scalping chest, one 6-reel flouring chest, two 
single flouring reels, two centripetal reels, two case purifiers — double 
machines ; one Throop separator, one Throop brush machine and one 
smut machine. The mill is run by a Greenleaf 125-horse power 
engine. The flour is of an excellent quality and is sold to both home 
and foreign markets. 

PARIS BAND. 

This band was organized early in 1884, its members being F. H. 
Crane, Chas. Blanton, Ed. McGee, Sec. ; J. S. West, Carson McGee, 
Treas. ; Richard Gamble, Will Bassett, Tom Ransdale, Pres. ; Joe 
Caplinger, Phil Hale. 

[From Paris Mercury, July, 1S84.] 
DEDICATORY' SERVICES OF THE NEW CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Sunday, July 20, 1884, in the forenoon, a large congregation 
gathered in the new Christian church, in this city, to witness and take 
part in dedicating that handsome edifice to the " worship of God and 
the good of humanity." People from far and near had gathered there, 
some from distant cities, to celebrate this happy event in the history 
of the congregation that has so long and faithfully labored here. After 
the vast audience had been seated, the choir opened the services by 
singing the song, " Welcome." Elder J. W. Mountjoy then read 
passages from the Scriptures suitable to the occasion, and ottered an 
appropriate prayer. After the choir had sung an anthem, Elder Alex. 
Proctor preached an able and interesting sermon upon the birth, growth 
and mission of the Christian Church. We could not do this grand dis- 
course justice by giving merely a synopsis of it, and, as we can not 
give it entire, we will state that it did the orator honor and delighted 
his audience, showing that his mind sparkles and his soul burns with 
the grand ideas and purposes that characterized the lives of the great 
reformers in the past. He is earnest and eloquent in delivery, gentle 
and child-like in manner, and may be justly termed one of the advance 
thinkers of the age. He is broad and liberal in his views, it being 



142 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

impossible for a little or selfish thought to ever find lodgment in a 
heart and mind like his. Gathered around the altar, listening to his 
discourse, were several who took part in the first meeting that ever 
assembled here in the name of the Christian Church — about fifty-one 
years ago. To these old patriarchs, who had watched the development 
of the congregation from a mere handful to its present large member- 
ship, that day witnessed the consummation of the crowning earthly 
epoch in the history of the church in this city. A number of the prin- 
cipal promoters of the organization of the chuich, and who cared for 
and earnestly worked for its success, have fallen asleep and rest from 
their labors. To these Mr. Proctor paid a touching and beautiful trib- 
ute, entwining a crown of roses upon the brow of each no less fresh 
and beautiful than the lovely flowers that decorated the pulpit and 
dais on this occasion. 

After the communion services, the audience dispersed to meet again 
at three o'clock. 

The services in the afternoon consisted of songs by the choir and 
short speeches of congratulation by the ministers present. After a 
few appropriate remarks by the pastor. Elder H, B. Davis, thanking 
the building committee — Daniel Eubank. S. P. Birkit and S. S. Bas- 
sett — for the noble manner in which they had discharged the duties 
assigned them, Judge D. H. Moss, one of the principal factors in the 
church enterprise, in behalf of the building committee, offered the 
following as a report of the committee : — 

RESOURCES. LIABILITIES. 

Total amount paid into tlie Jos. Dirigo, stone work . . $1,553 35 

hands of tlie building com- Geo. W. Seibert, brick . . . 2,451 1)5 

mittee derived from sub- J. W. Austin, carpenter work . 1,350 00 

scriptions, sale of seminary Lumber 1,701 20 

lots and old building . . $10,553 35 David H. Moss, Jr., painting . 310 00 

Freight bills 63 40 

Stained glass 500 00 

Carpets 240 00 

Chandeliers 139 00 

Seats 750 00 

Pulpit furniture 100 00 

Plastering 874 00 

Stone steps 150 00 

Frescoing 250 00 

Fence 500 00 

Total value church property, $10,932 90 

Judge Moss explained that the frescoing, fencing and steps were 
yet to be paid for, and that there is a balance on hand of $490 for that 
purpose. Of the entire subscription made to the building fund, but 
$29 was unavailable, and that was caused by death and inability. The 
building and furniture is paid for in full. 

Following the reading of the report. Elders Surber and H. F. Davis, 
of Monroe City; Jacob Hugley, evangelist; Rev. J. T.Williams, 
pastor of the Baptist Church of this city; John Burns, of St. Louis ; 
Elder Proctor, of Independence, and that grand old soldier of the 
Cross, Elder J. C. Davis, of Woodlawn, all made short and spirited 



HISTORi' OF MONROE COUNTY. 143 

speeches, congratuL-iting the church and the coramuiiity upon the 
erection of so beautiful a temple in their midst. 

At night, Elder Proctor preached a sermon upon the " Glorification 
of Christ." It was conceived by a master mind, and delivered in an 
earnest and captivating manner. After the conclusion of the services, 
Elder Proctor left for his home in Independence, his departure being 
keenly regretted by all. 

We can not close this article without speaking a word of praise for 
the most thrilling and lovely music rendered by the choir, which is led 
by Mr. Philip Hales. 

THE BUILDING 

is a handsome brick structure 96 feet long, 47 feet wide, and 47 feet 
to top of roof. The windows are arched with stone, the walls orna- 
mented with pilasters, each one crowned with a stone cap or entabla- 
ture. The tower, built in the north-west corner of the church — the 
house facing the west — is 90 feet high, mounted with an iron cross. 
The auditorium room is 44x57 feet, with an arched ceiling 26 feet high 
in center. The floor inclines 29 inches from front to rear. The 
ceiling is of corrugated wood, painted in panel and is very neat and 
handsome. The seats are of ash, the ends being of walnut. The 
windows are of stained glass, the designs upon which are very pretty. 
The carpet is red and harmonizes with the other furniture of the room 
The pul[)it is on a dais in the east end of the church, and is a neat 
little affair of oiled walnut. One large and two small walnut chairs, 
upholstered with velvet, complete the pulpit furniture. In front is a 
class-room, 18x34 feet, separated from the auditorium by heavy 
ascending doors, and when occasion requires both rooms can be thrown 
into one. One of the rear rooms serves as a sUidy room and connects 
with the baptistry, which is situated on the left of the pulpit. The 
chandeliers are beautiful and give an abundant light. The carpenter 
work by J. W. Austin, and the painting by David H. Moss, Jr., are 
both good jobs of work, while the foundation and brick work are 
excellent. The buildinoj throu2:hout is a tine job of work. 

The acoustic properties are perfect, the speaker being heard with 
ease in any part of the house. 

The church is entered through the tovver, which serves as a vesti- 
bule. Seating capacity of the house is about 600. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF PARIS. 

The public schools of Paris were organized, as stated below, in 
1867. The enrollment of white children numbered at that time 268 ; 
colored, 137 ; number enrolled white children in 1884, 323 ; number 
colored children, 168. Under the management of the different prin- 
cipals and teachers the schools, both white and colored, have done 
well. The object of the teachers has been, not only to raise the 
schools to a higher grade, but to so conduct them that their utility 



144 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

would be recognized and acknowledged by all. How well they have 
succeeded is seen in the interest manifested upon the part of the 
citizens of Paris at each commencement ; in fact, everybody is now a 
friend of the public schools. 

The following in reference to the public schools of the town, fur- 
nished by T. B. Robinson, Esq., embraces many interesting facts and 
figures : — 

The school district of Paris was organized under special law for the 
organization of towns and villages on the 12th day of August, 1867, 
with the following board of directors: William J. Howell, president; 
T. B. Kobinson, secretary ; William T. Nesbit, treasurer ; D. O. Bean, 
A. B. Long, Ephraim Ashcraft. 

Teachers, session 1867-68: Principal, R. A. Bodine ; salary, $800; 
assistants, Mrs. R. A. Weedon, $50 per month ; Miss Nannie Bennett, 
$40 per month ; Miss M. L. Brown, $50 per month. Colored school, 
Miss Hawkins, $30 per month, and Miss Martha Anderson, $40 per 
month. 

The white school was tauo-ht in the male academv buildino- and the 
colored school in the Colored Baptist Church. The tax levy for 1868 
was three-fourths of one per cent for school purposes. The term was 
40 weeks. 

In 1868-69 the board was the same as above. 

The white school was taught in the Female Seminary property for 
40 weeks, and the colored school at the colored church 28 weeks. 
One-half of one per cent tax was levied for 1868. 

For 1869-70 the board of directors were J. J. Armstrong, presi- 
dent; T. B. Robinson, secretary ; D. O. Bean, treasurer; Cicero 
Alexander, E. Ashcraft and W.J. Howell. 

A term of school of eight months was taught in the new Baptist 
Church. 

On the 1st day of March, 1870, the board bought of E. M. Poage the 
ground situated on Main street, the site of the present school building, 
for the sum of $1,300, and afterwards having adopted plans and 
specifications drawn up by R. E. Hageman for a school house, adver- 
tised for bids for the building of the same. These bids were some of 
them satisfactory to the board, and on the 18th day of June, 1870, a 
contract was made by the board with Messrs. Eggleston & Willard, 
of Macon City, Missouri, for the erection of a two story seven roomed 
brick school house for $10,277, the same to be completed by the 1st 
of September, 1870, in accordance with plans and specifications [)re- 
pared by them and adopted by the board. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 14 5 

The board appointed Mr. John Nesbit as superintendent of the 
work under said contract. 

To pay said building bonds were issued and sold by the board, bear- 
ing 10 per cent interest, and running from three to nine 3'^ears after date 
to the amount of $11,000, and a tax was levied to pay for ground in- 
terest on bonds and to run the schools of 1 V2 per cent for the year 

1870. The school building was completed about the first of January, 

1871, and was furnished with the best iron double desks and seats 
sufficient to accommodate 200 pupils, the capacity of the entire build- 
ing when furnished being 400 pupils. 

In 1870-71, the board was the same as before. 

The school opened January 8, 1871, and continued for a term of 
6 months. The school was first graded this session, and a course of 
seven grades, embracing a year in each grade, adopted for the grammar 
school and a course of four years in the high school, embracing the ele- 
ments of the natural sciences, algebra, geometry and trigonometry, 
general history, English literature, mental and moral philosophy and 
political econon)y. 

In 1871-72 the board consisted of A. M. Alexander, president ; T. B. 
Robinson, secretary; D. O. Bean, treasurer; E. Ashcraft, R. N. 
Bodine and W. J. Howell. The teachers were : F. B Wilson, princi- 
pal ; J. A. Scott, assistant; Misses Jennie Marr, L. Lewis, Nannie 
Pool, Kate Bodine. Cohered School — Miss E. J. Campbell, E. Bur- 
nett, Assistant ; H. C. Terrill. 

The school term lasted eight months. The tax levy for 1872 was 1 
per cent. 

In 1872-73 the board was A. M. Alexander, president ; T. B. Rob- 
inson, secretary; William Bowman, treasurer; R. N. Bodine, W. J. 
Howell, E. Ashcraft. The teachers were: Principals, W. D. Collins 
and M. B. Almond ; Assistants, Miss Mattie McNutt, Mrs. M. E. Las- 
ley, Mrs. Sallie Shearman, Misses Nannie Burnett and Kate Bodine. 
The colored school was taught by H. C. Terrill, assisted by Mrs. 
Mary Vivion. 

The term of school was for nine months. 

Dunng 1873-74, the board had for president, A. M. Alexander ; T. 
B. Robinson, secretary ; William Bowman, treasurer : R.N. Bodine, 
E. Ashcraft, P. T. Bof)n. The teachers were: Principal, B. S. 
Newland ; Assistant, D. C. Gore ; Mattie McNutt, E. M. Carter, Kate 
Bodine. Of the colored school, H. C. Terrill was teacher; Assist- 
ant, Mrs. Mary Vivion. 



146 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

The regular tenii of the school was fixed at 36 weeks for both 
schools. 

The tax levy for 1874, was nine-tenths of one per cent. 

In 1874-75 die board of directors were A. M. Alexander, presi- 
dent ; T. B, Robinson, secretary ; Wm. Bowman, treasurer ; S. S. 
Bassett, M.W. Speed, P. T. Boon ; W. F. Buckman in place of Mr. 
Boon who resigned. Teachprs — B. S. Newland, principal ; Assistants, 
Miss Lizzie Kable, Miss Mattie McNutt, Miss Kate Bodine, Miss E. M. 
Carter. Colored School, H. C. Terrill, Mrs. M. Vivion. 

The tax levy was nine-tenths of one per cent. 

The directors for 1875-76 were A. M. Alexander, president; T. 
B, Robinson, secretary; S. S. Bassett, treasurer; B. B. Broughton, 
T. B. Bashaw, M. W. Speed. Teachers — J. B. Bradley, principal; 
Assistant, W. S. Sears, Miss Annie Bishop, Miss Mattie McNutt, Miss 
E. M. Carter, Miss Mollie Ashcraft. Colored School, F. L. Barnett, 
Assistant, Georgiana Mead. 

The tax levy for 1876 was nine-tenths of one per cent. 

On the 18th day of September the board made an order for the re- 
funding of $8000 of the outstanding building bonds at 8 per cent 
interest and falling due in one, two, three, four and five years after the 
1st day of January, 1876, and the new bonds were issued and sold at 
par to Col. P. Williams. This terin two students completed their 
high school course and received certificates of graduation, to wit: 
Willie H. Robinson and Tirey Ford. 

In 1876-77 the board was the same as last year. Teachers — J. B. 
Bradley, principal; Assistants, A. H. Jamison, Miss Anna Bishop, 
Miss Mattie McNutt, Mrs. S. A. Iglehart ; Colored School, W. H. 
Grant, Assistant, Sadie Stone. 

The tax levy was nine-tenths of one per cent. 

During 1877-78, the board was comprised of G. W. Moss, presi- 
dent ; T. B. Robinson, secretary ; Wm. Bowman, treasurer ; D. O. 
Bean, A. E. Gore, Thos. Brace. Teachers — J. B. Bradley, prin- 
cipal ; W. E.Chambless, principal ; Assistants, A. S. Houston, Miss A. 
M. Bishop, Miss E. M. Carter, Mrs. S. A. Iglehart. Colored Scool, 
Clay Vaughn, Assistant, Sadie Stone. 

The tax levy for 1878 was nine-tenths of one per cent. 

Prof. Bradley resigned March 2, 1878, and the Rev. W. E. Cham- 
bless was employed to fill out the term. 

For 1878-79, the board was the same as last year. The teachers were : 
Principal, W. E. Chaml)less ; Assistants, A. S. Houston, A. W. Riggs, 
Miss Nannie Duncan, Miss Julia McBride, Miss Mattie McNutt, Mrs. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 147 

S. A. Iglehart. Colored School, Clay Vaughn ; Assistant, Rebecca 
Winn. 

A tax was levied for 1879 of nine-tenths of one per cent. 

Mr. Houston left the school February 21, 1879, and Mr. Riggs was 
employed to fill out his term as first assistant. This term there were 
seven graduates who received, under the order of the board, diplomas 
of graduation in the high school department, to wit : Misses Mollie 
Dawson, Lucy V. McNutt, Viola B. Rawlings, Kate Moss and Carrie 
Wilson, and Messrs. William H. Bratner and Ebon Alexander. 

In 1879-80 the board was G. W. Moss, president; T. B. Robinson, 
secretary ; William Bowman, treasurer ; D. O. Bean, A. E. Gore, T. T. 
Rodes. Teachers — Principal, W. E. Chambless ; Assistants, A. W. 
Riggs, Mrs. L. A. Riggs, Miss Julia McBride, Miss Mattie McNutt, 
Mrs. S. A. Iglehart. Colored school, Clay Vaughn, and Mrs. F. D. 
Vaughn. 

The tax levy was nine-tenths of one per cent. The graduates this 
term were Misses Sallie Bell McNutt, Nora Lasley, Kate M. Blakey, 
Maggie Graham and Callie Broughton, and Anderson W. Buckner and 
Edwin G. McGee. 

In 1880-81 the board wa.s G. W. Moss, president; T. B. Robinson, 
secretary ; William Bowman, treasurer ; D. O. Bean, S. S. Bassett, T. 
B. Bashaw^ Teachers — Principal, W. E. Chambless ; Assistants, A. 
W. Riggs, Mrs, L. A. Riggs, Miss Julia McBride, Miss Mollie Bow- 
ling, Mrs. S. A. Iglehart. Colored school, G. B. Vivion ; Assistant, 
L. V. Gordon. 

The tax levy was six-tenths of one percent. The last of the bonds 
issued for building the school-house were paid oft' January 1, 1881. 
Graduates this term : Miss Jennie N. Burgess, and John M. Burgess. 

During 1881-82 the board had as directors : G. W. Moss, president ; 
T. B. Robinson, secretary ; William Bowman, treasurer ; S. S. Bassett, 
T. P. Bashaw, W. F. Buckner, D. H. Moss to fill vacancy. Teachers : 
Principal, J. M. McMurry ; Assistants, N. W. Riggs, Mrs. S. A. Riggs, 
Miss Mollie Bowling, Miss Julia McBride, Miss Jennie Burgess. Col- 
ored school, G. B. Vivion ; Assistant, L. V. Gordon. 

The lev}^ of nine-tenths of one per cent included three-elevenths of 
one per cent for buying site aud erecting a building for colored school. 
Dr. G. W. Moss having died in August, 1881, the board, on the ninth 
of September, 1881, elected D. H. Moss to fill out his term, and Mr. 
S. S. Bassett was elected president of the board. Graduates this term : 
Misses Jessie Holdsworth, Nellie Ann Haydeu and Marj' E. Cunning- 
ham, and Messrs. William H. Bassett and William H. Alexander. 



148 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

In 1882-83 the board was S. S. Bassett, president ; T. B. Robinson, 
secretary; William Bowman, treasurer; W. F. Buckner, D. H. 
Moss, T. P. Bashaw. Teachers — Principal, J. M. McMurry ; 
Assistants, A. W. Riggs, Mrs. L. A. Riggs, Misses Mollie Bowling, 
Jennie Burgess, Carrie Wilson, Joan Ross. Colored School — G. B. 
Vivion ; Assistant, L. C. Johnson. 

The tax levy was eighty-five one hundredths of one per cent. On 
the 27th day of May, 1882, a severe wind storm carried off the roof 
of the school building and the board appointed Mr. D. O. Bean as 
commissioner to employ the necessary hands and buy the 
necessary material to repair the building, and in payment of 
his bill for such repairs, amounting to $983.23, issued to 
him warrants for that sum bearing 8 per cent interest from 
date. The action of the board, though not strictly authorized 
by law, was afterwards ratified l)y the district in voting the 
necessary taxes to meet the warrants issued for costs of such 
repairs. 

Graduates this term were Misses Mary Alexander, Annie Moss, 
Carrie Bean, Ida Bryan, Lillie Blanton, Pauline Caplinger and Nora 
Burgess. 

In the summer of 1883 the board had erected on the lots purchased 
of T. L.Foxa substantial two-room brick school house for the use of 
the colored schools, at a cost of $1,125, the work being done under 
the superintendence of a committee consisting of Messrs. James N. 
Powers, T. P. Bashaw and T. B. Robinson. The building has a seat- 
ing capacity of 100. 

In 1883-84 the board was S. S. Bassett, president ; T. B. Robinson, 
secretarv ; William Bowman, treasurer ; D. H. Moss, W. F. Buckner, 
A. E. Gore, R. N. Bodine. Teachers — Principal, J. M. McMurry; 
Assistants, J. T. Vaughn, Misses Joe Gwyn, Carrie Wilson, Mollie 
Ashcraft, Joan Ross. Colored School — G. B. Vivion, L. C. Johnson. 

The tax levy was seventy-one hundredths of one per cent. 

Mr. Bowman having died in November, 1883, Dr. A. E. Gore was 
elected by the board to fill out his term and Mr, Buckner was 
elected treasurer of the board. 

The graduates for this term were Misses Ida B. Harlej^ Stella L. 
Bassett, Gussie L. Holds worth, Carlotta V. AVest and Eva L. 
Dawson. 

The following corps of teachers are elected for the next school year 
commencing September 22, 1884 : Principal, W. D. Christian; 
Assistants, J. T. Vaughn, Misses Susie F. Powell, Carrie AVilson, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 149 

Sallie B. McNutt, Mollie Ashcraft. Colored School — G. B. Viviou : 
Assistant, Mrs. L. C. Johnson. 

BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 

A. M. Alexander, lawyer ; Cicero Alexander, express agent ; 
Alexander & Son (Ehin M. and Cicero), grocers ; A. De F. Arm- 
strong, bookseller; Nimrod Ashcraft, wagon-maker; Ashcraft & Son 
(Ephraim and Henry), blacksmiths ; Mrs. Alice Barrett, proprietor 
Sonthern hotel; L. S, Bassett & Sons (Samuel S., George B. and 
Tandy G.), dry goods ; Daniel O. Bean, contractor ; Birkit & Bodine 
(Sebastian B. Birkit and Massey G. Bodine), grocers; J. B. Bland 
& Son (John B. and James A.), marble cutters; Benjamin F. 
Blanton, editor and proprietor of Monroe County Appeal; Robert 
N. Bodine, lawyer; Rev. William Brooks (colored Methodist); 
George C. Brown, grocer; Broughton Bros. (Benjamin B. and 
Thomas B.), woolen mill; Thomas Buerk, boots and shoes; M. G. 
Burnett & Co. (Mary G. Burnett and Maggie E. Gannaway ), milliners ; 
Hamilton Campbell, blacksmith ; Thomas A. Caplinger, druggist ; A. 
J. Caplinger, mayor ; D. L. Cooper, harness-maker ; James W. Clark, 
livery stable; George Caplinger, blacksmith; C. A. Creigh, circuit 
clerk and recorder; Samuel Crump, barl)er ; J. M. Crutcher, judge 
of probate; Thomas Crutcher, county clerk ; James A. Curtwright, 
deputy county clerk; Rev. H. B. Davis (Christian); Mrs. Eliza 
Dawson, milliner; Adam Fisher, proprietor Dooley house; Benjamin 
G. Dysart, physician; First National Bank of Paris, capital $100,000, 
David H. Moss, president, John S. Conyers, cashier; Gannaway & 
Burnett (Thomas B. Gannaway and Charles Burnett), drugs; 
Thomas B. Gannaway, county treasurer; Harry W. Garr, 
saw-mill, six miles west; Glenn House, James M. Worrell 
proprietor; Mrs. Lula Gosney, dressmaker and milliner; N. G. 
Gosney, machine agent; Chas. G. Goetz, cigar manufactory; 
Abner E. & David C. Gore, physicians ; Thomas P. Halls, restaurant ; 
Phillip Halls, confectioner and caterer; Rev. William Hancock, col- 
ored Christian; T. G. Harley & Bro. (Thomas G. and Franklin F.), 
dry goods ; William Henning, coal miner, one mile west ; J. A. Jack- 
son, Sheriff; Mark B. Lowenstein, dry goods; Albert B, Long, 
oTocer ; H. P. Long, drugo-ist ; Rev. R. H. Longdon, colored Meth- 
odist ; G. W. Martin, potter ; Francis Margruter, grocer ; Thomas J. 
Marsh, butcher; Edward L. Majors, druggist; Mason, Bashaw & 
Burnett (Abe Mason, Thomas P. Bashaw, Joe Burnett), editors and 
proprietors Paris Mercury; McCrary & Wills (T. W. McCrary & 



150 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Edward C. Wills), grocers; Frederick M. Moss, physician; James 
T. Moss, city clerk; Meyers & Son, carpenters; J. H. Noel, 
dry goods; J. W. Nixon, saw mill, seven miles south-east; T. 
W. Pitts, saddler and harness-maker; W. K. Poage & Co. 
(William K. Poage and John S. Poll), clothing; Poage & Cald- 
well (Ephriam M. Poage and George B. Caldwell), hardware; 
James M. Powers, capitalist ; Samuel M. Reiley, dentist ; Rey- 
nolds & Bryan, (Edward S. Reynolds and Joseph B. Bryan,) hard- 
ware ; Alexander Richards, barber; Temple B. Robinson lawyer; 
Howard Rodes, billiard room ; Joseph A. Rodes, lawyer and prosecu- 
ting attorney ; Louis Rose & Son (Louis and John), boots and shoes ; 
Rose & Harlow (Miss Dora Rose, Maggie Harlow), dress-makers and 
milliners ; Joseph T. Sanford, lawyer ; George Seibert, city marshal; 
Josiah D. Simpson, jeweler ; Henry Slodek, baker: F. A. Sladek, 
billiard-room; Jeremiah Smith, apple evaporator; Spalding & Speed 
(William E. Spalding and Matthias W. Speed), furniture; Sproul 
Bros. (William E., Thompson B.), saw mill, seven miles south-east; 
Frank Wise, druggist ; Oliver P. Vaughn, rail road agent ; Joe West, 
dentist; West & Conyers (Robert H. West and W. S. Conyers), 
dry goods ; John S. West, harness-maker ; Wetmore & Cissell 
(Edward T. Wetmore and John Cissell), livery ; Rev. John T.Williams, 
Baptist; Walter AVilson, blacksmith; Grimes & Withers (G. P. 
Grimes and G. R. Withers), flouring mill. 



CHAPTER YI. 

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 

Jefferson aad ladiao Creek Towaships — Physical Features — Old Settlers — Florida 

— Its History — Mills ^ Mark Twain — Early Business Men — Professional Men 

— Sketch of Mark Twain — The Town Incorporated — Secret Orders — Picnics 

— Stoutsville — Its History — Business Houses — Pottery Manufactory — Ship- 
ments — Indian Creek Township — Physical Features — Elizabethtown — Clapper 
Station. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

Jefferson township lies east of eTackson, and extends from the line 
of the latter to Ralls county, and contains about eighty-two square 
miles. About one-seventh of the township is prairie. There is pro- 
bably more rough land in Jefferson than in any other township in the 
county. The soil, however, is well adapted to blue grass, but much of it 
produces good corn and wheat ; in fact, there is no better wheat sec- 
tion than that found in the south-eastern portion of this township. 
Like Jackson, Jefferson township has an abundance of water, which 
is found at all seasons of the year, in the North, Middle, South and 
Elk forks of Salt river, saying nothing of their numerous confluents. 
The above named streams unite in this township, and form Salt river, 
which at one time in the early settlement of the country, it was 
thought could be made navigable. 

Jefferson township was one of the earliest settled townships in the 
county; the pioneers who first emigrated thereto were generally from 
Kentucky, and were men of sterling worth of character. Many of 
their descendants still reside there, and refuse to abandon the habita- 
tions of their fathers, believing after all that old Monroe is as much 
of an El Dorado as can be found in this Western country. 

Among the early settlers of the township we record the names of 
the following: Maj. William N. Penn, Hugh A. Hickman, Peter Stice, 
Andrew Rogers, Allery Rogers, Aniel Rogers, Johu Newsome, William 
Bybee, Enoch Fruit, John Scobee, Stephen Scobee, Wm. Carter, 

Richard Cave, Willis Samuel, Bazil Crew, Samuel Darnes, 

Darnes, Buchanan, Milton Wilkerson, Edward Damrel, Robt. 

Donaldson, John Witt, Abernathy, Anderson Hickman, Jack- 
son Hickman, Darius Poage, Levi Hall, Benj. Mothershead, Milas 

5 (151) 



152 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Johnson, John McNutt, Merritt Violet, Kobert George, Lunsford 
Morton, Ezekiel Phelps, Dennis Thompson, Underwood Dooley, John 
Alfred, Anderson Ivie, Joseph White. 

FLORIDA 

is situated upon a high point of land between the Middle and North 
forks of Salt river, near their junction, in the eastern part of Monroe 
county. This seems to have been selected as a suitable place for a 
settlement even by the aborigines and the mound builders, as numer- 
ous piles, in a perfect state of preservation to this day, fully attest. 
The hills, covered with a heavy growth of timber, protected them 
from the bleak winds of winter and furnished, also, a hiding-place for 
deer and turkeys, upon which, to a great extent, they must have sub- 
sisted. The shoals, too, upon which the mills are built, supplied, 
them an excellent place for spearing fish ; for the water in those days, 
before the ground was broken by the plow, was clear. 

The two mills, which formed the first starting points of the town, 
were built about the same time, in 1827. The mill upon the South 
fork was erected by Peter Stice, a jolly Dutchman ; that on the North 
fork by Richard Cave. Stice's mill was purchased by Hugh A. Hick- 
man during the fall of 1830 and operated by him for nearly 40 con- 
secutive years. Perhaps no mill in the State was ever run so long by 
the same individual, nor was ever a business more faithfully managed 
than was this loved calling by the old Captain, as he was familiarly 
called. 

He resided on a splendid farm about two miles from the mill ; but, 
though rich and sightly as it was, it never occupied much of his atten- 
tion. The mill was his delight, and to the mill he went every day, 
rain or shine. He was a splendid horseman and fond of a fine horse, 
and his large and portly figure, as he rode backwards and for- 
wards to his mill, is well remembered by most of the people in 
the surrounding country to this day. He died, loved by his family 
and respected by his many customers for his high sense of justice and 
cheerful, friendly disposition. He sold the mill in the spring of 1868 
to Messrs. Clark & Gaitskill ; they to M. B. Clark, and he to the 
Powers Bros. To the mill these enterprising young men attached a 
steam engine, and carried on the most extensive lumber business in 
the county. They retained in the neighborhood of the mill some 15 
or 20 men, with teams in proportion, engaged in cutting, hauling and 
sawing logs. What lumber they could not sell at home they took to 
Monroe City and sold to the railroads, thus giving employment to a 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 153 

great number of men and teams. They also ran the grist mill con- 
stantly, making a good article of flour and did a large amount of 
work. The Powers Bros, sold to Goss & Vandeventer (John C. Goss 
and John W. Vandeventer). 

The mill on the North fork was built by Richard Cave and sold by 
him to Dr. Meredith, a physician from one of the New England States. 
From Dr. Meredith it was purchased by Boyle Goodwin and operated 
by him with moderate success, and sold to A. M. Hickman about 
1852. "Aleck," as he was familiarly called, devoted his attention 
exclusively to the mill, and was, by his mechanical skill, good judg- 
ment and experience in milling, enabled to make it a splendid financial 
success. He kept workmen engaged in repairing and improving 
during the whole of his administration, and would tolerate no work 
about his premises that was not done in the best possible manner. 
He thus constructed one of the best country mills in the State — neat, 
convenient and durable. Much of the work in this mill, if properly 
cared for, will be good for a hundred years to come. '*Aleck" is 
complimented by his many customers to this day for his great care 
and skill in his business, and his integrity and sense of justice were 
of the highest order. 

His brother, Joseph G. Hickman, succeeded "Aleck" in the opera- 
tion of the mill. He has completed in good style the attachment of 
an engine, but uses steam only in dry weather. He designs extensive 
improvement of his water-power, and claims at least to be always on 
hand and to do his best. His assistant miller, Mr. James Rouse, has 
been with him a number of years, and is to be relied upon as a man 
of strict integrity. He takes as much interest in the business as the 
proprietor himself, and is undoubtedly a first-class miller. He has 
never had a harsh word with a customer since he has been tending the 
mills. 

The business done by the mills from 1845 to 1860, was perhaps the 
largest milling business ever done in the county. Large quantities of 
flour were hauled regularly to Hannibal and Mexico, and shipped from 
thence to St. Louis, until the Hickman flour was well known at one 
time in that city. Hugh A. Hickman ran out several boats loaded 
with flour to Louisiana, on the Mississippi, at the mouth of Salt river, 
and brought back one boat lightly loaded with sugar, cofl'ee and other 
articles of merchandise. Florida was declared the head of navigation 
on Salt river, and was thought by those brave and ambitious pioneers 
to be a favorable point for the founding of a great commercial town. 
The town was accordingly laid ofi" by Maj. Wm. N. Penu, Hugh A. 



154 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNXr. 

Hickman and others, and although the bright dreams which swelled 
the hearts of these noble pioneers were not realized, Florida has 
always held the rank of a respectable and enterprising village. From 
this point and vicinity have emanated some of the most prominent 
business men of North-east Missouri, as well as Mark Twain, a writer 
of national reputation, and probably the most celebrated humorist 
ever produced by the United States. 

The house in which Mark Twain was born is still standing, and is 
now used as a printing office by the Monroe County Democrat. It is 
a one-story frame building, containing two rooms. Mark Twain was 
born in the north room of this building, according to the best infor- 
mation, furnished by Mrs. John A. Quarles, who is his aunt by mar- 
riage. 

The first store in the vicinity was kept by Maj. Penn for a man 
named Roundtree, at Stice's mill, and was in operation there in 1831. 
He afterwards removed to Florida, and from thence to Paris, where 
he. acted for more than 20 years as county clerk. Since the formation 
of Florida there has been a great number of men engaged in the mer- 
cantile business in the place, with varying success. Prominent among 
the old merchants were John A. Quarles, R. H. Buchanan, Milton 
Wilkerson, Presley Wilkerson and Mason Wilkerson. They have all 
crossed the dark river save Uncle Mace, who still lives in the town, 
and engaged in bee culture, a business in which he is quite an expert. 

Mr. Wilkerson came to Jefferson township with his father, William 
Wilkerson, in 1829, from Clark county, Kentucky, and located about 
four miles from Florida. At the same time came his brothers, 
William, Presley, Morgan and Milton, and his sister, Mrs. Sally 
Tally, all of whom are now dead. The first house in Florida was 
built by Judge Damrell. Jeremiah Upton built the next: both of 
these were used by them as residences. Among other early merchants 
were James Bryant, James R. Payne and James Herndon. Dr. Willis 
was the first resident physician. He was drowned in Salt river whilst 
on a professional visit. It was supposed at the time, by some persons, 
that he was killed ; this supposition, however, was never verified. 
His body was found, a few days after he was missing, some distance 
below the ford where he was drowned. Dr. Wm. Proctor and Dr. 
Walton were also pioneer physicians. R. H. Buchanan was the first 
blacksmith. Washington Moberly was the first tailor. Willard Buck, 
a one-legged man, was the shoemaker. At an early day Anthony 
Leake operated a carding machine. 

The town was incorporated in May, 1883. The first city officers 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 155 

were James L. Pollard, chairman of the board ; John D. Poage, clerk ; 
W. E. Eosell, marshal. 

SECRET ORDERS. 

Florida Lodge, No. 23, A. F. and A. M. — Is one of the oldest 
in the State, it having been organized as early as May, 1852, with the 
following charter- members : W. N. Tanday, T. J. Chowning, John 
F. Yonng, John A. Quarles, P. S. Darnes, Mason Wilkerson, Milton 
Wilkerson, Jonathan Abby, Alvin Mennifee and B. C. Pollard. 
The present officers of the lodge are T. Chowning, W. M. ; J. W. 
Hurd, S. W. ; T. Wright, J. W. ; J. L. Clark, S. D. ; B. F. White, 
treasurer ; Benjamin Utterback, J. D. ; E. H. Goodier, secretar}' ; 
Mason Wilkerson, tyler. The hall is over J, L. Pollard's harness 
store, and is owned by the lodge. The room is neatly furnished, and 
everything paid for. The lodge has about 40 members in good 
standing. 

Triple Alliance — Was organized about three years ago and is in a 
flourishing condition. 

MARK TWAIN LITERARY SOCIETY. 

This society was named in honor of Mark Twain, who at the date 
of its organization (in 1880) presented it with $25 in cash, and a copy 
of each of his books. Thinking a brief biographical sketch of Mark 
Twain would be read with interest, especially by the people of Florida, 
we here insert it : — 

Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) was born in Florida, November 
30th, 1835. He attended a common school until ten years of age, 
when he became an apprentice in the office of the Courier, at Hanni- 
bal, Missouri, and afterwards worked at his trade in St. Louis, Cin- 
cinnati, Philadelphia and New York. In 1855 he went to New 
Orleans, intending to take passage for Para to explore the Amazon 
and to engage in the cacao trade, but the fact that there was no ship 
from New Orleans to Para prevented the fulfillment of his plan. On 
his way down the river he made friends with the pilots and learned to 
steer the boat, and for the consideration of $500 they engaged to make 
him a St. Louis and New Orleans pilot. He finally secured a situa- 
tion as pilot at $250 per month. In 1861 his brother was appointed 
Secretary of the Territory of Nevada, and Samuel accompanied him 
as his private secretary. He worked in the mines for about a year. 
He then shoveled quartz in a silver mill for $10 a week for one week. 
He became city editor of the Virginia City Enterprise and held the 



156 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

position three years. Part of the time he reported legislative pro- 
ceedings from Carson and signed his letters " Mark Twain." The 
name was a reminiscense of his steamboat days on the Mississippi, 
where it is the leadman's term to signify a depth of two fathoms of 
water. From Virginia City he went to San Francisco, and for five 
months was a reporter for the Morning Call. In 1866 he went to 
the Hawaiian Islands, remaining six months, when he retnrned to San 
Francisco and Nevada and lectured through those States. He went to 
the East and published " The Jumping Frog and other Sketches." 
In 1867 he went to Egypt and the Holy Land and wrote his book 
entitled " The Innocents Abroad." He edited a daily paper in Buffalo, 
and visited England in 1873. In 1872 he published "Eoughing It." 
His residence is at Hartford, Connecticut. 

Florida and vicinity have been for many years a great resort for 
picnicers and those'wIio"lire fond of summer rambles and sylvan sports. 
Salt river near by is a beautiful stream of water, and its banks are 
still covered witji nativ^ forest trees, whose cooling boughs and 
shady retreats, are often sought by both the aged and the young. 
Besides, the river furnishes an abundance of fish which are caught 
and cooked on the ground and eaten by the merry picnicers. These 
picnics have been in vogue for eighteen years, the last annual one 
occurring August 21, 1884, 

STOUTSVILLE. 

Stoutsville is located in the north-western part of Jefferson town- 
ship, on section 13, township 55, range 9, on the line of the Missouri, 
Kansas and Texas Railroad, and was laid out in 1871. The town was 
named after Robert P. Stout, a wealthy and influential farmer who re- 
sided in that vicinity. He came to Monroe county from Kentucky at 
an early day and died at the age of about 67 years. His widow gave 
the railroad company six acres of land, and to express its appreciaton 
of the gift, it named the town as above stated, in honor of her husband. 
His wife and only child are dead. 

The first business house in the young town, was erected by Dennis 
Thompson and used as a grocery store. Perry Kincaid built the next 
house, which was occupied as a saloon. 

The first dry goods and general store was opened by Henry Dooley 
and J. R. Nolen. 

Dennis Thompson opened the first drug store, followed soon after 
by Henry F. Woodson and A. P. Vance. 

Jethro Hardwick was the pioneer blacksmith. Dr. Hagan was the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 157 

first physician. The postmasters have been Albert Price, J. R. Nolen 
audA. G. Dooley — Dooley being the present postmaster. 

The Old School Baptists ^ erected a church edifice on the town site 
many years before the town was thought of. It was constructed of 
logs ; the present building is a frame one. The Missionary Baptists 
built a church in the town about the year 1876. The town possesses 
a public school, telegraph and express office ; two daily mails by rail- 
road, and one mail, daily, to Florida by hack, seven miles distant. 

The business houses are 3 dry goods and general stores ; 2 drug 
stores ; 3 blacksmith shops ; 1 saw and grist mill ; 1 livery stable ; 2 
hotels and 2 physicians. J. E. Smelser is the depot agent. 

One mile north-west of Stoutsville is located the extensive pottery 
works of J. W. Conrad, which were opened about six years ago. 
Among the large farmers who reside in the vicinity of Stoutsville are 
Judge Henry Dooley, H. J. Clapper, H. J. Priest and Martin J. Clark. 
The shipments from the depot during the past twelve months, begin- 
ning with August 1, 1883, have been as follows: Live stock, 80 
cars ; wood, 115 ; lumber, 15 ; wheat, 8 ; oats, 8; and stoneware, 10 
cars. 

INDIAN CREEK TOWNSHIP 

embraces an area of 26 square miles, and is the smallest municipal 
division in the county. It is situated in the north-eastern part of the 
county, and is separated from Marion county by a strip of territory three 
miles in width and forming a part of Monroe township. It is also 
separated from Ralls county by a portion of territory from two to three 
miles in width. The North fork of Salt river, flows through the 
southern portion of the township ; there are two or three other small 
streams, tributaries of the North and Middle forks of Salt river, which 
afford stock water the greater part of the year ; among these is Shell's 
branch. About four miles of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Rail- 
road passes through the western portion of the township. 

The land in this township is nearly all prairie, and is well adapted 
to agriculture. The south-eastern portion of the township contains 
a section of the country called the Barrens. School-houses are num- 
erous, there being no less than six in the township. These are located 
on sections 23, 10, 20, 8, 5 and 6. 



1 The Old School Baptist Church above named, is the oldest religious denomination 
in the township ; the first house was erected prior to 1840. Hiram Thompson, Wm. 
Wilkerson, W. J. Henderson, Job Dooley and Underwood Dooley were among the 
constituent members. 



.^- 



158 HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 



EARLY SETTLERS. 



Matthew W. Carswell, Andrew Ariiett, Henry Bramblett, Zarby 
Pariss, Sarah Pariss, Lewis Scobee, Martin J. Lyle, John Dale, John 
D. Green, Anna L. Lawrence, Richard Miller, Eichard Miles, John 
Taylor and William K. Brooks were among the first to settle in this 
township. 

ELIZ ABETHTOWN . 

This little village is located on Indian creek, six miles south-west of 
Monroe City, and is 17 miles north-east of Paris. The population is 
about 350; two dry goods houses, two drug houses, three groceries, 
two blacksmith shops, one good hotel, one very fine house, and the 
finest church in the county. Catholic. Its dimensions are 100x50, and 
will comfortably seat a congregation of 800 persons. Its spire is 110 
feet high. The town was laid out in 1835 by a Mr. Swinkey, 
and for some time bore this name. Mr. Swinkey's Avife 
was named Elizabeth, and the town was finally named in honor of 
her. Prof. Hagan is principal of the school, which numbers 75 pupils. 
The voting population of the precinct is 160, and 154 of that number 
are Democrats. Thomas Yates and Dick Miles are the two oldest 
settlers in this part of the county. Mr. Miles is in his eighty-first 
year, and Mr. Yates is 73, and both are stout and hearty and bid fair 
to live 20 years longer. 

CLAPPER. 

Clapper station is located on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Eailroad, 
eight miles from Monroe City and fourteen from Paris, and is pleasantly 
situated on a beautiful prairie, surrounded on the south and west by the 
Salt river timber, and on the east and north by the fine young timber 
of Indian creek. The view is one of surpassing beauty, the prairie 
gently undulating, dotted here and there with orchards and orna- 
mental groves, from which cosy farm-houses and barns appear in the 
foreground, all showing signs of thrift and the industry of the farm- 
ing community. There are several large stock farms in the vicinity. 
Among these are the farms of Thomas Tewell, who has as good stock 
as can be found in the State ; also the Buckman brothers, who are 
raising fine stock by the quantity, and running the largest and best 
stock farm in the county. «T. H. Jett, who owns a fine farm one mile 
from the station, is the stock dealer for this place, and has within the 
last three years shipped 100 car loads of stock. 

Among the fine farms lying contiguous may be named those of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 151^ 

John H. Clapper, who has recently erected one of the largest and 
most commodious houses in this part of the county, and that of Col. 
William M. Priest, who owns one of the best improved farms in the 
county, and far fertility the soil on his farm is unsurpassed. But 
space forbids giving a complete description of all the farms near by. 
Suffice it to say, there is no place that offers better inducements to 
the tiller of the soil than do the fine lands lying in the immediate 
vicinity of Clapper station. 

Clapper station took its name from Mr. Henry Clapper, who was 
largely instrumental in getting the railroad built through this section, 
and out of respect, and appreciating his services, the citizens called 
the station by his name. (Mr. Clapper has since died.) The 
population is about 100 ; two stores, a blacksmith and wagon shop, 
all of which are doins: a good business. 




CHAPTEE YII. 

MONROE TOWNSHIP. 

Physical Features — Railroads — More Norttiern People in This Township Than in Any 
Other — Large Farmers — Old Settlers — Monroe City — Its History — Advance- 
ment — Surrounding Country — Pioneer Business and Business Men — Manufac- 
turing Establishments — Monroe Institute — Its History — Names of Stockhold- 
ers — Success of the Institute — Teachers and Officers — Public Schools — Secret 
Societies — Monroe City Bank — Churches — Laying of Corner Stone of New Bap- 
tist Church — Catholic Church — Hereford Association — Shipments. 

Monroe township occupies the north-eastern portion of the county, 
and is essentially a prairie district. The soil is of an excellent quality 
and the township, agriculturally, is considered equal to any in the 
county. There are but a few streams veining its surface, and these 
are found in the south-eastern portion of the township. It is the 
smallest township in area in the county, excepting Indian Creek, and 
contains 31 square miles. 

A little more than four miles of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 
road pass through the north-eastern part of the township, and the 
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad enters the same at section 18, 
in the north-east corner and, traversing its entire width, passes out 
at section 30. This is the only township in the county through which 
more than one railroad passes. 

There are more Northern or Eastern people in Monroe township 
than in any other township in the county ; the earliest settlers, how- 
ever, were from Kentucky and Virginia. Coal was discovered on the 
farm of Benedict Carrico many years ago, but was never worked to 
any considerable extent other than for the local trade. Among the 
large stockmen and farmers of the township are James M. Proctor, 
who deals in Hereford and short-horn cattle ; John Nolen, who raises 
sheep and hogs ; W. P. Bush, cattle and mules, and Henry Hurnham, 
who formerly made a specialty of sheep, but now raises sheep and 
cattle. 

OLD SETTLERS. 

The following named persons are some of the early settlers, who 
entered land and made homes in Monroe township : James Dale, one 
of the first pioneers who came to the county ; Morgan Parish, Beiie- 
(160) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 161 

diet Carico, Ramey Dye, Phanty Dye, Joseph Hagan, Fielder Hagan, 
Thomas Hurd, Simeon Utterback, William Miles, Mr. Buckman and 
sons, Jasper Corning, John H. Taylor, John Little, Hillary Hardesty, 
Luther and Jerry Jackson, Stephen F. Thrasher, William Jenuison, 
Samuel Oakley, Robert Lewellen (the first settler in the township), 
Abraham Winset, Charles Fowler, Leonard Green, John McMillin, 
Jr., Jacob Abell, Richard J. Hutchinson, Samuel Lamb, Richard T. 
Haines, William M. Halstead, John C. Johnston, David McGee, Will- 
iam E. Dodge, Thomas Eustace, Alexander Winset. 

MONROE CITY. 

The following history of Monroe City, was taken from the JVews, in 
its issue of July, 1876 : — 

" The first time the writer saw the place where Monroe City now 
stands, was in the early summer of 1841 or 1842. This whole prairie 
was then a pathless sea of grass : there were a few small farms in the 
€dges of the timber, but from the spot on which the seminary now 
stands, no improvement whatever was visible in any direction. The 
place last named was called "The Mound," and one of the land- 
marks along; with "The Round Grove," " The Lone Elm " and some 
others, by which travelers were guided in traversing the lonely prairie. 
It was not until some ten years later that the farms began to encroach 
much upon the great body of open land lying between North and Salt 
rivers. In 1852, the first accurate surveys for the Hannibal and St. 
Joseph Railroad were commenced ; these were completed in the fol- 
lowing year, and 50 miles of the road, extending from Hannibal to the 
head of Crooked creek, were put under contract. After that date 
there was a steady increase of immigration to this vicinity, with a cor- 
responding extension of old farms and opening of new ones. The 
work on the railroad progressed slowly, so that it was not until 1857 
the track was laid in Monroe county. Mr. E. B. Talcott was at that 
time partner of Mr. John Duff in the contract for building the road. 
This placed him in a position to know where stations would be needed 
and using that knowledge with the business energy and judgment for 
which he was conspicuous, he purchased the east half of section 13, 
township 56, range 8, and laid off the north half of it into what is now 
known as the " Old Town of Monroe City." 

This was in the spring of 1857. He also immediately commenced 
the erection of the hotel now known as the Livingston house. The 
present proprietor of this hotel and Mr. J. M. Preston made the first 
improvements ; the former having made a contract on the 1st of 
March with S. F. Hawkins for the erection of a store house, in which, 
on the 1st of April following, he opened the first stock of goods of- 
fered for sale in the town. On the 4th of July the same year, an old- 
fashioned barbecue was held and a public sale of lots took place. 
Several of the purchasers* immediately commenced the erection of 



162 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

stores and dwellings, and by the close ©f the year, the place began to 
assume quite a village-like appearance. 

The proprietor of the town, Mr. Talcott, having offered to give the 
out-lot upon which the seminary now stands for the site of such an 
institution, a charter for such a purpose was secured from the 
Legislature. The stock was mostly taken by the farmers in the 
neighborhood, and the buildings were erected in the summer of 1860 ; 
and in the autumn of the same year by the Messrs. Comings, who 
have had the control of it uninterruptedly ever since. During the 
war this building was taken possession of and occupied by the United 
States troops in 1861, and the town was the scene of one of the most 
satisfactory battles fought throughout the entire campaign — most 
satisfactory, because not a drop of human blood was shed on either 
side. The effect of the civil war was not only to check all improve- 
ment, but in fact to diminish the population of the town. But imme- 
diately on the restoration of peace business was resumed and business 
revived. The original town plat embraced only the north-east quar- 
ter of section thirteen. An addition on the east was made by T. W.^ 
Davis, the plat recorded February 7, 1867, and another by Dr. E. 
Bailey on the south, the plat recorded March 4, 1872. The first 
church building erected was St. Jude's, which was begun in 1866,. 
and first occupied for worship about July 4, 1867. This was fol- 
lowed by the Christian Church in 1869; the Baptist in 1870; the 
Presbyterian in 1871 ; the Methodist South is now in process of erec- 
tion. A building which had been used for a private school-room by 
Mr. J. M. McMurry, was purchased for public school purposes in 
1867, and has been used for such purpose until the close of the past 
scholastic year. One which it is hoped will do more credit to the 
town and afford better facilities to both teachers and pupils is now 
under contract to be finished in time for the fall opening at the usual 
time. The incorporation of the town was effected in 1869, trustees 
being Messrs. H. Cary (who was elected chairman), W. P. Bush, T. 
M. Hubbard, S. E. Comings and F. B. Sheetz. The town owes its 
existence to the construction of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad 
and its prosperity has been furthered and its facilities increased by 
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, which commenced opera- 
tion in 1871. A banking institution under the title of the Monroe 
City Bank commenced operation in 1875, John B. Randol being 
president and W. R. P. Jackson cashier. At the present time the 
town has a population of about 800, has eleven stores for dry goods, 
groceries and general merchandise, three drug stores, one printing- 
office, two hardware and tin stores, two furniture stores, two wagon 
and .carriage manufactories, one for ngricultural implements, one 
marble yard, one flouring mill, one jeweler and one lumber yard. 

If the growth of the town has been slower than that of some others, 
it is a satisfaction to know that it has been substantial ; relying on the 
basis of a good surrounding country, peopled by those who for intelli- 
gence, industry and enterprise will bear comparison with any simi- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 163 

lar community in our State. The future of the town, it is believed, 
will depend upon the enlarged development of the aoricultural re- 
sources of the surrounding country — on the continued encourage- 
ment given our educational institutions, both public and private — on 
the liberal support and increase of our manufacturing interests — on 
the continued activity and enterprise of our business community, and 
above all, on the maintenace of a public character, marked by morality 
honesty and liberality. 

Monroe City, which now contains a population of about 1,200, is the 
largest and most important town in the county, excepting Paris. The 
people are wide-awake and enterprising, and have done much to for- 
ward the interests of their little city, both its material and educational 
interests, and are justly proud of the advancement they have made, and 
the present position the town occupies, as to business and financial 
solidity. It is the only town in the county which has the advantage 
of two railroads. These, centering as they do at Monroe City, give the 
farmers, business men, and shippers, ready and cheap markets for 
what they may buy or sell. 

The surrounding country consists principally of level prairie, which 
presents to the eye a pastoral landscape of great beauty. This prairie 
is dotted over with ftirm houses, many of which have been built not 
merely as places of abode, but exhibit in their construction and out- 
side appearance and equipments, much taste and ornamentation. 

The farmers are generally thrifty, not a few of whom are large 
landed proprietors, and have made the pursuit of agriculture a suc- 
cess. Here they surely possess, in a great measure, that most essen- 
tial prerequisite to good farming, rich land, and have ample room to 
carry out their most sanguine wishes as tillers of the soil. 

As already stated J. M. Preston erected the first building that was 
put up in Monroe City. It stood on Winter street. J. M. Preston 
opened the first business house, it being an eating house. The first 
regular dry goods store was opened by John Boulware. John Wells 
was the first saddler. Al. Gorrall was one of the early blacksmiths. 
Dr. Thomas Proctor was the first physician, locating in August, 1864. 
Judge Thomas Van Swearinger was the pioneer attorney, becoming a 
resident before the Civil War. Buchanan & Freeman, agents of Rowe 
& Toll, of Hannibal, Mo., were the first lumber merchants ill the 
town. Mrs. Locke taught the first school ; Prof. J. M. McMurry 
taught the first public school, in 1866. The present public school- 
house is a brick building, and was erected at a cost of $4,000. Dr. 
Thomas Proctor and Prof. J. M. McMurry opened the first drug store. 
John Gates was the first postmaster. Among the manufacturing insti- 



164 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



tutions are the Monroe City Creamery Company, which was chartered 
during the hitter part of the year 1872 by a joint stock company, J, 
A. Peirsol, general manager ; the broom factory of Patrick Cochlin, 
and the hay stacker and rake factory of Eli Wayhmd. S. B. Gilliland 
also makes hay rakes. C. H. Poage also manufiictures hay rakes and 
bee-hives, and operates a planing-mill. Two wagon factories are in 
operation. 

MONROE INSTITUTE. 

This institution of learning is looked upon by the people of Monroe 
City with just pride. It was built almost contemporaneously with the 
founding: of the town, and has continued to bestow its benefits and 
privileges from the date of its existence to the preseut time, with the 
exception of a short interval during the war of 1861. The institute 
building is a two-story brick with basement, and contains 24 rooms ; 
it was erected in 1860 by a joint stock company, the stock being divided 
into 113 shares, which were taken at $50 each. The following persons 
are the stockholders: — 

Elijah Bailey, T. N. Read, Daniel Johnson, G. N. Davis, A. 
Warner, H. H. Lee, A. B. Combs, Alfred Pond, J. W. Sparks, J. 
F. Cassady, William L. Owens, John B. Lee, William B. Sparks, E. 
H. Griffith, John Boulware, W. K. Anderson, T. D. Freeman, Moses 
McClintic, John O. Wood, James A. Burdett, William Gough, B. 
F. Green, W. H. Byrd, Samuel Vance, B. F. Griffiith, J. L. Owen, 
N. D. Bradley, W. E. Jones, E. B. Talcott, Hebra A. Hough, 
William Scofield, F. B. Sheets, William B. Okeson, William C. 
Broughton, J. D. Clark, Lorel Rouse, John Shaw, H. C. Fuqua, 
Thomas Yates, John Jones, G. B. and S. E. Comings. 

The Messrs. Comings were the largest stockholders, having pur- 
chased shares to the number of 25. The building cost between $9,000 
and $10,000, and is located in the northern part of the town, upon 
seven and a half acres of ground, which was donated by friends of the 
institution. The grounds are handsomely laid out and are ornamented 
with a variety of shade trees, shrubbery and blue grass, and, taken 
as a whole, constitute just such a site and surroundings as would 
render attractive an institution of learning. The school opened in 
1860, under the management of S. P. and S. E. Comings, who were 
capable and experienced educators. These gentlemen were succeeded 
in 1876 by Rev. James S. Green. No school was taught during the 
war, the building being occupied a portion of the time by Union 
soldiers. Rev. Green was succeeded in 1879 by Rev. I. R. M. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 165 

Beeson, who remained the principal until 1882, when Prof. A. Wood 
Terrill took charge. Under his supervision the school has greatly 
prospered, there being about 100 pupils in attendance during the 
scholastic year of 1883-84. Prof. Terrill and his wife are widely 
and favorably known as accomplished teachers and are doing a grand 
and noble work for those who are placed under their tuition. The 
present term of the school opened September 2, 1884. In addition to 
the course in the scientific department of this school there is a classical 
course. 

The school has no endowment, but depends upon the patronage of 
the public for its support and maintenance. 

Its board of directors are James M. Proctor, James S. Green, J. B. 
Eandol, A. Wood Terrill, J. A. Peirsol. 

The officers of the board are James S. Green, president ; James M. 
Proctor, secretary ; J. B. Randol, treasurer. 

The faculty consists of A. Wood Terrill, A. M., principal, math- 
ematics, physics and German; Mrs. A. W. Terrill, M. A., history, 
English and philosophy; R. M. Walker, A. M., Greek and Latin ; 
Miss Bettie Hopper, vocal and instrumental music; Miss Ettie Jones, 
painting and drawing; Miss Gallic White, principal preparatory 
department. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The public school building, as already stated, is a handsome brick 
edifice, which cost about $4,000, and is well equipped for school work. 
These schools are under the superintendency of Prof. R. D. 
Wood, an experienced educator, who is doing much to raise the 
standard of the schools. The enrollment list shows about 160 white 
and 20 colored children. 

SECRET SOCIETIES. 

Monroe City, for its population, has a greater number of secret 
orders than any other town in the State, and each and all of these 
societies are well supported, one or two being liberally patronized by 
the ladies. 

Royal Arch Chapter, No. 104, A. F. & A. M. — This lodge 
was organized in February, 1873, with the following charter mem- 
bers : J. M. Proctor, Robert Walker, Edward Walker, Thomas 
Griffith, Harrison Gary, Hayden Griffith, James W. Wayland, A. 
Wood Terrill, W. S. McClintic, A. F. Barr. The present officers 
are A. Wood Terrill, H. P. ; W. S. McClintic, K. ; Robert Walker, 
scribe ; W. Shields McClintic, secretary. 



166 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Monroe Lodge, No. 64, A. F. & A. M. — Had its date of charter 
June 2, 1866. The charter members were Alexander F. Barr, Kobert 
H. Walker, Moses McClintic, Heber A. Hough, Nathaniel C. Cooper, 
Harrison Cary, Charles Swift, Daniel C. Byrd, William S. McClintic, 
James W. Jackson, N. W. Drescher, A. P. Vance, W. H. Byrd. The 
present officers are James L. Lyon, W. M. ; W. R. P. Jackson, S. 
W. ; Charles W. Overman, J. W. ; B. O. Wood, Sec. ; W. B. A. 
McNutt, S. D. ; John Shearman, Treas. ; J. C. Peirsol, J. D. ; J. H. 
Blincoe, steward ; S. B. Gilliland, steward ; J. C. Hartman, tyler. 

Monroe City Lodge, No. 268, I. O. 0. F. — Was instituted in 
1872. The charter members were H. P. Josselyn, Eichard Asbury, 
Robert B. Bristow, J. W. Clark, W. B. Sibley, James H. Sullivan, 
J. A. Gerrard. The present officers are B. F. Hickman, N. G. ; J. 
H. Grady, V. G. ; George A. Hawkins, Sec. ; George Durrant, 
treasurer. 

Lodge No. 168, A. O. U. TT. — Was organized December 8, 1879, 
the charter members being B. M. Ely, W. B. A. McNutt, James W. 
Johnston, B. F. Hickman, A. E. Cary, D. R. Davenport, B. O. 
Wood, E. O. Sutton, W. M. Wakefield, J. B. Anderson. Present 
officers, W. T. Clark, P. M. W. ; E. S. Stoddard, M. W. ; Joseph 
Derigo, Foreman ; George W. See, O. ; A. E. Cary, recorder ; H. A. 
Graves, G. ; B. M. Ely, I. W. ; B. F. Hickman, O. W. Trustees, 
John C. Peirsol, William Cranston, B. M. Ely. The lodge has 39 
members. 

Farmers and Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association — Was organized 
May 21, 1884. The charter members were L. W. Arnold, C. W. 
Overman, Mrs. M. E. Greenleaf, John Hanley, Charlotte Turner, J. 

D. Evans, Adolphus Noiand, George L. Turner, Theresa Simpson, 
R. T. W. Lee, James S. Randol. 

Cary Council, No. 2, R. T. of T. — Had as charter members 
John B. Randol, Harrison Cary, Jerome Winigter, Horace J. Kent, 
Henry F. Davis, Sallie M. Hickman, Emma C. Jones, Eudora E. 
Hawkins, Mary L. Davis, James T. Jones, Richard Asbury, George 
A. Hawkins, Charles C. Wakefield, Ben F. Hickman, Thomas Hen- 
dricks, William Scofield, James H. Sullivan, Mary E. Graves, Mary 

E. Hendricks, Zeulado Cary, James K. Bliucoe, Clay B. Clark, Nor- 
man W. Eakle, S. R. Eakle. 

Monroe City Camp, No. 89, Triple Alliance — W^as organized 
January 10, 1884. The charter members were James S. Randol, C. 
G. Stewart, J. B. Anderson, W. E. Moss, H. E. Schofield, J. W. 
Strean, J. R. Griffith, J. P. Brashears, John J. Rogers, A. R. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 167 

Wheeler, W. T. McDauiel, George W. Shaw, E. L. Anderson, 
George B. Anderson, H. C. Fiiqua, George L. Turner, 
J. O. Gooch, Thos. P. Shaw, T. J. Sharp, Walter Fay, A. 
Wood Terrill, Mrs. George Lively, George W. Tompkins, John Hanley, 
Mrs. M. E. Noland, M. A. Priest, Mrs. A. Farrell, Miss Eroda Far- 
re)l,Mrs.M. J. Demaree, S. G. Demaree and M. A. Crosby. The 
present officers are J. S. Randol, P. ; C G. Stuart, K. ; J. B. Ander- 
son, C. C. ; S. G. Demaree, C. G. ; H. E. Schofield, Ist lieutenant; 
J. W. Strean, 2nd lieutenant; W. E. Moss, treasurer; George W. 
Tompkins, secretary. 

MONROE CITY BANK. 

This bank was established in 1875, with a capital stock of $20,000. 
The last statement made by this bank. is as follows : — 

RESOURCES. LIABILITIES. 

Cash f 15,110 53 Deposits f 91,048 75 

Bills receivable ' 51,651 48 Capital stock 20,000 00 

Due from banks 42,301 18 Undivided earnings .... 814 44 

Real estate 1,500 00 

Furniture and fixtures . . . 1,300 00 $111,863 19 

R. V. Sullivan, Pres. 

#111,863 19 Thos. Proctor, Cash. 

CHURCHES. 

Monroe City is not only rich in the number and variety of her se- 
cret and social societies, but also has a number of religious organiza- 
tions and church edifices, which are highly creditable to her moral and 
reflecting people. It contains a Christian, Methodist, Presbyterian, 
Episcopal and Baptist Church. The Baptists have now in process of 
erection a new church edifice. We give below an account of the cer- 
emonies of the laying of the cornerstone, which we have taken from 
the Paris Mercury in its issue of July 4, 1884 : — 

LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE OF THE NEW BAPTIST CHURCH IN MONROE 

CITY. 

Last Saturday was a gala day for Monroe City, and it will long be 
remembered in the annals of that flourishing little town as a day most 
happily enjoyed, more particularly by the Masons. About 4i 
o'clock a procession was formed on Main street, consisting of Parsifal 
Commandery, No. 44, of Paris, commanded by E. C. A. W. Terrill ; 
Monroe City Lodge of A. F. and A, M., together with a number of 
brethren from other lodges, and the Grand Lodge. Leading the van 
was a brass band, which enlivened the march with stirring music. 
Parading the principal streets of the city the knights, in their gay 
uniforms and glittering arms, presented a fine appearance, as also did 
the Masons in their white aprons. 

6 



168 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Halting around the corner stone of the church, on the corner of 
Main and Catherine streets, the ceremonies of laying the stone were 
performed in a graceful and appropriate manner, under the rites of 
Ancient Craft Masonry. Acting Grand Master Hon. J. P. Wood, of 
Ralls county. Past Grand Master ; Col. R. E. Anderson, of Hannibal, 
acting Deputy Grand Master ; Col. W. B. Drescher, of Hannibal, 
acting R. W. G. S. W. ; Major W. R. P. Jackson, of Monroe City, 
acting R. W. G. J. W., and Rev. J. S.Green, Chaplain — constituted 
the Grand Lodge. 

A copper box was inserted in the stone, which contains a copy of 
the Monroe City News oi June 26, 1884, containing a synopsis of the 
history of the church ; a copy of the ordinances of the city of 1879 ; 
a catalogue of Monroe Institute of the past session ; a copy of the 
Old and New Testament Scriptures, and a manuscript roll of the mem- 
bers of the cono-reo-ation. 

After the ceremonies, the column marched to the beautiful grounds 
of the Monroe Institute, where the Masons, and a large number of 
ladies and others^, listened to a masterly address by that silver-tongued 
orator. Col. R. E. Anderson. The address was full of good Masonic 
doctrine, couched in beautiful language, and delivered in a style char- 
acteristic of the orator. At the close of the address, Hon. J. P. 
Wood made a few appropriate remarks, followed by a timely speech 
from Eminent Commander A. Wood Terrill, to the effect that supper 
was ready. Under the shade of the trees of the Institute grounds 
long tables had been erected, and to these the assembly at once re- 
paired. The supper was complete in every respect, and the meats, 
berries, ices and cakes were especially attractive, evidencing the fact 
that the ladies of that section understand the culinary art. 

At ni^ht an entertainment was given in the recitation-room of the 
Institute, consisting of vocal and instrumental music, recitations, etc. 
Misses Scheetz, Brummel and Hattie Lyons, and Master Willie Scho- 
field brought down the house, and deserve great credit for the man- 
ner in which they acquitted themselves. The recitation by Miss Bishop 
was well received and highly eulogized. 

CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The Catholics of Monroe City have bought the old Baptist Church, 
and will soon have regular services here. The tirst meeting will be 
held on Sunday, August 31st, by the Rev. Father Casey, of Shelbina, 
who will have charge of the church. 

HEREFORD ASSOCIATION. 

Under date of August 7, 1884, the Monroe City Neios has this to 

say of the Hereford Association which has been successfully organized 

in that city : — 

Monroe City, Mo., August 1, 1884. 

The Hereford breeders of Monroe City and vicinity met over the 
furniture store of F. M. Wilson, at 3 o'clock p.m., and were called to 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 169 

order by J. O. Wood, of Canton. J. M. Gentry, of Hannibal, was 
elected temporary chairman, and O. J. Wood, of Ralls county, tem- 
porary secretary. 

Col. W. C. Splavvn, of Centre, was called upon to state the object 
of the meeting, and responded by stating that the principal object 
was the promotion of the interests of the breeders of Hereford cattle, 
by comparing experiences of the members ; advertising the sale of 
calves through the association ; bringing calves together for the pur- 
pose of comparing them, and doing many other things which would 
naturally be suggested as we advance, that would be of mutual bene- 
fit. 

A committee was appointed to report business to the meeting. 
After retiring for a i'ew minutes they returned and submitted the fol- 
lowing report : — 

We, your committee, recommend, first, that this meeting go into a permanent 
organization. 

Second, that a committee of tliree be appointed to draft constitution and by-laws to 
govern this body, and report at a future meeting. 

Third, that this association offers a premium on the following named calves, to be 
exhibited at Monroe City : — 

For the best grade Hereford bull calf of 1884. 

Second best grade, Hereford bull calf of 1884. 

For a herd of five of the best Hereford bull calves of 1884. 

For a herd of five of the second best Hereford bull calves of 1884. 

For the best grade Hereford heifer calf of 1884. 

Second best grade Hereford heifer calf of 1884. 

For a herd of five best grade Hereford heifer calves of 1884. 

For second best herd of five grade Hereford heifer calves of 1884. 

Fourth, that this association advertise the bull calves of its members in some stock 
journal that has the widest circulation in the West and South-west, and that the ex- 
pense thereof be equally borne by the owners of the calves so advertised, to be pro- 
rated by the number of calves each. 

Fifth, that there be a corresponding secretary elected, whose business it shall 
be to attend to the advertising of the calves for sale by the members of this associa- 
tion. 

W. C. Splawn, 
Jas. S. Scott, 
J. O. Wood, 
O. J. Wood, 

Committee. 

The report of the committee was adopted by sections. 

Col. Splawn moved that the association proceed to elect a president, 
vice-president, secretary, corresponding secretary and treasurer. 
Carried. Col. W. C. Sphiwn, J. M. Proctor and John O. Wood were 
put in nomination for president, and J. M. Proctor was elected. Col. 
Splawn was elected vice-president by acclamation. O. J. Wood was 
elected secretary in the same manner. For treasurer, E. S. Hampton 
and J. S. Scott were placed in nomination, and Mr. Scott was elected. 
W. Shields McClintic, E. S. Hampton and W. T. Clark were 
then nominated for corresponding secretary, and Mr. Hampton 
elected. 

Col. Splawn moved that the secretary be authorized to solicit mem- 
bership, and that an entrance fee of $1 be charged. Carried. 
The following gentlemen were enrolled as members of the associa- 
tion : — 

(180) 



170 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

James M. Proctor, Monroe City ; W. A. Davis, George W. Piper, 
Joseph M. Gentry, Hannibal ; S. F. Strode, W. C. Splawn, Centre ; 
L. H. Redman, Ralls county; John O. Wood, Canton ; E. S. Hamp- 
ton, N. L. Hume, Ralls county ; H. C. Jones, S. C. Watson, Hanni- 
bal ; W. H. Fuqua, Ralls county ; W. Shields McClintic, E. S. Boul- 
ware, Hunnewell ; B. G. Moss, James M. Howe, J. W. Calvert, 
Marion county; James S. Scott, W. T. Clark, Monroe City; George 
W. Tooley, O. J. Woods, Ralls county. 

On motion of J. M. Gentry, W^. P. Bush was made an honorary 
member of the association. 

A motion that this association offer a premium for the different 
rings of calves to be shown, and that an entrance fee be charged the 
exhibitors, sufficient to cover the same, was lost after a long and 
heated debate, in which J. M. Gentry, Col. Splawn, J. O. Wood, L. 
H. Redman and others took part. 

A motion was then made that premiums be offered for the different 
rings of calves shown, and that a committee be appointed to provide 
and arrange and provide for same, and to fix entrance fee. Lost. 

W. P. JBush offered the foUowing, which was adopted : — 

Besolved, that an entrance fee be charg;ed each calf entered for exhibition, and that 
the chair appoint a committee of three to arrange for the exhibition of calves, to offer 
a premium on each class, and to fix the amount of entrance fee, the same to be suffic- 
ient to cover all expenses of the exhibition. 

E. S. Hampton, W. Shields McClintic and J. O. Wood were ap- 
pointed as the committee. 

Col. Splawn, Joseph M. Gentry and L. H. Redman were appointed 
to draft constitution and by-laws to govern the association, and in- 
structed to report at next meeting. 

On motion it was ordered that this association convene again in 
Monroe City on Saturday, August 30, at 2 o'clock p.m. 

Motion that this association solicit grade Hereford steers out of the 
bulls of 1885, to be fed " for all that is in them," as an experiment, 
to arrive at as near as possible, whatever merit there may be in the 
breed. Carried, and seventeen head were promised. 

On motion the corresponding secretary was instructed to find out at 
earliest date possible the terms of advertising, and collect the amount 
from each member haviug calves to advertise, as provided in commit- 
tee's report. 

It was moved and carried that Col. Splawn be requested to address 
the association at the next meeting on the breeding and the different 
breeds of cattle. Adjourned. 

J. M. Proctor, President. 
O. J. Wood, Secretary. 

SHIPMENTS. 

Below we give a carefully prepared statement of the shipments from 
each of the railroad depots in Monroe City. This statement embraces 
a period of one year, beginning August 1, 1883 : — 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 171 

Missouri, Kansas and Texas It. R. — Hay, 40 cars; cattle, 22 
cars; horses, 4 cars; calves, 3 cars; rnules, 1 car; horses and mules, 
2 cars ; wheat, 4 cars ; oats, 3 cars ; emigrants' outfits, 5 cars ; hoop- 
poles, 1 car; ajDples, 1 car; corn, 2 cars; household goods, 1 car; 
old iron, 2 cars; ha}'^ stackers, 2 cars. Total, 93 cars. 

Hannibal and St. Joseph R. R. — Hogs, 140 cars ; cattle, 52 cars ; 
sheep, 19 cars; horses and mules, 13 cars ; ties, 277 cars; oats, 15 
cars; corn, 2 cars; wheat, 15 cars; logs, 11 cars; lumber, 46 cars; 
scrap iron, 2 cars ; hay, 2 cars ; hoop-poles, 5 cars ; emigrants' out- 
fits, 7 cars ; apples, 2 cars ; poultry, 1 car ; hay rakes and stackers, 5 
cars. Total, 514 cars. 

BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 

Miss Ora Anient, music teacher ; Anderson & Moss (Jerome B. 
Anderson and W. Ed Moss), general store; Dr. Elijah Bailey, capi- 
talist ; Wm. A. Bird, photographer ; James H. Blincoe, lumber ; Boul- 
ware & Sullivan (Aaron Boulware and Randolph V. Sullivan), dry 
goods ; Briggs & Shaw, vai-iety store ; Bristow & Lighter (Robt. 
Bristow and John T. Lighter), lawyers and real estate agents; 
W. T. Windsor, horses and mules; W. P. Bush, live stock; 
Mrs. Nina Byrd, milliner; Harrison Gary, groceries, etc.; 
Mrs. Hugh M. Clark, music teacher; Miss Annie Cobbs, 
milliner ; Dennis Crowley, blacksmith and wagon maker ; 
David G. Davenport, lawyer; David R. Davenport, insurance agent; 
Rev. Henry F. Davis (Christian); Benjamin M. Ely, blacksmith and 
wagon maker ; Norman W. Eakle, carpenter ; Durrant & Jackson, 
(W. R. P. Jackson, George W. Durrant), hardware ; William Turner, 
blacksmith ; Gem house, N. S. Topping, proprietor ; Gentry & 
Snider (Overton H. Gentry, Samuel R. Snider), grocers ; Alexander 
J. Gerard, railroad agent ; Samuel B. Gilliland, manufacturer 
Champion hay rake with sulky attachment; Heinrich C. Goetze, 
grocer; Adam Graves, constable; George Green, proprietor lime 
quarry; Rev. James S. Green (Baptist) ; Thomas J. Griffith, justice 
of peace; Thomas J. Griffith, live stock; Griffith & Strean (John 
R. Griffith, John Strean), barbers; Grimm & Losson (Andrew 
Grimm, Nicholas Losson), boots and shoes; Samuel H. Hallock, 
editor and proprietor Monroe City Neios ; Hanley House, John 
Hanley, proprietor ; Thomas Hendricks, lumber manufacturer at 
Hunnewell ; Hickman, Hawkins & Co. (Benjamin F. Hick- 
man, George A. Hawkins, Joseph E. Ogle), lumber; Rev. 
B. F. Hixson (Baptist) ; James Jackson (estate of), sand stone 



172 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

quarry four miles north-west; James S. Randol, grocer; James S. 
Jones, Eev. J. E. Latham (Presbyterian) ; Rev. J. T. Lighter (Metho- 
dist) ; Wm. W. Longmire, lawyer and insurance ; James L. Lyon, 
railroad agent; Patrick H. McLeod, justice of peace, three miles 
south-west; W. B. A. McNutt, physician; Megown & Kent (Sam. 
Megown, Horace Kent), proprietors Monroe Flouring Mills ; Monroe 
Institute, A. Wood Terrill and Rev. J. S. Dingle, proprietors ; 
Monroe City Bank (capital $50,000), Randolph V. Sullivan, 
president, Thomas Proctor, cashier ; Elanhan W. Meyers, nursery ; 
James J. Norton, physician ; Benjamin T. Ogle, carpenter ; C. W. 
Overman, carpenter; John C. Peirsol, attorney; J. W. Paul, 
capitalist; Cyrus H. Poage, machinist and apiarian; Mrs. Ragland, 
music teacher; Geo. T. Ridings, real estate; John J. Rogers, dry 
goods; John W. Rouse, dry goods; Geo. Rupp, harness maker; 
Acayan K. Rutledge, druggist; Rev. W. G. Suher (Christian); 
Shearer & Sullivan (Preston Shearer, Wm. J. Sullivan), grocers; 
James H. Simpson, jeweler; Rev. G. H. Ward (Episcopal); 
G. W. Tompkins & Co. (Geo. W. Tompkins, Geo. L. Turner), 
druggists ; Ben. H. H. Tucker, post master; C. E. Tucker & Bro. 
(Chas. E. and G. W. ), confectioners ; Dan. K. Yowell, harness maker ; 
Geo. L. Turner, physician ; A. Jaeger, hardware ; Chas. C. Wakefield, 
physician ; Eli Wayland, manufacturer Champion hay rakes ; Westhoff, 
Bros. (Adolphus and Francis), wagon makers; Frank Westhoff, 
blacksmith ; Francis M. Wilson, furniture ; Benj. O. Wood, druggist ; 
Felix Wunch, baker ; Noah A. Sidener, livery stable ; A. Noland, 
dentist; Willard Peirsol, physician; Leishman Bros., painters, 
W. S. Whitehead, restaurant; Spalding & Kennedy (Miss Kate 
Spalding, Miss Maggie Kennedy), millinery and dress making; Mrs. 
CM. Smith, milliner; Mrs. Searcy, milliner; David A. Ely, board- 
ing-house ; Sam. H. Ryan, meat market ; Monroe City Creamery Co. 
(capital stock, $6,500), J. M. Proctor, president, J. A. Peirsol, 
manag-er. 



CHAPTER yill. 

MARION AND UNION TOWNSHIPS. 

Mirion Township —Physical Features — Old Settlers — Madison — Secret Orders — 
HoUiday — Union Township — Old Settlers — Primitive Justice — Middle Grove — 
Secret Orders. 

MARION TOWNSHIP. 

Marion township contains about seventy square miles, and with 
Union township forms the western boundary of the county — border- 
ing upon Randolph. Its surface is veined by the Middle and Elk forks 
of Salt river, and by Mud creek. About one-sixth of the township is 
prairie. Much of the northern portion of the township is hilly and 
broken, but a large portion of the land is good for wheat, corn and 
tobacco, the latter crop being probably more largely cultivated in this 
township than in any other. 

The township was named in honor of Gen. Francis Marion. 

OLD SETTLERS. 

The old settlers in this township were William Farrell, Joel Far- 
rell, John Farrell, James Farrell, Solomon Hays, Samuel M. Quirey, 
James Swindell, Joel Swindell, Berry Overfelt, David Overfelt, William 
Gooch, William Smith, Nicholas Plummer, Henry Harris, John W. 
Dawson, Larken Bell, John Stephens, Marcus Embree, Jacob Satterlee, 
James Davis, — Todd, John Glenn, Evan Davis, William Davis, Thomas 
Davis, Joseph Bryan, Joseph Stephens, William Swindell, Aaron 
Yager, James Yager, Arphaxed Key, John Waller, Stephen Callaway. 

MADISON. 

The town of Madison was named by James R. Abernathy, Esq., 
who came to Monroe county, Mo., in 1817. 

Mr. Abernathy thought a great deal of James Madison, President 
of the United States, and called the new town Madison, in honor of 
him. He entered 40 acres of land where the town was located and 
laid out half of the tract in 1837, dividing it into about 90 lots, Avhich 
he disposed of in a short time, receiving therefor the sum of $1,100. 
The first house in the place was put up by Henry Harris, who came 
from Madison county, Ky., and used as a tavern in 1837. James 

(173) 



174 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Eubanks, from Tennessee, opened the first store in 1838. George 
Cunuinghiim was the pioneer blaclismitli. The first sign-board was 
put up by L. B. Wade. It read: " Private entertainment by L. B. 
Wade." NichoUis Ray was one of the first physicians of the town, 
and was a Kentuckian, as was also Dr. Venaugh; both came about 
the year 1838. The Christian denomination built the first house of 
worship about 1851. Mrs. Morris, a widow lady now residing in 
Madison, was the first person born in the town. 

Among the first settlers in this part of the township were Joel Ter- 
rill, Evan Davis, Joel Noel, James Owenby, William and Thomas 
Davis, all from Oldham county, Kentucky. Joseph Brown, Joseph 
Bryan, Joseph Stephens, James M. Yager, Martin Groves, Isaac Ba- 
ker, Ezra Fox, William Swindell and Reuben Burton were also early 
settlers, and from Kentucky. 

The town contains a public school, Christian and Methodist churches, 
one flour and a saw mill, telegraph (W. U.), express, United States 
mail daily, and has a population of about 500. It has also two general 
stores, one harness shop, three drug and grocery stores, one grocery 
store and meat market, one grocery store, one furniture store, one 
wagon shop, one blacksmith shop, one livery stable, two hotels, one 
barber shop, one photographer, two physicians. 

The town is situated on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas R. R., five 
miles from Hollidaj^ 13 from Paris, the county seat^^ and contains a pop- 
ulation of about ()00, and is in the midst of a very good agricultural coun- 
try, with good timber and coal lands in close proximity, which add greatly 
to its prominence as a business point ; and the coal mines inthis region 
are destined in the near future (when fully developed) to be a source 
of extraordinar}'^ benefit to the citizens of Madison and vicinity. This 
is one of the oldest towns in the county and its citizens are mostly 
natives of the county. They are an energetic and enterprising people 
and take great interest in the prosperity of the county in which they 
live. They give employment to all worthy mechanics that come 
among them, and assist by their aid and influence in every laudable 
enterprise. Such is the character of its l)usiness men, its citizens and 
the community in general. 

MADISON LODGE, NO. 91, A. F. AND A. M. 

This lodge now meets at HoUiday. It was organized in October, 
1847. The first officers of the lodge were Henderson Davis, W. M. ; 
Samuel McQuery, S. W. ; W. H. Nowell, J. W. Present officers are 
William Hord, W. M. ; G. Waller, S. W. ; W. Davis, J. W. ; T. W. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 17 5 

McCormick, secretary ; R. Wright, treasurer ; John Helen, S. D. ; T. 
Hayden, J. D. ; G. L. Harper, tyler. 

HOLLIDAY. 

This thriving viUageis situated in Marion township on the Missouri, 
Kansas and Texas Raih'oad, eight miles from Paris, five miles from 
Madison, and was first laid out by W. H. Holliday & Bro. in 1876. 

These enterpri^^ing men were engaged for some time in selling dry 
goods and provisions, and did a prosperous business, so much so that 
others were attracted to the place and engaged in difiereut enterprises. 
House after house has been erected, and being located in a beautiful 
farming country and splendid timber in close proximity, it could not 
be otherwise than prominent as a business point. 

All the lots laid ofi" in the original plat have been disposed of, and 
to supply the wants for more room for buildings, Mr. Henry Glass- 
cock, who owns a valuable farm adjacent, laid ofi" a tract of land into 
town lots. 

The people of Holliday are noted for liberality, hospitality and gen- 
eral business enterprise. 

We are indebted to Mr. W. H. Holliday for information in regard 
to this place. His business tact and energy has been to him a financial 
success. ^He has now retired from active business pursuits, and trans- 
ferred them to younger men, who will see that "business" is the 
watchword, and that it loses none of its laurels. 

All well regulated communities, cities and towns should have good 
schools and churches. Holliday has both. One church, Cumberland 
Presbyterian (newly painted and papered), has a membership of 140. 
This church was built about 40 years ago, before there was any town 
at this point. Rev. James Sharp is the present minister. 

Holliday can also boast of a large and commodious depot, presided 
over by Mr. H. McCown. There was shipped from this point during 
the year 1881 the following car loads : — 

Mules, 11 ; hogs, 66 ; sheep, 15 ; cattle, 41 ; logs, 4 ; ties, 89 ; old 
iron, 38 ; oak lumber, 26 ; cord wood, 19 ; piling, 36 ; hoop poles, 6. 
Total carloads, 351. 

These shipments have slowly but constantly increased since that 
period, until now (1884) Holliday has become one of the roost im- 
portant shipping points in the country. 

The first house in the town was erected by W. H. Holliday, and 
was used by him and his brother, Thompson Holliday, as a general 
store. The first dwelling-house was also built by W. H. Holliday. 



176 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

The first school-house was built about thirty years ago. It was 
taken down about five years ago, and a larger and more substantial 
building put up, which will comfortably seat 125 pupils. 

Among the early settlers was William Singleton, from Macon 
county, Mo. ; he opened the first hotel in the town. Thomas Mappin 
built the first saw and grist-mill in the vicinity. Among others who 
located in this section of the township were Austin Moore, William 
Moore, Philip Moore, Samuel Harper, Samuel Belmer, Frank 
McCord, Eev. J.B. Mitchell, James Parish, Gustavus Parish, Andrew 
Thomas^ Kumsey Saling, Frank Weatherford, James Greening, 
Joseph HoHiday, Robert Gwynn and Harvey Arnold. Near the 
present town site, and in Henry Glascock's field, Thomas Terrill 
opened a race track. Rumsey Saling was a great hunter and was so • 
fond of this pastime that when game became scarce around his home 
he moved to Texas, where he could pursue with better results his 
favorite recreation. 

UNION TOAVNSHIP. 

This township lies in the south-eastern part of the county and 
borders upon Randolph. It has about 80 square miles. Its water- 
courses are Long branch, Elk fork of Salt river, Hardin's, Oldham, 
and Milligan creeks. One-half of the township is prairie, and taken 
as a whole the soil is well adapted to the growth of the cereals, and 
in fact, all kinds of crops raised by the farmers of this section are 
successfully grown in Union township. Some of the earliest settlers 
in the county located in this township, where they lived and died, and 
many of their descendants still linger around their old homes. 

Herndon Burton, who now resides in Union township on the Elk 
fork of Salt river, is said to be the first white child Born in Monroe 
county. The most noted hunter in this region of country is George 
H. Bassett, who followed hunting for 35 years. He came from Vir- 
ginia to Randolph county, Missouri, where he resided five years and 
then moved to Monroe county and located within one mile of Middle 
Grove, where he lived for a quarter of a century. He now lives in 
Middle Grove. The first mill in the township was built and operated 
by C. B. Dawson in 1851, in the town limits. It was, when first built, 
a saw-mill and carding machine, and afterwards machinery was added 
for a grist-mill. 

OLD SETTLERS. 

The old settlers to this township were Kentuckians and Virginians : 
John G. C. Milligan, Jacob Whittenburg, Daniel Whittenburg, John 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 177 

Gee, Ezra Fox, J. C. Fox, John Burton, Reuben Burton, Michael 
Khigh, James Martin, James Wells, Austin Swinney, Valentine Swin- 
ney, Ashley Snell, James Ownby, George H. Bassett, Joseph Swin- 
ney, Blufoi-d Davis, Van Davis, Willis Snell, Fountain Chandler, John 
Boulware, Hardin Yates, Vincent Yates, James Noel, Leroy Noel, 
Vincent Jackson, Thomas Embree, Henry Martin, Edward Tucker, 
Edward Tydings, John Wright, John Myers, Charles Allen, Col. Ed. 
Tydings, Richard Branham, William Smith, LarkinBell, C. Collins, 
Jack Stevens. 

PRIMITIVE JUSTICE. 

In 1827 or 1828, in what is now known as Union township, Monroe 
county, there lived John Burton, a justice of the peace. Reuben 
Burton, his brother, had lost a hog, and finding it in the possession 
of one, Rious, a free negro, brought suit before his brother John for 
the possession of it. The day of trial came. The plaintiff was pres- 
ent with his lawyer, J. C. Fox ; the defendent was also present but 
had no lawyer. The trial was about over, and the witnesses, as it 
was thought, had all been sworn and examined, when the justice, a 
large, tall man, rose from his seat and requested Pleasant Ford, who 
was a constable, to swear him. Ford administered the oath to the 
justice, as was requested by that official, when the justice gave his 
testimony. He said that he was in possession of some facts in refer- 
ence to the hog that were not presented to the court by the other wit- 
nesses, and after giving his testimony, he decided the case in favor of 
the free neo;ro. He had often hunted with the negro and knew the 
hog to be his, and hence decided in his favor, and against the claim 
of his own brother. The justice, however, was known to be a just 
and truthful man, and his evidence was so clear and convincing, that 
the decision was regarded by the bystanders as being right. 

MIDDLE GROVE. 

Middle Grove is a substantial and business little town of about 200 
inhabitants, and is situated in the south-west corner of the county, 
and 20 miles from the county seat, and four and a half miles from 
Evansville, the nearest railroad point. The town is built upon a long 
sloping hillside, at the foot of which runs Milligan creek, a small 
tributary of the Elk fork of Salt river, and is surrounded by one of 
the best farming communities in the State. The town site is a jjart of 
the old Ezra Fox settlement, which was made in 1820, and was the 
first permanent settlement in Monroe county, and the name was de- 
rived from its being a midway station between the Father of Waters 



178 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and Bi^ Muddy, and also the most ceiitnil station on the first mail 
route established between New London and Fayette; and from being 
located in an arm or belt of timber reaching into the Grand Prairie, 
became the halting place of the earliest pioneers, and was called Mid- 
dle Grove. These facts, in connection with others, give this little town 
and neighborhood a history and a civilization reaching ffirther back 
than any other portion of the county, and almost to the beginning of 
the present century, when the first daring frontiersman crossed the 
Mississippi in search of new homes, or new fields of fortune and ad- 
venture ; and some of the fields adjacent to the town, which now an- 
nually yield their bountiful crops of golden grain, were the first lands 
ever located in the county. The first virgin soil disturbed by the 
ploughshare of civilization, still preserves many lingering marks of 
the husbandry and decayed habitations of the pioneer fathers — the 
Foxes, Whittenburgs, Burtons, Davis, Swinneys, Ownbys, Noels, 
Milligans, Fords, Stephens and others of the early settlers, who first 
sowed in the tracks of barbarism the seeds of civilization, of which 
four of the youngest only remain to witness the glory crowning the 
efforts of their parents and of their young manhood, and that four 
are Blufar Davis, Herndon Burton, Fountain Swinney and ex-Sheriff 
James Ownby. 

Thus originated Middle Grove, around which settlers gradually lo- 
cated, and in which John C. Milligan started the first store about the 
year 1830 or 1831; afterwards, in 1840, the town was properly laid 
off into lots, by John G. C. Milligan, and from that time rapidly grew 
into a thriving village, and one of the best trading points in North- 
east Missouri, and in its inhabitants could be found some of the best 
blood of Virginia and Kentucky, with its attendant qualities of patriot- 
ism, hospitality and neighborly kindness ; and many of these dis- 
tinguishing features yet remain to mark the character of its people, 
and nowhere are people more united and patriotically resolved for 
the common weal and welfare of the community and country, or the 
culture and advancement of the rising generation. 

The town is pleasantly and healthily located, and the mortality of 
the neighborhood will compare favorably with any in the State, and 
none can boast of longer lived and more aged citizens. The oldest 
citizen of the town is Dr. John McNutt, who settled in the Grove in 
1848, and practiced his profession until recent years, when he retired, 
and now survives the hardships and reverses of fortune that would 
have killed an}' ordinary man, at the good old age of 74 years. 

John G. C. Milligan, a Virginian by birth, built the first house that 



HISTOKY OF MONROE COUNTY. 179 

was put up in the Grove, tmd in fact, in this section of country in 
1825. He was also the first postmaster and the first hotel-keeper. 
The mail route was between New London in Ralls county, to Old 
Franklin in Howard county, on the Missouri river. John Myers 
was the first mail carrier on this route. John Hedger was one of the 
early blacksmiths of the town. Henry Lutz was the pioneer car- 
penter and wood workman. Edward T. Tucker was the first tailor. 
The first school-house was built in the township about the year 1830, 
and William Maupin taught the first school. He was from Howard 
county, Missouri. The first church was erected by the Christian 
denomination about 1825, on section 33, township 54, range 12, two 
miles north-east of Middle Grove. William Reid was the officiatino- 
minister. The first church in Middle Grove was erected about the 
year 1840, by the Christian denomination. A Presbyterian Church 
was built in 1852, first presided over by Rev. J. B. Mitchell ; this 
organization was discontinued in 1862 and the building was sold and 
moved away in 1872. 

Middle Grove claims the honor of being the point where the first 
store was opened in Monroe county.^ The house as already stated, 
was built by John G. C. Milligan and Glenn and Parsons sold the 
first goods in it. An old colored man — Jesse Burton — who now 
lives at Holliday, cleared away the brush for the town site. 

SECRET ORDERS. 

Lodge No. 326, I. O. O. F. — Was organized in August 1874 
with the following charter members : George D. Ownby, James 
Mitchell, John Mitchell, John T. Haley, Henry Bell, J. B. Swinney, 
John McAdams, Samuel Truby, Thomas Garrett, Edward C. Brooks, 
S. T. Hull, John McDonald, Thomas Hocker, Joel H. Noel. The 
present oflicers are S. T. Hull, N. G. ; J. F. Ownby, V. G. ; W. G. 
Webb, secretary and T. B. Stephens, treasurer. 



1 See Chapter V. 



^^^m 



CHAPTEK IX. 

SOUTH FORK TOWNSHIP. 

Its Physical Features — Farmers — Cemetery — Pioueers — Santa Fe — Its History — 
Secret Orders — Strotlier — Strother Institute — Its History — Extracts From 
Catalogue — Long Branch Post-office. 

SOUTH FORK TOWNSHIP. 

This township was organized in 1834 and occnpies about 72 square 
miles in the south-eastern portion of the county. It is watered by the 
South fork of Salt river, Long Branch and their tributaries. Much 
of the land is favorably located for farming purposes and, in fact, 
portions of the township are very productive, growing large crops of 
wheat and corn. There is an abundance of timber of the best quality, 
and the very best of building stone. Among the large farmers of 
this township are William Hanna, Jr., J. R. Smiley, James W. 
•Trimble, James B. Davis, John Davis, Charles Davis, John W. Hizer, 
W. C. Bates, Benjamin Coward, E. W. Smith, John Dashner and C. 
P. McCarty. The early settlers of the township were generally from 
Kentucky and Virginia and were an intelligent and thrifty class of 
people. 

The various religious denominations are well represented, each 
having neat and substantial houses of worship. Religions services 
and Sunday schools are regularly held in all the churches and are 
largely attended. The public schools of the township are numerous 
and are liberally patronized and generally well furnished with all the 
appliances necessary to successful teaching. Besides the public 
schools, additional facilities for instruction are furnished by the Prairie 
High School which is located at Strother, and of which we shall say 
more hereafter. 

Pleasant Hill cemetery, in this county, is the largest burying ground 
in Monroe county except the one at Paris. It takes its name — 
Pleasant Hill — from the church of that name, which was located 
there by the Old School Presbyterians at an early day, and which is 
now a large and influential religious body. 

The cemetery is well preserved and the great number of tomb- 
stones and monuments, though neither very costly nor magnificent, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 181 

testify to the respect entertained by the living for their loved ones, 
some of whom have been resting here for nearly half a century. 

" The breezy call of incense-breathing morn, 
The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed, 

The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn. 
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed. " 



PIONEERS. 

Among the pioneers who settled in South Fork township we record 
the names of the following: Lewis Crigler, Lovick Crigler, Capt. 
Frank Davis, Theodore Price, Dr. John Bybee, Lary Boggs, William 
Blaukenbaker, Powell Snyder, Henry Tanner, William Hanna, John 
Hanna, James Hanna, David Hanna, Joseph Hizer and Esom Hanna. 

SANTA FE. 

The original proprietor of the old town of Santa Fe was Dr. John 
S. Bybee, a Kentuckian, who entered and purchased several hundred 
acres of land in that vicinity. The town was laid out in 1837 and 
was named after Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

The first business house in the town, was opened by Henry Canote 
in 1837. This was what was at that time called a grocery, but would 
be classed to-day as a saloon, as whisky was the chief article of trade. 
Clemens and Hall started the first general store. Thomas Mosely, 
who is still living, was the first blacksmith in the town, beginning 
work soon after the place was laid out. Dr. D. L. Davis was the first 
physician. Alvin Cauthorn was the first tailor. The first church 
(now M. E. Church South) was built by the Methodists prior to 1840. 
The first mill in this vicinity was erected about the year 1838 by By- 
bee and Canote, on the South fork of Salt river, about three miles 
north of Santa Fe. 

The town having been started 47 years ago, now looks old and 
weatherbeaten. It is, however, a good business point, and is sur- 
rounded by a good farming country. The inhabitants are genial and 
hospitable, the majority of them being descendants of Virginians and 
Kentuckians. The town contains 2 churches, Methodist and Chris- 
tian, and a school-house ; 2 secret orders ; 2 general stores ; 2 drug 
stores ; 1 hardware store ; 1 shoemaker shop ; 2 blacksmith shops ; 
1 saw and grist mill ; 2 physicians and a justice of the peace. 

SECRET ORDERS. 

Santa Fe Lodge, No. 315, 1. O. O. F. —Was instituted March 25, 



182 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

1874, by A. M. Alexander, Grand Master, officiating. The charter 
members .were P. A. Cook, Philip Qiiisenbury, W. C. Bates, Dr. 
John S. Drake, T. J. Armstrong, D. Sheckles, H. P. Miller and J. R. 
Smiley. The present officers are Philip Quisenbury, N. G. ; C. W. 
Tanner, V. G. ; Lewis Fleming, R. S. ; George W. Kerr, treasurer ; 
Philip Quisenbury, L. D. 

8anta Fe Lodge, JSfo. 462, A. F. and A. M. — Was set to work 
under a dispensation from Samuel Owens, Grand Master, in April 
1873, by Col. Theo. Brace, Past Master. 

On the 16th day of October, 1873, the Grand Lodge issued a charter 
with Dr. J. S. Drake, W. M., Dr. W. R. Rodes, S. W. and Jas. B. 
Davis, J. W. The Hall was dedicated and the officers publicly in- 
stalled by Deputy District Master L. R. Downing, in November, 1873. 
The charter members were J. W. Bates, Jas. Bledsoe, Jas. Bridge- 
ford, J. S. Drake, Geo. W. Edmonston, W. S. Forsyth, Jas. Mc- 
Cutchan, A. H. Moore, Isaac Hanna, Irvin Powell, W. R. Rodes, 
Urid Rouse, J. M. Travis and G. A. Wilson. 

The present officers are Dr. John S. Drake, W. M. ; C. C. Davis, 
S. W. ; Geo. D. Massy, J. W. ; J. P. Brownlie, secretary; Jas. B. 
Davis, treasurer; G. W. Stuart, S. D. ; D. Mcllhany, J. D ; L. 
A. Creigh, tyler. The membership is 24 and the night of meeting is 
the Saturday before the full moon. The lodge is out of debt and own 
the hall and is in good working condition. 

STROTHER. 

This is the name of a recently established post-office in South 
Fork township, which takes its name from Prof. French Strother, 
who has resided there for seven years. There are three or four fami- 
lies and one general store in town, kept by Rev. Joseph Rowe. The 
country surrounding the place is a high and healthful prairie and 
is one of the most productive and beautiful farming regions in Monroe 
county. 

Strother is chiefly known as the seat of Strother Institute, which 
has for many years been a prominent institution of learning. It was 
formerly known as Prairie High school. At a very early day, Capt. 
John Forsyth, Jacob Cox, Joseph E. Sprowl, Wm. Vaughan, Hiram 
Powell, Willis Bledsoe and Wm. T. Bridge ford determined to estab- 
lish a school of higher grade than the ordinary district schools of the 
country. They accordingly employed John N. Lyle, a graduate of 
Marietta College, Ohio. After teaching acceptably for some time he 
returned to his Alma Mater to complete his education. He is now 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 183 

the distinguished Professor of Natural Science at Westminster College, 
which position he has held for years. The next teacher employed was 
Eobert N. Baker, a graduate of Westminster College. He is a promi- 
nent physician and lives at Millersburg, Callaway county. William 
C. Foreman, a graduate of Princeton, N. J., was the next teacher. 
He is now a prominent lawyer of San Antonio, Texas. The next 
incumbent was James G. Bailey, a graduate of Westminster, now 
deceased. The next was an Indiana gentleman, by the name of Hast- 
ings, who was afterwards a Captain in the Confederate army. He 
is now dead, having lost his health in the army. Dr. Thomas Gallaher, 
a distinguished writer and minister of the " Old School Presby- 
terian Church," was the next teacher. These gentlemen all taught 
before the war. During the war the school was small and the 
term short. Among those who had the charge of it might be named 
Miss Bennett, Miss Annfe Vaughan and some others whose names 
are forgotten. 

After the war, among the most prominent teachers who have had 
charge of the school may be mentioned Prof. Henry Vaughan, now of 
St. Louis University ; Prof. Jesse Lewis, of the Holliday public 
school, and the county school commissioner of Monroe county, and 
Prof. J. Iglehart, now of Columbia public schools. 

At a public gathering in the neighborhood in 1879, where many 
persons from a large section of the country had congregated, and at 
which some distinguished teachers and former pupils were present to 
enjoy a rich repast furnished by the friends of education. Prof. Lyle 
in complimenting some of the old citizens of the neighborhood, said 
he had known many strong supporters of education, but that Capt. 
John Forsyth was the best friend and supporter of education he had 
ever known. 

It is proper that a short sketch of the life of Capt. John Forsyth 
should be embodied in the historv of this school. 

He was connected with it from its establishment in 1854 till 1861, 
the beginning of the war. He was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, 
March 10, 1798, came to Missouri about the year 1837, was married 
November 24, 1842, to Miss Isabella A. Berry, who was a hearty co- 
worker and sympathizer with him in all his enterprises concerning 
schools and churches. The cause of education was one very dear to 
him. He devoted his time and means without stint in the employ- 
ment of first-class teachers and in the erection of suitable buildings 
for the accommodation of pupils. His house was the home of the 
teachers and many of the boarding pupils. 

7 



184 HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 

His interest and liberality were not confined to this school alone. 
He took a scholarship in Westminster College, and in this way assisted 
several yonng men to obtain an education. He was a constituent mem- 
ber of New Hope (Presbyterian) Church, and assisted with both his 
time and money in the erection of the church edifice. Of this church 
he was a ruling elder, and held that position until the time of his 
death, which occurred July 22, 1870. Capt. Forsyth was universally 
esteemed as an upright, kind-hearted neighbor, friend and Christian 
gentleman, and in his death the community, as well as his family, 
suffered an almost irreparable loss. 

In his catalogue for 1885, Prof. Strother says : — 

Our effort will be to conduct our school so that both mind and heart 
of pupils will be cultivated and developed for good; knowing, as we 
do, that knowledge is as great a power for evil as for good. 

The years are past when any ambition was felt to establish large 
and popular schools, and as our sun of life has reached its zenith 
amid prosperity and adversity, pleasure and pain, sunlight and 
shadow, bright anticipations and sad bereavements, our hearts' desire 
is to be more and more the means of doino- the Master's work, and 
leading the youth intrusted to us in right paths. Therefore, only a 
limited number of pupils will be received. 

Special attention will be given to spelling, reading, writing and 
other elementary branches. Without a well-laid foundation, pupils 
will find it difficult to maintain a good standing in advanced classes. 

As many pupils never complete branches higher than those included 
in grammar schools, and as these enter very largely into the practical 
business of every-day life, a careful drill will be given in each study. 
Young teachers who are not satisfied with their attainments and are 
ambitious to teach schools of hio;her o-rade will do well to attend this 
department. Pupils well trained in these studies will not find those 
of the Collegiate Department difficult. 

"The Collegiate Department embraces classes in physiology, botany, 
zoology, astronomy, geometry, algebra, conic sections, trigonometry, 
surveying, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, mental philosophy, 
chemistry, physical geography, book-keeping, Latin and Greek. 

The department of music is under the control of Mrs. Strother, an 
accomplished music teacher and composer, as arealso the composition 
and elocution classes. Many of her pupils can testify to her success, 
both in theory and practice. 

Teachers of Strother Institute : French Strother, principal ; French 
Wood, assistant; Mrs. S. A. Strother, principal of musical depart- 
ment ; Mrs. Bertha Baker, assistant. 

LONG BRANCH POSTOFFICE. 

This is a small point containing the post-office and a store kept by 
Browning Bros. 



CHAPTEE X. 

WASHINGTON, CLAY AND WOODLAWN TOWNSHIPS. 

Washington Township — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Clinton — Jonesburg — 
Churches — Farmers — Clay Township — Physical Features — Farmers — Old Set- 
tlers — Granville — Woodlawn Township — Physical Features — Early Settlers — 
Woodlawn — Duncan's Bridge. 

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 

Washington township is the largest of the northern tier and contains 
about 74 square miles. Its water advantages are excellent and sup- 
ply almost every portion of the township. Among the principal 
streams are the North fork of the Salt river, Brush, Clear and 
Crooked creeks. About one-third of the township is prairie, and 
somewhat broken along the streams. For farming purposes it is 
about an average township. 

EARLY SETTLERS 

here were J. M. Dean, Caleb Wood, J. T. Martin, W. A. Saunders, Al- 
bert Saunders, William Henniger,W. T. Adams, Preston Adams, Foun- 
tain C. Sparks, James T. Hart, Ignatius Coombs, Clifton G. Maupin, 
David Henniger, T. P. Sharp, Robert Price, James Cox, Cornelius Ed- 
wards, Russell Moss, James Ragland, D. M. Dulaney, Willis Buford, 
Milton Crutcher, Charles Crutcher, Owen Gerry, Gabriel Penn, A. 
White, John Henniger, Hiram Dooley, Calvin Shearer, Francis Harri- 
son, Angel Gillespie, Gabriel Jones, Edward Shropshire, Barney Wor- 
land and Jesse White. Mr. White was in the Indian War, and while 
fighting was separated from his companions and cut off from a bridge. 
He ran up the banks of the stream 12 miles before he could cross, 
and then returned the same distance to where his comrades were. 
The Indians chased him, and when they would get near enough to 
him he would present his gun and they would hide behind trees, 
he doing the same thing when they would attempt to shoot at him. 
Mr. White ever afterwards seemed to be upon the alert, and would 
constantly look about him, especially when traveling. His neighbors 
say that so vigilant was he that no man could slip up on him in 
the woods. 

(185) 



186 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



CLINTON. 



The above town is known as Siimerset post-office. It was laid 
out by George Glenn, Samuel Bryant and S. S. Williams in 1836. 

These gentlemen built the first store and first mill that were opened 
and operated in the town. Jacob Kirkland was the pioneer black- 
smith. Greenlee Hays and Major William Howell were once merchants 
in the town. After the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was built 
through that section of the country and the towns of Shelbina and 
Hunnewell sprang into existence, the business of Clinton was with- 
drawn from that place and given to the newer and more enterprising 
railroad towns mentioned above. About all there is left of the ancient 
and once ambitious little village of Clinton are a blacksmith shop and 
two potteries. George Leach is the proprietor of one of these pot- 
teries, and James Turner is the proprietor of the other. There was 
at one time a flourishing Catholic church located at Clinton, but this, 
like the town, is now a thing of the past. 

JONESBURG. 

Jonesburg, the rival town of Clinton, was divided from the latter 
merely by an alley. It was laid out by Col. Gabriel Jones in 1836. 
Greenlee Hays opened the first store. James Coombs, Benedict Gough, 
Blakey and Lasley were early merchants. The town went down when 
Clinton did. 

North Fork post-office is located one mile north-west of Clinton, at 
the residence of Samuel McDowell, who is postmaster. The first 
church in the township was located at Clinton and was built by the 
M. E. Church South. 

Among the constituent members of this church were William Fow- 
ler, wife and two sons ; John Strayer and wife ; Adam Hickart and 
wife ; William Henniger and wife and Henry Ashcraft and wife. 

The Christian Church bought Greenlee Hay's house at an early day 
and made a church of it. Among the first members of this church 
were James M. Dean and wife ; John and Drury R igsdale and Robert 
Nesbit. These churches were discontinued years ago. The Metho- 
dists, however, built another church one mile east o^ Clinton which 
is still in existence, elohn Couch was one of the first school teachers 
in the township and taught at Deer Creek school-house. Among the 
large farmers in Washington township are C. A. Hamilton, George 
Gough, Jacob Crow, Thomas Hart, Fountain Sparks, W. T. Adams, 
James Hawkins and John Ha^er. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 187 



CLAY TOWNSHIP. 

Clay township embraces an area of nearly 50 square miles, and is 
one of the north-western tier of townships bordering upon Shelby 
county. About two-thirds of the township is prairie. It is a fair, 
average township for farming purposes, the northern and southern 
portions being the best. It is watered by Crooked and Otter creeks, 
and also by the Middle fork of Salt river, which passes through sec- 
tions 26, 27 and 28 in the southern part of the township. It con- 
tains seven school-houses, located as follows: One in section 31, one 
in section 15, one in section 26, one in section 18, one in section 6, 
one in section 2, and one in section 14; and two churches — one in 
section 31, and one in section 12, the former a Baptist and the latter 
a Methodist church. Among the important farmers of this township 
are M. D. Blakey, W. A. Sparks, W. T. Fields, William Powell, M. 
D. Maddox and Henry S. Sparks. 

OLD SETTLERS. 

Charles S. Clay (after whom the township takes its name), Robin- 
son Hanger, Isaac and Samuel Stalcups, G. M. Buckner, Samuel 
Henniger, William Stalcups, Jacob Sidner, Taylor Barton, John C. 
Kipper, Anderson McBroom, James P. Shropshire, Larkin Packwood, 
Morgan Sherman, Ben C. Johnson, Lucy Wilcox, Elijah Sparks, 
Daniel Barton, Robert Gains, De Witt C. Caldwell, Francis Herron, 
Hezekiah King, Robert T. Garrison, Henry Gibson, Isaac E. Webdell, 
Richard Hubbard, William Arnold, Sr., Sarah Shotwell, Caleb Stone, 
John Cash, Thomas Cash, Jr., William Biggs, Emily Arnold and 
Simeon Sparks were early settlers here. 

GRANVILLE. 

The first house in Granville was built by John T. Parker, who also 
opened the first store. Samuel A. Rawlings was also an early mer- 
chant. The town now contains three general stores, two blacksmith 
shops, a Christian and a Methodist church. 

WOODLAWN TOWNSHIP 

constitutes an area of country a little larger than Monroe township, 
and is situated in the north-western portion of the country. The 
Middle fork of Salt river forms its southern boundary ; Otter creek 
with its tributaries penetrates the northern part of the township. 
About one-fourth of the township is timber. The soil is good. 



188 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



OLD SETTLERS. 

Thomas J. Wise, William Smiley, Johnson and Perry Whiles, 
Thomas Jennings, Nicholas Rea, Allen Phillips, William P. D. Clay- 
brook, Thomas Stephens, Gabriel G. Rice, Asbury Broadwell, 
Elizabeth Coolidge, Benjamin Byers, Peter J. Sowers, Elisha Hyatt, 
John A. Martin, Joshua Ginnings, Travis Million, Milton Robinson, 
Thomas J. Palmer, William S. Brown, Lucy A.. Dye, Esom Faris, 
John A. Johnson, Elijah Atteberry, Eglantine Hill, Isaac Atteberry, 
and James King were early settlers in this township. 

WOODLAWN, 

in I the north-western portion of Monroe county, 18 miles from 
Paris, in Woodlawn township, is situated the village of Woodlawn. 
This village is surrounded by as good a farming country as can be 
found in any other portion of the county, and taking population into 
consideration, has more energetic farmers than any other township 
in the county. Several farmers in the immediate vicinity of Wood- 
lawn are extensive stock dealers, and should this township ever have 
railroad facilities, it would, in a short time, be the banner township 
of the county. The village of Woodlawn has two stores, one dry 
goods and grocery, the other drug and grocery. 

Duncan's bridge. 

Duncan's Bridge, or " Leesburg " as it is familiarly called, is situ- 
ated in the western portion of Monroe county, in Woodlawn township, 
20 miles from Paris, 10 miles from Madison. The village is sur- 
rounded by a prosperous farming community, and the village itself 
can boast of superior business qualifications and enterprise as will be 
shown by the growth and prosperity of the place. Eight years ago 
there was only one business house and one saw-mill ; to-day there 
are three dry goods and grocery stores, one drug store, two saw and 
grist mills, one furniture store, two blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, 
one carding machine run by steam. All are in prosperous condition, 
and at no distant day Duncan's Bridge, though a thriving village now, 
will reach an epoch when it will be known as one of the important 
towns of Monroe county. 



CHAPTER XI. 

POLITICAL HISTORY AND OFFICIAL RECORD. 

"There is a mystery ia the soul of state, 
Which hath no operation more divine 
Thau breath or pea can give expression to." 

From 1831 to 1840 party politics wielded but a slight influence in 
the local government of the county. While it is true that many of 
the first settlers, from the earliest days, possessed well-defined polit- 
ical views and tenets, and were thoroughly partisan upon all ques- 
tions pertaining to national or State elections, an indefinite number of 
candidates were usually permitted to enter the race tor the county 
offices, and the one possessed of superior personal popularity gen- 
erally led the field and passed under the wire in advance of all 
opponents. In the olden time it was not at all unusual to meet 
the energetic candidate for the sheritf's office, the treasurer's office, 
or the candidate who aspired to represent the people in the State 
Legislature, astride his horse, going from settlement to settlement 
to meet with the voters at their own firesides, to sleep beneath their 
humble roofs and sup with them at their family boards, to compli- 
ment their thrifty housewives and to kiss the rising generation of 
little ones. 

The historian would not dare draw upon his imagination to supply 
the stock of rich, rare and racy anecdotes molded and circulated by 
these ingenious canvassers, or to describe the modes and methods by 
them adopted to increase their popularity with the people. There was 
then but a few newspapers to perpetuate daily events as they trans- 
pired. Many of the maneuvers and capers, successes and failures, 
with their pleasures and sorrows of more than 40 years ago, in Mon- 
roe county, are hidden from us by the shadows of time. Darkness 
intervenes between us and the sayings and doings of bygone days, and 
could we but penetrate that darkness and gather them in, they would 
shine out upon the pages of this history " like diamond settings in 
plates of lead." 

In vain have we tried by the lens of individual recollection or tra- 
dition to ferret them out. We could not do it. Our discouraged 
fancy dropped the pencil and said 'twas no use. We could not 

(189) 



190 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

paint the picture. A little consolation may be found in these lines : — 

" Things without all remedy 
' Should be without regard; what's done is done." 

In some of these early campaigns the various candidates for a single 
office, and sometimes those running for the different county offices, 
would travel together from settlement to settlement throughout the 
county. Every camp meeting, log-raising, shooting match, and even 
horse race occurring in the county during the season preceding elec- 
tion, was a favorite resort for the electioneerer, and every honorable 
device was adopted by each candidate to develop his full strength at 
the polls. For many years after the settlement of the county no polit- 
ical conventions were held, and the result was, a number of candi- 
dates entered the race for the same office. This has been the case 
during the past 10 years. A nominating convention, however, will 
be held this year, 1884. 

Until 1854, or until the organization of the Native American party, 
the Whigs generally controlled the elections in the county — their 
majorities ranging from 50 to 200 votes. ^ 

After the Native American party came into existence the Demo- 
cratic party gradually became the dominant political organization of 
the county. During the late Civil War, because of the " Ousting 
Ordinance, " the Drake Constitution and the test oath, which were 
enforced by the State government, at that time in the hands of the 
Radical party, the Democratic party was not in power. With this 
exception the county has been Democratic since the war — in fact, 
Monroe county rolls up a larger majority for the Democratic candi- 
dates than any other county in the State. At the presidential election 
in 1880 the majority of Gen. Winfield S. Hancock over James A. 
Garfield was 2,817, in a total vote af 4,159. Garfield's vote was 671 ; 
the Republican vote in the county now (1884) is about 700. 

ELECTION OF 1840. 

Although the county of Monroe was not scf densely populated as a 
few others in 1840, yet that election was one of remarkable political 
excitement between the Whigs, with Gen. W. H. Harrison as their 



1 Charles W. Flannigan was the first Democrat elected to the Legislature. He was 
a member of that body from 1844 to 1846. 

James F. Botts was a Democrat and elected in 1850. 

John N. Parsons and William Coulter were also Democrats, the former elected in 
1858 and the latter in 1864. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 191 

presidential candidate, and the Democrats who were wildly excited in 
behalf of Van Buren, who had beaten Harrison in 1836. At no time 
in the history of the United States were the people generally roused 
to such a pitch of political excitement as during this memorable cam- 
paio-n. A reference to the newspapers of that period will convey 
some idea of the frenzy which raged ; but the actual scenes witnessed 
beogar description. Men, women and children for some mouths 
before the election, which occurred in November, seemed to have 
little else to engage their attention. Every village had its log-cabin 
and tall Whig pole, representatives of the Whig party, whilst the 
hickory poles also loomed up emblematic of Gen. Jackson and the 
Democratic party. Mighty crowds were assembled in the log-cabins 
to hear inflammatory speeches and indulge in potations of hard cider, 
while the Democrats met in council at their headquarters, heard and 
made speeches, etc. 

All parties sang and drank during the campaign quite as much as 
was necessary and considerably more. It was the commonest event 
to meet hundreds of farmers' wagons loaded with from 15 to 20 of 
both sexes, singing and roaring as they wended their way to some 
point agreed upon, where they were to listen to the eloquence of some 
great party leader and exhibit their patriotism. 

"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, " was the Whig watchword, accom- 
panied by promises of " $2 per day and roast beef, " to every work- 
ingman under Harrison's administration. 

ELECTION OF 1844. 

Another exciting political contest that occurred in Monroe county 
in the early days was the election of 1844, when Henry Clay and 
James K. Polk were the candidates of their respective parties for 
President of the United States. Lofty hickory poles were raised in 
Paris, and barbecues were given by the Whigs and Democrats at dif- 
ferent points in the county. A barbecue was given by the Whigs in 
Thomas Conyer's pasture near Paris. Thomas L. Anderson, of Pal- 
myra, was the orator of the occasion, and was considered the wheel- 
horse of the Whig party in this section of the country. An old set- 
tler who attended the barbecue and heard Anderson's speech, said 
that Anderson during the delivery of his speech would occasionally ask 
the question, " Who is James K. Polk?" Apropos to that period 
will be found the following, which we have taken from an old copy of 
the Paris Mercury of 1844 : — 



192 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Clay pole raising! " Old men for connsel. " "Young men for 
action!" 

The Whig young men of Monroe county will hold a county meeting 
in the town of Paris on Saturday, the 27th day of July instant, for 
the purpose of effecting a more thorough organization of the Whig 
3^oung men of the county, and for the purpose of raising a Clay pole. 
Every young man who feels an interest in the good old Whig cause, 
and who desires the success of the Whigs at the approaching contest, 
and the elevation of Henr}^ Clay to the Presidency, is requested and 
urged to attend. 

The opponents of Henry Clay are using every means in their power 
to defeat his election ; and they will leave no means untried to accom- 
plish their object. In order to thwart their purpose and gain a decisive 
victory over our opponents, it behooves the young, as well as the old 
Whio-s, to eno;ao:e heart and hand in the ofood work. Our fathers in 
the Whig cause are marching forward in a solid column and with a 
firm and steady step to rescue our Government from the grasp of the 
spoiler — and they have given us their counsel and call upon us to fol- 
low their noble example. Arouse, then, young Whigs, and come to 
the meeting ; let every young Whig in the county be present. Re- 
member, " Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. " 

All are requested to come in as early as possible. ©3='The old 
Whigs and the ladies of Monroe county are requested to tavor us with 
their attendance. 

Speeches will be made by young Whigs of Monroe county. 

George B. Gough, J. C. Parrish, Basil Bounds, James T. Martin, 
S. G. Styles, W. Styles, Drury Ragsdale, J. W. Ragsdale, James 
Cox, F. Williamson, W. Lasley, R. N. Martin, Samuel Bowlin, Rob- 
ert Bftwlin, Caleb Wood, Jr., J. W. Fowler, George Fowler, Richard 
Poage, R. H. Powers, James Worland, George Greenwell, J. M. Las- 
ley, W. M. Long, H. L. Frary, William Bowman, Richard B. Burton, 

A. P. Moore, Ambrose Burton, W. M. Broom, Thomas J. Palmer, 
AVilliam Buckner, John S. Covington, J. H. Fox, James T. Glenn, 

B. E. Harris, H. W. Rockwood, Milton Crutcher, Lewis M. Coppedge, 
Joseph H. James, John M. James, J. C. Foreman, John Curtright, 
Charles Carter, D. Curtright, George W. Threlkeld, W. B. Davis, P. 
H. Noonan, W. T. McGee, D. L. Boyd, James W. Wills, R. D. Wills, 
F. Helm, James Shoot, D. T. Bryan, John Coppedge, Samuel M. 
Sprowl, Hugh J. McGee, J. J. McGee, A. C. Goodrich, E. A. Good- 
rich, James Vaughn, John Vaughn, Thomas Noonan, John M. Moore, 
Joseph Hill, Edward Holloway, James Holloway, Richard E. F. 
Moore, Simeon Sparks, Irvin Poaije, S. W. Bryan, Thomas Moss, 
John H. Trimble, Wesley Wilson, John D. McCann. William T. Cop- 
pedge, William B. Withers, Andrew Caplinger, Edward J. HoUings- 
worth, Franklin A. Poage, Nicholas Davis, John W. Beatty, N. H. 
Marders, D. Ray, J. G. Grove, S. Mallory, T. Greening, J. Barker, 
B. E. Cowherd, George W. Stewart, James E. Poage, W. H. Violett, 
John D. Lyon, F. B. Powell, John H. Moyer, Josiah T. Dickson, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 193 

Thomas M. Reavis, Abraham Riggs, John Stewart, James A. Quarles, 
Alexander Kenson, John Daniel, W. C. Smith, Gustavus Banister, 
D. T. Cowherd, Samuel Leake, Burnard Lewellen, John Bryant, B. 
Quarles, J. Greening, Henry Davis, James S. Davis, John M. Ray, E. 
W. Boone, John M. Howell, James M. Bean, Robert D. McCann, D. 
H. Moss, F. Hollingsworth, W. A. Mason, Thomas C. Moore, James 
I. Sparks, A. E. Gore, William H. H. Crow, Joseph Miller, Rufus 
Poage, E. Thompson, William Arnold, Thomas Hurd, W. Lewellen, 
J. W. Harris, J. Alexander. 

Having given above a list of names, among which may be found a 
number of prominent Whig politicians, we will now mention the names 
of a few of the leading Democrats of Monroe county in 1844 : — 

William Armstrong, W. K. Van Arsdall, James Botts, Granville 
Snell, C. W. Flannagan, P. H. Higgins, John S. Buckman, Alexander 
Winsette, James A. Elder, Joseph Forest, William Streeter, Moses 
Parris, Clement Pierceall, Robert Lewellen, Robert Miles, William 
Lawrence, William H. Gough, I. L. Aud, James F. Riley, A. Gill- 
more, James Dale, James C. Parsons, William Sterman, Joseph 
Hagan, Philip Williams, William W. Williams, A. G. Williams, John 
Wright, Richard D. Austin, William M. Leake, William A. Buck- 
man, John Short, Thomas Forest, T. S. Ireland, Clement Parsons, 
Henry R. Parris, Henry Miller, Leonard Green, Francis E. Yeager, 
Vincent Yates, A. R. Morehead, David Yates, James M. Parris, 
William M. Priest, J. T. Gilmore, John D. Green, J. Pierceall, R. 
Yates, William W. Penn. 

OFFICIAL RECORD. 

8e7iators. — Joshua Gentry, Samuel Drake, James M. Bean, 
Theodore Brace. 

Representatives in the Legislature. — Joseph Stevens, 1832-36; 
William N. Penn, 1836-40; Jonathan Gore, 1836-40; Jonathan 
Gore, 1840-42 ; Joseph Stevens, 1840-42 ; William J. Howell, 1842-44 ; 
Charles W. Flannagan, 1844-46; Anderson W. Reid, 1844-46; 
William Vawter, 1846-48; Waltour Robinson, 1848-50; William A. 
Scott, 1850-52; James F. Botts, 1850-52; James M. Bean, 1852-54; 
Gabriel Alexander, 1852-54; James M. Bean, 1854-56; Samuel 
Drake, 1854-56 ; Samuel Rawlings, 1856-58 ; John N. Parsons, 1858- 
60; William R. Giddings, 1860-62; George W. Moss, 1862-64; 
William Coulter, 1864-66 ; James C. Fox, 1866-68 ; T. T. Rodes was 
elected in 1868 but was denied his seat in the Legislature on the 
ground of illegal registration in the county. The county was not 



194 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

represented again nntil 1870. M. C. Brown, 1870-74 ; P. H. Mc- 
Leod, 1874-76; M. D. Blakey, 1876-78; Thomas P. Bashaw, 
1878-84. 

Circuit Judges.— VnQ&t\y H. McBride, 1831 to 1833; David Todd, 
1833 to 1836; Priestly H. McBride, 1836 to 1844; A. Reese, 1844 
to 1855; John T. Redd, 1855 to 1862; Gilchrist Porter, 1862 to 
1866; John I. Campbell; William P. Harrison, 1866 to 1871; John 
T. Redd, 1871 to 1881 ; Theodore Brace, 1881 to 1887. 

Circuit and County Attorneys. — Ezra Hunt, John Hard, James 
R. Ahernathy, J. J. Lindley, Thomas V. Swearengen, John Ander- 
son, David H. Moss, William F. Hatch, Waller M. Boulware, J. H. 
HoUister, A. M. Alexander, Robert N. Bodine, J. H. Rodes. 

County Clerhs.—YhwQZQv W. McBride, 1831 to 1848 ; William N. 
Penn, 1848 to 1859; J. R. Abernathy, 1860 to 1866; William Bow- 
man, 1867 to 1871; William N. Penn, 1871 to 1873; Thomas 
Crutcher, 1873 to 1886. 

Circuit <7?erA;s.— Edward M. Holden, 1831 to 1833; Thomas S. 
Miller, 1833 to 1840; John G. Caldwell, 1840 to 1854; George 
Glenn, 1854 to 1859; Henry Davis, 1859 to 1867; Elisha G. B- 
McNutt, 1867 to 1871 ; J. M. Crutcher, 1871 to 1875 ; George C. 
Brown, 1875 to 1883 ; Charles A. Creigh, 1883 to 1887. 

Sheriffs.— WWWam Runkle, 1831 to^l832; Pleasant Ford, 1832 to 
1836; Thomas Pool, 1836 to 1840; Thomas Crutcher, 1840 to 1844; 
Joel Maupin, 1844 to 1848 ; Daniel M. Diilaney, 1848 to 1852 ; Marion 
Biggs, 1852 to 1856 ; Preston Swinney, 1856 to 1860 ; John C. Mc- 
Bride, 1860 to 1862 ; E. G. B. McNutt, 1862 to 1866 ; James Ownby, 
1866 to 1870; William H. Ownby, 1870 to 1872; F. L. Pitts, 
1872 to 1876; G. W.Waller, 1876 to 1878; R. F. West, 1878 to 
1880 ; James A. Jackson, 1880 to 1884. 

County Court Judges. — 1831 — Andrew Rogers, John Curry, William 
P. Stephenson, appointed in February. 1831 — Andrew Rogers, Rob- 
ert Simpson, Reese Davis ; Curry and Stephenson resigned, and 
Simpson and Davis were appointed in May. 1832 — Robert Simpson, 
Reese Davis, Edmund Damrell. 1833 — Reese Davis, Edmund Dam- 
rell, Samuel Curtright. 1834 — Edward Shropshire, Robert Margru- 
ter, Samuel Curtright. 1836 — Samuel Curtright, Jonathan Gore, 
Edward Shropshire. 1837 — Jonathan Gore, Samuel Curtright, John 
M. Clemens. 1838 — Robert P. Stout, John M. Glenn, Granville Snell. 
1841 — Granville Snell, Thomas J. Crawford, John M. Glenn. 1842 — 
Thomas J. Crawford, W. R. Stephens, Granville Snell. 1842 —Caleb 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 195 

Wood, William G. Moore, Richard D. Austin. 1845 — Richard D. Aus- 
tin, William G. Moore, Thomas Pool. 1847— William G. Moore, 
George Williamson, Samuel M. Quirey. 1849 — Samuel M. Quirey, 
George Williamson, David W. Campbell. 1850 — Samuel M. Quirey, 
David W. Campbell, John A. Quarles. 1853 — Samuel M. Quirey, 
David W. Campbell, James W. Herndon. 1855 — David W. Camp- 
bell, E. W. McBride, Joseph D. Moore. 1858 — David W. Campbell, 
Joseph D. Moore, Peyton Botts. 1859 — Joseph D. Moore, Peyton 
Botts, Joel Maupin. 1860 — Peyton Botts, Thomas Barker, Daniel M. 
Dulaney. 1862 — Thomas Barker, Alfred Warner, Samuel Pollard. 
1864 — Thomas Barker, James Speed, Jacob Kennedy. 1865 — 
James Speed, Jacob Kennedy, Mahlon Harley. 1866 — James Speed, 
William R. Newgent, S. M. Quirey. 1870— Samuel M. Quirey, 
William K. Newgent, Stephen M. Woodson. 1872 — Samuel M. 
Quirey, S. M. Woodson, H. P. Batsell. 1875 — Stephen M. Wood- 
son, William Lightner, Henry Dooley. 1877 — William Lightner, 
Henry Dooley, John D. Curtright. 1879 — James M. Pollard, 
Hem-y Dooley, John D. Curtright. 1881 — James M. Pollard, 
William K. Newgent, James D.Evans. 1883 — William K. New- 
gent, Henry Davis, James D. Evans. 

Surveyors.— John S. McGee, 1831 to 1836 ; John Burton, 1836 to 
1843 ; George Glenn, 1843 to 1847 ; Samuel Pollard, 1847 to 1851 ; 
George Glenn, 1851 to 1853 ; John McCann, 1853 to 1855 ; William 
L. Combs, 1855 to 1861 ; F. A. Whitescarver, 1861 to 1868; William 
L. Combs, 1868 to 1884. 

Collectors. — The sheriif was ex-officio collector until 1872, when 
the two offices were separated. George W. Waller served from 1872 
to 1876; F. L.Pitts, from 1876 to 1882; W. A. Miller, from 1882 
to 1884. 

Probate Judges. — The county court had jurisdiction of probate 
matters until 1872, when it was made an independent tribunal. The 
first person elected to that office was William N. Penn, in 1873 ; he 
died in August, 1873, and in September Thomas P. Bashaw was 
elected to fill his unexpired term. Bashaw held the office until 1878. 
Thomas Brace, elected in 1878, served till 1880 ; James M. Crutcher, 
elected in 1880 and served till 1884. 

Treasurers. — James R. Abernathy, C. H. Brown, John N. Parsons, 
Jesse H. McVeigh, John W. Mounce, George W. Moss, William F. 
Buckner, W. H. H. Crow, I. A. Bodine. 



196 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Assessors. — John S. McGee, John Burton, Milton Wilkerson, Levi 
Shortridge, Thomas J. Gillespie, Newton Adams, William Lightner, 
Dr. Fitts, William N. Penn, John B. Smith, Daniel East, Samuel H. 
Smith, Samuel Hardy, John D. Stephens, Robert P. Stout, William H. 
HoUiday, James M. West, J. D. Jackman, J. D. Poage, Robert H. 
Buchanan. 

Buchanan was elected in the fall of 1874, died in February, 1875, 
and William Bowman was appointed to fill the vacancy. 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE PRESS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The press, the great himinary of liberty, is the handmaid of prog- 
ress. It heralds its doings and makes known its discoveries. It is its 
advance courier, whose coming is eagerly looked for and whose arrival 
is hailed with joy, as it brings tidings of its latest achievements. The 
press prepares the way and calls mankind to witness the approaching 
procession of the triumphal car of progress as it passes on down through 
the vale of the future. When the car of progress stops the press will 
cease and the intellectual and mental world will go down in darkness. 
The press is progress, and progress the press. So intimately are they 
related, and their interests interwoven, that one cannot exist without 
the other. Progress made no advancement against the strong tides 
of ignorance and vice in the barbaric past, until it called to its aid the 
press. In it is found its greatest discovery, its most valuable aid and 
the true philosopher's stone. 

The history of this great discovery dates back to the fifteenth cen- 
tury. Its discovery and subsequent utility resulted from the foUoAV- 
ing causes in the following manner : Laurentius Coster, a native of 
Haerlem, Holland, while rambling through the forest contiguous to his 
native city, carved some letters on the bark of a jjirch tree. Drowsy 
from the relaxation of a holiday, he wrapped his carvings in a piece of 
paper and lay down to sleep. While men sleep progress moves, and 
Coster awoke to discover a phenomenon, to him simple, strange and 
suggestive. Dampened by the atmospheric moisture, the paper 
wrapped about his handiwork had taken an impression from them, and 
the surprised burgher saw on the paper an inverted image of what he 
had engraved on the bark. The phenomenon was suggestive, because 
it led to experiments that resulted m establishing a printing office, 
the first of its kind in the old Dutch town. In this office John Guten- 
burg served a faithful and appreciative apprenticeship, and from it, at 
the death of his master, absconding during a Christmas festival, tak- 
ing w^ith him a considerable portion of the type and apparatus. Guten- 
burg settled in Mentz, where he won the friendship and partnership 
of John Faust, a man of sufficient means to place the enterprise on !i 
secure financial basis. Several years later the partnership was dis- 

(197) 



198 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

solved because of a misunderstanding. Gutenburg then formed a 
partnership with a younger brother who had set up an office at Stras- 
burg, but had not been successful, and becoming involved in hiwsuits, 
had fled from that city to join his brother at Meiitz. These brothers 
were the first to use metal types. Faust, after his dissolution with 
Gutenburg, took into partnership Peter Schoeffer, his servant, and a 
most ingenious printer. Schoefier privately cut matrices for the whole 
alphabet. Faust was so pleased that he gave Schoefier his only daughter 
in marriage. These are the great names in the early history of print- 
ing, and each is worthy of special honor. 

Coster's discovery of wood blocks or plates, on which the page to 
be printed was engraved, was made some time between 1440 and 
1450, and Schoefifer's improvement — casting the type by means of 
matrices — was made about 1456. For a long time printing was 
dependent upon most clumsy apparatus. The earliest press had a 
contrivance for running the forms under the point of pressure by 
means of a screw. When the pressure was applied the screw was 
loosened, the form withdrawn and the sheet removed. Improvements 
were made upon these crude beginnings from time to time until the 
hand-press now in use is a model of simplicity, durability and execu- 
tion. In 1844, steam was first applied to cylinder presses by Freder- 
ick Kong, a Saxon genius, and the subsequent progress of steam 
printing has been so remarkable as to almost Justify a belief in its 
absolute perfection. Indeed, to appreciate the improvement in presses 
alone, one ought to be privileged to stand awhile by the pressman 
who operated the clumsy machine of Gutenburg, and then he should 
step into one of the well-appointed modern printing offices of our larger 
cities where he could notice the roll of dampened paper entering the 
great power presses, a continuous sheet, and issuing therefrom as news- 
papers, ready for the carrier or express. The Romans, in the times 
of the emperors, had periodicals, notices of passing events, compiled 
and distributed. These daily events were the newspapers of that age. 
In 1536, the first newspaper of modern times was issued at Venice, 
but governmental bigotry compelled its circulation in manu- 
script form. 

In 1063, the Public Intelligencer was published in London, and is 
credited with being the first English paper to attempt the dissemina- 
tion of general information. The first American newspaper was the 
Boston News-Letter, whose first issue was made April 24, 1704. It 
was a half-sheet, twelve inches by eight, with two columns to the 
page. John Campbell, the postmaster, was the publisher. The 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 199 

Boston Gazette made its first appearance December 21, 1719, and 
the American Weekly, at Pliiladelphia, December 22, 1719. In 
1776, tlie number of newspapers published in the colonies was 37 ; 
in 1828 the number had increased to 852, and at the present time 
not less than 2,000 newspapers are supported bj our people. Jour- 
nalism, by which is meant the compiling of passing public events, for 
the purpose of making them more generally known and instructive, 
has become a powerful educator. Experience has been its only school 
for special training, its only text for study, its only test for theory. 
It is scarcely a profession, but is advancing rapidly toward that dig- 
nity. A distinct department of literature has been assigned to it. 
Great editors are writing autobiographies and formulating their 
methods and opinions ; historians are rescuing from oblivion the 
every-day life of deceased journalists ; reprints of interviews with 
famous journalists, touching the different phases of their profession, 
are deemed worthy of publication in book form. Leading universities 
have contemplated the inauguration of courses of study specially 
designed to fit men and women for the duties of the newspaper 
sanctum. These innovations are not untimely, since no other class 
of men are so powerful for good or ill as editors. More than any 
other class they form public opinion while expressing it, for most 
men but echo the sentiments of favorite journalists. Even statesmen, 
ministers and learned professors not unfrequently get their best 
thoughts and ideas from the papers they read. 

The first newspaper published in Monroe county was the Missouri 
Sentinel. It was established in 1840, by Lucien J. Eastin, who con- 
tinued its publication until 1843, when it was purchased by James M. 
Bean and John Adams, who changed the name of the paper to the 
Paris Mercury, the name it bears to-day. In 1844 the paper was 
owned and edited by John Adams and J. R. Abernathy. In 1845 J. 
R. Abernathy became the sole proprietor. In 1848 it passed into the 
hands of Abernathy & Davis, and in 1851 James M. Bean and A. G. 
Mason purchased it and ran it until 1874 as partners, when Mr. Bean 
died. On January 24, 1875, in order to release Mr. Bean's interest, 
the paper was sold, and William. L. Smiley purchased one-third inter- 
est, which was Bean's share. After twelve months, Thomas P. Bashaw 
bought out Smiley, and at the end of five years sold his interest to" 
Joseph Burnett. The paper is now owned, edited and controlled by 
A. G. Mason and Joseph Burnett. 

The Mercury, reaching back almost contemporaneously with the 
organization of the county, has been an important factor in the building 

8 



200 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

(ip of the materiul interests of the county — in making its location and 
advantao-es known — and by its advocacy of such measures and princi- 
ples as always tended to the best interest of the people.* 

The Monroe Api^eal was established in Monroe City by M. C. 
Brown and H. A. Buchanan, October 8, 1865, the date of its first 
issue. It afterwards passed into the hands of R. B. Bristow, and was 
burned, while in his possession, May 6, 1872. It was re-established 
by M. C. Brown and J. B. Reavis on the 26th of the same month. 
B. F. Blanton having secured a half interest, the paper was moved to 
Paris on the 22d of August, 1873. It was conducted by Blanton & 
Reavis for a short time. On the 17th day of October, 1873, E. M. 
Anderson purchased the interest of Mr. Reavis. 

The N'eios was established in Monroe City by Samuel H. Hallock, 
January 14, 1875. He ran it three years and sold to Peirsol and 
Chandler, who, after six months, sold to G. W. Johnson, who con- 
tinued the publication of the paper for two and a half years, when Mr. 
Hallock again purchased it. Mr. Hallock is now the sole editor and 
proprietor. The News is Democratic in politics. 

Monroe County Democrat was started by R. H. Womack, the first 
issue of the paper appearing August 16, 1882. Mr. Womack sold 
the paper to Prof. T. Wright & Bro. in April, 1883, and they sold to 
P. S. Jakobe July 24, 1884. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

The schools of the county are sharing with the contents of the news- 
boy's bundle the title of the universities of the poor. The close 
observation 6f the working of the public schools shows that if the 
induction of facts be complete, it could be demonstrated that the pub- 
lic schools turn out more men and women better fitted for business 
and usefulness than most of our colleges. The freedom and liberty 
of the public schools afford less room for the growth of elfemiuacy and 
pedantry ; it educates the youth among the people, and not among a 
caste or class, and since the man or woman is called upon to do with a 
nation in which people are the only factors, the education which the 
public schools afi'ord, especially when they are of the superior stand- 
ard reached in this country, fit their recipients for a sphere of useful- 
ness nearer the public heart than can be obtained by private schools 
and academies. The crowning glory of American institutions is the 
public school system ; nothing else among American institutions is 
intensely American. They are the colleges of democracy, and if this 
oi-overnnient is to remain a republic, governed by statesmen, it must 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 201 

be from the public schools thej must be graduated. The amount of 
practical knowledge that the masses here receive is important beyond 
measure, and forms the chief factor in the problem of material pros- 
perity ; but it is not so much the practical knowledge, which it is the 
ostensible mission of the public schools to impart, that makes the sys- 
tem the sheet anchor of our hopes. It is rather the silent, social 
influence which the common schools incidentally exert. It is claimed 
for our country that it is a land of social equality, where all have an 
equal chance in the race for life ; and yet there are many things which 
give the lie to this boasted claim of aristocracy of manhood. Our 
churches are open to all, but it is clear that the best pews are occu- 
pied by the men of wealth and infl^uence. The sightless goddess 
extends the scales of justice to all, but it will usually appear that there 
is — money in the descending beam. It requires money to run for 
office, or at least it takes money to get office. The first appearance 
of the American citizen of to-day, however, is in the public schools. 
If it is a rich man's son, his class-mate is the son of poverty. The 
seat which the one occupies is no better than that occupied by the 
other, and when the two are called to the blackboard, the tine clothes 
of the rich man's son do not keep him from going down, provided he 
be a drone, neither do the patches on the clothes of the poor man's 
son keep him down, provided he has the genius and the application 
to make him rise. The pampered child of fortune may purchase a 
diploma at many of the select schools of the land, but at the public 
schools it is genius and application that win. That State or nation 
which reaches out this helping hand to the children of want, will not 
lack for defenders in the time of danger, and the hundreds of thou- 
sands of dollars annually expended for the common education of chil- 
dren is but money loaned to the children, which they will pay back 
with compound interest Avhen grown to manhood. In a common 
unassuming way our schools inculcate lessons of common honesty. 
The boy hears his ftither make promises and sees him break them. 

Mr. Jones is promised $20 on Monday ; he calls on Monday and again 
on Tuesday, and finally gets the $20 on Saturday. The boy goes with his 
father to church, and frequently gets there after the first prayer. In 
vain does that father teach his boy lessons of common honesty, when 
the boy knows that the father disappointed Jones, and never reaches 
the church in time. The boy soon learns at the public school that 
punctuality and promptness are cardinal virtues ; that to be tardy is 
to get a little black mark, and to absent a day is to get a big black 
mark. 



202 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

A public school in which punctuality and promptness are impartially 
and fearlessly enforced, is a most potent conservator of public morals. 
It has been often said that the State of Missouri has not only been in- 
different to the subject of education, but that she has been hostile to 
the cause of common schools. To prove that these are gross misrep- 
resentations, and that her attitude towards an interest so vital and 
popular does not admit of any question, it is only necessary to say 
that the constitutions of 1820, 1805 and 1875 make this subject 
of primary importance and guard the public school funds with zealous 
care. The fact is, the constitution of no State contains more liberal 
and enlightened provisions relative to popular education, than the 
Constitution of Missouri, adopted in 1875. During the past sixty-two 
years of her existence not a solitary line can be found upon her stat- 
ute books, inimical to the cause of education. No political party in 
all her history has ever arrayed itself against free schools, and her 
Governors, each and all, from 1824 to the present time (1884), have 
been earnest advocates of a broad and liberal system of education. 
As early as 1839 th« State established a general school law and system. 
In 1853 one-fourth of her annual revenue was dedicated to the main- 
tenance of free schools. Her people have taxed themselves as freely 
for this cause as the people of any other State. With the single 
exception of Indiana, she surpasses every other State in the Union in 
the amount of her available and productive permanent school funds ; 
the productive school fund of Indiana being $9,065,254.73, while that 
of Missouri is $8,950,805.71, the State of North Carolina ranking 
third. The State of Indiana levies a tax for school purposes of six- 
teen cents on the $100 of taxable value, and does not permit a local 
tax exceeding twenty-five cents on that amount. The State of Mis- 
souri levies a tax of five cents and permits a local tax of forty cents 
without a vote of the people, or sixty-five cents in the county districts 
and $1 in cities and towns, by a majority vote of the tax-payers voting. 
For the year ending in April, 1880, only two counties in the State 
reported a less rate of local taxation than the maximum allowed in 
Indiana, only one the amount of that maximum, and the average rate 
of all the counties reported was about thirty-nine cents, or fourteen cents 
more than the possible rate of that State. It may not be known that 
Missouri has a greater number of school-houses than Massachusetts, yet 
such is the fact. The amount she expends annually for public education 
is nearly double the rate on the amount of her assessed valuation, that 
the amount expended by the latter State is on her valuation ; while 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 203 

the public school funds of Missouri exceed those of Massachusetts 
$5,405,128.09. 

The Missouri system of education is perhaps as good as that of any 
other State, and is becoming more effectively enforced each succeed- 
ing year. The only great fault or Uick in the laws iu reference to 
common schools is the want of executive agency within the county. 
The State department should have positive and unequivocal supervi- 
sion over the county superintendent, and the county superintendent 
should have control over the school interests of the county under the 
direction of the State superintendent. When this is done the people 
of the State will reap the full benefits that should accrue to them from 
the already admirable system of free schools which are now in 
successful operation throughout the State. 

The public schools of Monroe county were organized aoon after the 
close of the Civil War. At first a prejudice existed in the minds of the 
people, generally, against the public school system, but as time passed 
and the practical utility and great benefits arising therefrom were 
fairly demonstrated, this prejudice gradually subsided, and now the 
public schools are regarded with great favor by all. 

From a few straggling log-cabin school-houses, which were poorly 
supplied and equipped with conveniences for instruction, and illit)er- 
ally patronized, the number has increased to 108, many of which are 
first-class in appearance and appointments and all are neat and com- 
fortable and during the school year are filled with as bright and intelli- 
gent a class of pupils as can be found anywhere. 

One hundred and twenty-five teachers are employed to take charge 
of these schools. Fifty of these are males and sixty-five are females. 
The males receive a salary of $42 a month, and females $32. There 
are in the county,. according to the enumeration for 1884, 2,992 white 
male children, 1,323 colored male children, 2,728 white female children 
and 304 colored female children, making a total of 6,347. 

The county has a magnificent school fund which is exceeded in 
amount by only five counties in the State. The school fund now 
reaches the sum of $110,062.92. During the year 1883 there was 
paid to teachers the sum of $27,639.17; for repairs and rents, 
$1,326.35, and for erection of school-houses, $1,789.85. 

The schools are under the excellent management and superintend- 
ence of Prof. Lewis, who brings to the work many years of experi- 
ence and, being energetic and thoroughly qualified, the public schools 
through his instrumentality have attained a degree of excellence of 
which the people of the county may well feel proud. 



204 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



APPORTIONMENT OF MONEY TO EACH DISTRICT. 



District. 



Amount. 



No. 2 $42 08 

No. 3 26 05 

No. 1 29 95 

No. 2 197 05 

No. 3. . • . . . 107 29 

No. 4 19 95 

No. 5 79 82 

No. 1 244 42 

No. 2 102 79 

8 153 06 

4 230 72 

5 221 58 

6 149 29 

1 158 59 

2 123 08 



No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 8. . . 

No. 1. . . 

No. 2. . . 

Monroe Citv 



No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 

No. 2. . . . 

No. 3. . . . 

No. 4. . . . 

No. 5. . . . 

No. 6. . . . 

No. 1. . . . 

No. 2. . . . 

No. 3. . . . 

No. 4. . . . 

No. 5. (col'd) 

No. 1 133 03 

No. 2 Ill 22 

No. 3 130 85 

No. 4 93 79 

No. 5 126 48 

Paris 1053 88 

No. 2 122 90 

No. 3 189 96 

Total 



47 


35 


113 


62 


97 


07 


82 


84 


175 


17 


78 


10 


136 


21 


97 


92 


557 


06 


145 


78 


75 


15 


127 


57 


104 


80 


91 


74 


246 


69 


203 


31 


181 


63 


243 


67 


122 


96 


97 


93 


116 


14 


102 


47 


184 


44 


95 


61 


95 


01 


115 


14 


91 


26 


39 


10 



Amount to 
Each Child. 

$2 00 



District. 



Amount. 



00 

49 

49 

49 

49 

49 

28 

28 

28 

28 

28 

29 

36 

36 

36 

36 

36 

36 

36 

2.36 

2 13 

2 13 

2 13 

2 27 

2 27 



27 

27 

47 

71 

71 

71 

27 

27 

27 

27 

2 27 

2 27 

2 17 



No. 4 170 44 

No. 1 160 91 

No. 1. (col'd) . . 121 91 

No. 2 190 91 

No. 3 202 38 

No. 4 99 97 

No. 5 156 01 



No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 



5. (col'd) 
1. . . . 



73 14 

. 131 17 

. Ill 08 

82 51 

60 66 

. Ill 01 

. 120 18 

99 50 

No. 2 185 39 

No. 3 218 41 

No. 4 96 49 

No. 5 109 21 

No. .304 72 

No. 1 250 08 

No. 2 112 68 

No. 3 105 78 



No. 4. . . . 

No. 5. . . . 

No. 6. . . . 

No. 7. (col'd) 

No. 8. (col'd) 



No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 



77 09 
75 88 
85 10 
85 10 

41 38 

42 39 
47 37 

211 97 
177 06 
90 13 
141 27 
131 53 
77 84 
68 20 
87 68 



No. 4. . - . . 

No. 5 

No. 

No. 1 359 21 

No. 2 120 46 

No. 3 131 43 

No. 4 166 46 

No. 5 153 33 

No. 1 108 36 

No. 2 114 72 

No. 3 203 98 

No. 4 108 36 

No. 5 189 09 

No. <! 150 86 

No. 7 176 37 



Ammmt to 


Each Child. 


2 


15 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


31 


2 


31 


2 


42 


2 


42 


2 


42 


2 


42 


2 


42 


2 


54 


2 


54 


2 


54 


2 


54 


2 


54 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


30 


2 


49 


2 


49 


2 


49 


2 


49 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


43 


2 


49 


2 


13 


2 


18 


2 


18 


2 


18 


2 


19 


2 


12 


2 


12 


2 


12 


2 


12 


2 


12 


2 


12 


2 


12 



$14,618 11 



CHAPTER XIII. 

BENCH AND BAR— CRIMES AND ACCIDENTS. 

Introductory Remarks — Priestly H. McBride — David Todd — Austin A. King — Ezra 
Hunt — A. B. Chambers — Albert G. Harrison — John Anderson — James R. Aber- 
nathy — Present Members of the Bar — Crimes and Accidents — Miss Jennie Searcy 
Killed by a Train of Cars — W. T. Johnson — Jeptha Heathman — George Stayton — 
Robert Cummings — William Rouse — W. O. Creason. 

Horace Greeley once said that the only good use a lawyer could be 
put to was hanging, and a great many other people entertain the same 
opinion. There may he cause for condemning the course of certain 
practitioners of law, but the same may be said within the ranks of all 
other professions. Such men should not be criticised as lawyers, doc- 
tors, or the like, but rather as individuals vvho seek, throngh a pro- 
fession that is quite as etssential to the welfare of the body politic as 
the science of medicine is to that of the physical well being or theol- 
ogy to the protection of moral natnre, to carry out their nefarious and 
dishonest designs, which are usually for the rapid accnmulation of 
money, although at times for far more evil and sinister purposes, and 
which are the instincts of naturally depraved and vicious natures. 
None of the professions stand alone in being thus afflicted. All suffer 
alike. The most holy and sacred offices have been prostituted to base, 
uses. And it would be quite as unreasonable to hold the entire medi- 
cal fraternity in contempt for the malpractice and quackery of some 
of its unscrupulous members, or the church with its thousands of sin- 
cere and noble teachers and followers, in derision for the hypocrisy 
and deceit of the few, who simply use it as a cloak to conceal the in- 
tentions of a rotten heart and a corrupt nature, as to saddle upon a 
profession as great as either the shortcomings of some of its individ- 
ual members. 

By a wise ordination of Providence, law and order govern every- 
thing in the vast and complex system of the universe. Law is every- 
thing — lawyers nothing. Law would still exist though every one of 
its professors and teachers should perish from the face of the earth. 
And should such a thing occur, and a new race spring up, the first 
instinctive desire of its best men would be to bring order out of chao< 
bv the enactment and promulgation of wise and beneficial laws. Law 

(205) 



206 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ill the abstract is as much a component part of our phmet as are the 
elements, earth, air, fire and water. In a concrete sense, as applied 
to the government of races, nations and people, it plays almost an 
equally important part. Indeed, so grand is the science and so noble 
are the objects sought to be accomplished through it, that it has in- 
spired some of the best and greatest men of ancient and modern times 
to an investigation and study of its principles ; and in the long lifte of 
great names handed down to us from the dim and shadowy portals of 
the past, quite as many great men will be found enrolled as members 
of the legal profession as in any of the others and owe their greatness 
to a sound knowledge of the principles of law, and a strict and impar- 
tial application of them. Draco, among the first and greatest of 
Athenian law-givers, was hailed as the deliverer of those people 
because of his enacting laws and enforcing them for the prevention of 
vice and crime, and looking to the protection of the masses from 
oppression and lawlessness. It is true that many of the penalties he 
attached to the violation of the law were severe, and even barbarous, 
but this severity proceeded from an honorable nature, with an earnest 
desire to improve the condition of his fellow-men. Triptolemus, his 
contemporary, proclaimed as laws: " Honor your parents, worship 
the gods, hurt not animals." Solon, perhaps the wisest and greatest 
of them all, a man of remarkal)le purity of life and noble impulses, 
whose moral character was so great, and conviction as to the public 
good so strong, that he could and did refuse supreme and despotic 
power when thrust upon him, thus replied to the sneers of his 
friends : — 

Nor wisdom's plan, nor deep laid policy 
Can Solon boast. For when its noble blessings 
Heaven poured into his lap, he spurned them from him. 
Where were his sense and spirit, when enclosed 
9 He found the choicest prey, nor deigned to draw it? 

Who to command fair Athens but one day 
Would not himself, with all his race, have fallen 
Contented on the morrow? 

What is true of one nation or race in this particular is true of all, 
viz. : that the wisest and greatest of all law-makers and lawyers have 
always been pure and good men, perhaps the most notable exceptions 
being Justinian and Tribonianus. Their great learning and wisdom 
enabled them to rear as their everlasting monument the Pandects and 
Justinian Code, which, however, they sadly defaced by the immoral- 
ities and excesses of their private lives. Among the revered and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 207 

modern nations will be fonnd, conspicuous for their great services to 
their fellows, innumerable lawyers. To the Frenchman the mention of 
the names of Tronchet, Le Brun, Portalis, Roederer, and Thibaudeau 
excites a thrill of pride, of greatness and ofgratitude for their goodness. 
What Englishman, or American either, but that takes just pride 
in the splendid reputation and character of the long line of England's 
loyal lawyer sons. The Bacons, fiither and son, who with Lord Bur- 
leigh, were selected by England's greatest queen to administer the 
affairs of state, and Sonimers and Hardwicke, Covvper aud Dunnino-, 
Elden, Blackstone, Coke, Stowell, and Curran, who with all the 
boldness of a giant and eloquence of Demosthenes, struck such vig- 
orous blows against kingly tyranny and oppression ; aud Erskine and 
Mansfield and a score of others. 

These are the men who form the criterion by which the profession 
should be judged. And in our own country have we not names 
among the dead as sacred and among the living as dear? In the 
bright pages of the history of a country, founded for the sole benefit 
of the people, and all kinds of people, who, more than our lawyers, 
are recorded as assisting in its formation, preservation, and workino- 
for its perpetuity. 

The American will ever turn with special pride to the great Web- 
ster, Rufus Choate, William Wirt, Taney, Marshall, and a hundred 
others, who reflected the greatest honor upon the profession in our 
own country. And among the truest and best sons of Missouri are 
her lawyers, and even in the good old county of Monroe some of 
her most highly esteemed and most responsible citizens are members 
of this noble profession. 

The following sketches include only some of the earliest attorneys, 
who either presided on the bench or practiced at the bar of the Mon- 
roe circuit. For many of the facts and incidents herein related we 
are indebted to Judge Bay's Bench and Bar. 

PRIESTLY H. m'bRIDE 

(The First Circuit Court Judge of Monroe County). 

This gentleman was a judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri dur- 
ing 1845 and 1846. He was a native of Kentucky, and born, raised 
and educated near Harrodsburg. He received a good education, 
studied law in Kentucky, came to Missouri when quite young and 
located in Columbia, Boone county. On December 11, 1830, he was 
commissioned as judge of the second judicial circuit. 

On January 1, 1836, the Legislature adopted and passed a consti- 



208 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

tutional amendment, which, among other things, vacated all the judicial 
offices. Judge McBride, however, refused to give up his office, stating 
as a reason that the amendment had not passed by the requisite 
majority, and alleging also their irregularities. An information in the 
nature of a writ of quo loarranto was taken against him, requiring him 
to show cause by what authority or commission he continued to exer- 
cise the duties of the office, etc. In answer to this the defendant 
pleaded his commission of December 11, 1830. To this plea a 
demurrer was filed and the question of the validity of the action of 
the general assembly was thus raised. The real point in the case was 
this : The amendment had been ratified by a vote of two-thirds of a 
quorum of the house, but not two-thirds of all the members, which 
the judge contended was necessary. 

The case went to the Supreme Court, where it was held that two- 
thirds of a quorum was sufficient. This, of course, ousted Judge 
McBride from the office. The reader will find the case reported in 
4th Missouri Reports, p. 303. 

The same legislature organized a new circuit composed of the 
counties of Marion, Lewis, Clark, Monroe, and probably Shelby, and 
Judge McBride was appointed to that circuit, where he remained until 
he was appointed judge of the Supreme Court in 1845. During part 
of his judicial service he resided in Paris, Monroe county. 

In politics he was an uncompromising Democrat, but took no active 
part in the political contests of the State while on the bench. In 
January, 1829, he was appointed by Gov. Miller secretary of State, 
and resigned in 1830, in order to accept the judgeship of the second 
judicial circuit. He was in no sense a brilliant man, though he made 
a fair judge. 

DAVID TODD. 

Few of the early judges of Missouri were better known than David 
Todd, who for many years presided over the most important circuit 
in the State. He was the oldest son of Gen. Levi Todd, of Ken- 
tucky. His mother was a Briggs, and niece to Gen. Benjamin Logan. 

David Todd received a liberal education, was well versed in Greek 
and Latin, and had some knowledge of French and Spanish. He was 
educated at Transylvania University in Lexington. He pursued his 
legal studies at the office of Judge Bibb, of Lexington, and was 
admitted to the bar of Kentucky in 1810. He served several terms in 
the Kentucky legislature with distinction, and when Missouri was 
admitted as a State, came over and located in Franklin, Howard 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 209 

county. He did not practice long before he was appointed judge of 
the Howard circuit. 

He presided at the first court held in Cole county on June 5, 1821. 
After a long and successful professional career he died in 1859 in 
Columbia, Boone county, which had been his place of residence for 
over 30 years. 

He was by no means a brilliant man, yet he possessed a vigorous, 
well balanced mind, and had a very clear comprehension of the princi- 
ples of the law. He was, moreover, a man of kind heart and tender 
feelings, as the following incident related by his son well illustrates : 
" One day, " said his son, *' I was traveling in Texas, and stopped for 
dinner at a large farm house. As I dismounted a venerable-looking 
gentleman came out to receive me. We soon fell into conversation, 
during which I casually mentioned my name, when with some emotion' 
he remarked that the best friend he had ever had was of the same 
name — Todd — ' Judo;e David Todd. ' I told him that that was the 
name of my father. He seemed greatly excited — got up and shook 
me cordially by the hand and remarked that he was tried before my 
father for murder, and was indebted to him for his life. He then pro- 
ceeded to relate the circumstances as follows: He said that some 
40 years before he was residing in Missouri ; that he attended a public 
gathering of the people in his neighborhood ; that he was challenged 
by several young men to wrestle, and on every occasion was success- 
ful ; that a general roAV took place, resulting in a murderous attack 
upon him ; that in repelling the assault, he struck one of them with 
a club, producing his death ; that he was arrested and indicted upon 
the charge of murder and tried before my father ; that the trial pro- 
duced intense excitement, his friends and enemies being present in 
full force. After the jury rendered a verdict of acquittal the court 
adjourned. All was tumult and excitement. In the midst of it the 
sheriff tapped him on the shoulder and whispered to him to slip away 
quietly from the crowd and go to the Judge's room in the hotel, as the 
Judge wanted to see him immediately. He obeyed the summons, and 
found the Judge in his room. That the Judge told him he had sent 
for him to let him know that his life Was in imminent danger; that a 
plot was on hand to kill him, and that daylight must not find him in 
the county. He told the Judge that he had a horse, but very little 
money, and was poorly jDrepared to start on a long journey. 
Said he, ' your father took out his pocket-book and handed me all 
the money in it. He also gave me a paper upon which was marked 
the route to Louisiana and a letter of introduction to his (the Judge's) 



210 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

brother in the parish of Saint Landry. ' Said he, 'I left that night, 

followed your father's instructions, and have never been in Missouri 

since. ' Here the old man's utterance failed, and still holdins: me 
with a firm grasp he wept like a child. " 

AUSTIN A. KING. 

Missouri has been fortunate in the selection of her chief magistrates ; 
for, with few exceptions, they were men of learning, ability and in- 
tegrity. Such was Austin A. King, who was born in Sullivan county, 
Tennessee, on September 21, 1801. 

He received an ordinary English education, but after determining 
to follow the law as a profession, took private lessons in Latin and 
Greek and became a fair scholar. His father was a farmer and Aus- 
tin rendered him efficient aid in the cultivation of his farm, and by so 
doing acquired habits of industry and labor which proved very service- 
able to hyn in after life. After reaching his majority he commenced 
the study of the law, which he pursued for several years with great 
diligence. Then he removed to Columbia, Boone county, Missouri, 
and commenced the practice. 

He had not long been a resident of Boone before he was elected to 
represent that county in the Legislature. 

In 1837, he removed to Ray county ; was soon after appointed 
judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which office he held until the 
people of the State, in 1848, elected him to the office of Governor. 
It was during his administration that the railroad system of the State, 
which has contributed so largely to our population and wealth, was 
inaugurated. At the expiration of his term of office he ^^eturned to 
the practice in Ray county. 

In 1860 he was selected to represent his district in the National 
Democratic Convention. When the dark cloud of Civil War rolled 
over the country he raised his voice in behalf of his government and 
was very bitter in his denunciation of secession. 

In 1862, he was selected by the Union party to represent his dis- 
trict in Congress, and voted for a vigorous prosecution of the war. 
This closed his public life, and he died while on a visit to St. Louis, 
in April, 1870, in his sixty-ninth year. Gov. King was a man of vig- 
orous intellect, and rendered a faithful discharge of duty in every 
position to which he was called. 

EZRA HUNT. 

There is no position more difficult to fill, and which furnishes so 
large a field for dissatisfaction and complaint, as that of a nisi prius 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 211 

judge ; and it is gratifying to be able to name one whose judicial ad- 
ministration was the subject of universal praise. 

Judge Ezra Hunt for many years presided over the circuit compris- 
ing the counties of Pike, Lincoln, St. Charles, Warren, Ralls and 
Montgomery. He was born in Milford, Massachusetts, on April 7, 
1790, and entered the freshman class at Harvard in 1812; became 
greatly distinguished in mathematics, which subject was assigned him 
at commencement when he graduated. Upon leaving college he was 
appointed precepter "of Leicester Academy, a position which he held 
until the latter part of 1814, when he returned to Cambridge, with 
the intention of studying divinity, but was soon after persuaded to 
take charge of the academy in Pulaski, Tennessee. His health failing 
him there, he determined to cross the Mississippi, and reached St. 
Louis.in 1819 or 1820, entered the law office of Judge William C. 
Carr, and while pursuing his studies became tutor to the judge's chil 
dren ; was in due time admitted to the practice of the law, and soon 
after settled in Louisiana, then the county seat of Pike county, where 
he remained about three years, when be removed to St. Charles. In 
1831, he returned to Pike, and in 1836 was appointed judge of that 
circuit, the duties of which he discharged many years ; ,then returned 
to the practice, and finally died in Troy, Lincoln county, in 1860, at 
the ripe age of 70 years. 

As a jurist, he was learned, just and true. 

He was not a man who would attempt to impress an audience with 
a sense of his own importance, for he was very unassuming, and cared 
nothing for office, except so far as it enabled him to accomplish some- 
thing for the public good. In 1845 he was in the convention called 
to revise the State constitution. 

Judge Hunt was noted for his illegible writing. A man named 
Gregory called upon him for his opinion in a land suit and the judge 
promised to write it out and send it to him ; the opinion was sent, but 
neither Gregory nor any other person could read it. Gregory some- 
time afterwards asked the judge to read it to him, and after an exami- 
nation of it the judge said, " Some d d fool has been trying to write, 

but failed." 

Gregory said, "Judge did you ever write to me about that case of 
mine?" The judge took the hint, got the cue and read it oflf easily, 
saying, " Anybody but a d d fool could read that." 

A. B. CHAMBERS. 

Adam Black Chambers was born in Mercer, Mercer county, Pa., 
January 9, 1808, and received an academic education in that State. 



212 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Ill 1830 he came to St. Louis, and after reraainiiig there a few weeks 
moved to Bowling Green, in Pike county, where he completed his 
legal studies and was admitted to the bar. It was not long before he 
was appointed circuit attorney for the Pike circuit, and in that capacity 
exhibited talents of a high order. The fact that Mr. Chambers dis- 
charged the duties of the office with signal ability is the best evidence 
of his legal attainments. He was a fluent and logical speaker, never 
indulging in flowery declamation, and his good, practical sense paved 
the way to professional success. In July, 1837, he purchased an 
interest in the Missouri Republican and at once became its editor, 
which position he retained for 18 years. The marked ability with 
which that paper was edited during Mr. Chambers' life is too well 
known to need any comment. Under the editorial management 
of Mr. Hyde and the proprietorship of the Messrs. Knapp, the .paper 
still maintains its supremacy as a Western journal. His fine business 
qualifications were frequently called into requisition and he became, 
at different times, connected with important corporations, in some of 
which he acted as president. He died in St. Louis, May 22, 1854, in 
the forty-seventh year of his age. He left a widow and three chil- 
dren — son and two daughters — also, two step-sons. His remains 
were placed in Bellefontaine Cemetery, a cemetery in which he had 
taken deep interest, and to the adornment of which he had largely 
contributed. 

ALBERT G. HARRISON 

was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, on June 26, 1800. At the 
age of 18 he entered the junior class of the academical department 
of Transylvania University, and in 1820 took the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts. He made himself familiar with the French and Spanish lan- 
guages, which proved very advantageous to him in the prosecution of 
his profession. After completing his course in college he entered the 
law department of the same university, and in 1821, obtained the 
degree of Bachelor of Laws, and entered upon the practice of the 
law in Mount Sterling. 

In 1827 he removed to Callaway county, Missouri, and settled in 
Fulton. In 1828 President Jackson appointed him one of the visitors 
to attend the annual examination at West Point. In 1829 he was ap- 
pointed one of the commissioners to adjust the land titles growing 
out of Spanish grants; and, after holding the office a few years, re- 
signed and became a candidate for Congress, and was elected for two 
successive terms, but died in 1838, before the expiration of his last 
term. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 213 

With his fine education, popular manners, and decided ability, he 
bid fair to become one of the most prominent men of the West ; but 
death, which too often seeks a shining mark, cut him off in the prime 
of life. 

As a member of Congress he was devoted to the interests of his 
constituents. Mr. Harrison was well read in his profession, but em- 
barked too early in political life to distinguish himself as a lawyer, 
though it is said by his contemporaries that he evinced much skill in 
the trial of a cause, and by Iijs pleasant, insinuating manner, won the 
confidence and goodwill of a jury. He was a man of fine personal 
appearance, very attractive in his manner, and possessed rare conver- 
sational powers, which made him popular with the people and gave 
him a passport to public favor. In his social relations he was affable 
and generous to a fault, and when thrown among strangers made 
friends rapidly. 

JOHN ANDERSON. 

This gentleman was one of the earliest lawyers at the Palmyra bar. 
He was a Kentuckian l)y birth and received a good academic educa- 
tion. He emigrated to Missouri about 1830 and settled at Palmyra, 
and died about five years afterwards. Though his professional career 
was short, he acquired considerable reputation as an orator, which 
soon brought him a good practice. He was well read in law, having 
acquired his legal education in the Transylvania Law School, at Lex- 
ington. There are a few persons still living in North-east Missouri 
who recollect him as a man of fine personal appearance, with winning 
and agreeable manners. He was very successful as an advocate, and 
was generally employed in cases where the battle was to be fought 
before a jury. We have not learned that he ever held any oflicial 
position. It is to be regretted that so little is known of one who 
bid fair to obtain professional distinction. 

JAMES R. ABERNATHY. 

Mr. Abernathy was born in Lunenberg county, Va., February 25, 
1795. He was the son of Blackstone and Elizabeth Abernathy. He 
came to Missouri in 1817 and settled in Monroe county in 1831. He 
has had somewhat of a chequered life, about 53 years of which have 
been spent in Paris. He was one of the earliest attorneys to practice 
law in Monroe county, and during the early years of his residence in 
Paris he was prosecuting attorney for this judicial district, his field 
of labor extending over twelve counties. He has also filled the posi- 



214 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

tions of justice of the peace, county and circuit clerk, besides many 
other places of trust in Monroe county. He was editor of the Paris 
Mercury from 1844 to 1848. He was present at the organization of 
the Christian Church, which occurred in 1833. He and six others 
were the constituent members, and he alone is now the only living 
survivor of that little band of worshipers. 

The following story is related of Mr. Abernathy : He was a school 
teacher, and while he was conducting his school, never dreaming of 
the dull principles inculcated by Coke an^l Blackstone, some one of his 
patrons — perhaps the host with whom he boarded — had a bee-gum 
taken from him rather unceremoniously. He was in trouble, and in 
his extremity applied to "Abbey," as he was familiarly called. He 
took the statutes and turned to the index and looked first for " bee- 
gums." Seeing nothing, he turned to " bees," and being still unsuc- 
cessful he next looked for "honey," but his search was a vain one; 
and thus mocked by everj'thing, but being a man of resolution, he 
began to turn leaf by leaf and page after page. He had not pro- 
ceeded far until he came to " forcible entry and detainer." "Ah !" 
said he, "I have it," and he instituted an action for forcible entry 
and detainer for the bee-gum. This was his first case in court, from 
which he afterwards branched out, and he was so well pleased with 
his success that he read law and applied for a license. His case was 
referred for examination to Judge Jack Gordon. It is said Mr. Gor- 
don, who was himself a fine lawyer, though a little eccentric, only 
asked him if he could sing and dance, and these questions being satis- 
factorily answered, he was ready to report. He presented himself at 
the bar and the judge asked him if he were ready to report. His 
answer was that Mr. Abernathy did not know much of the common 
law, but was h — 11 on the statute, and he recommended that the court 
grant him a license. 

Mr. Abernathy possesses a kind, genial disposition and is fond of a 
good joke or story, and relishes them with the same hearty zest that 
he did 60 years ago. Notwithstanding his great age, having nearly 
reached his ninetieth mile-stone in the journey of life, he has a re- 
markably tenacious memory, and can recite early incidents and facts 
with all the apparent ease, as though they had occurred but yesterday. 
He can also give the names of the earliest pioneers of the county with 
great accuracy, not forgetting even Christian names. He is still 
physically strong for one of his age. He has been one of the fixtures 
of Paris and Monroe county for more than half a century, and is 
doubtless more widely known in this region of country than any of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 216 

the pioneers. The old man, whose sands of life have nearly run, who 
has been so long seen upon the streets of Paris, as he walks along with 
a quick and short step, will long be remembered by the boys of the 
town, with whom he has so often traded knives, and by the men, whom 
he so often entertained with his store of anecdotes and incidents of 
early times. 

PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE BAR. 

Theo. Brace, circuit judge ; Thomas P. Bashaw, K. N. Bodine, T. 
B. Robinson, A. M. Alexander, member of Congress; J. H. Rodes, 
county attorney ; T. T. Rodes, Hugh E. McGee, R. A. Bodine, Ellis 
D. Gore, Theo. S. Shaw, Joseph T. Sanford, public administrator ; 
D. R. Davenport, D. G. Davenport, J. C. Peirsol, W. W. Longmire, 
J. T. Lighter. 

CRIMES AND ACCIDENTS. 

There has been but one legal execution in Monroe county. As a 
community the people are as law abiding as the people of any other 
county in the State. Yet there have been crimes committed within 
her borders, a full and complete history of which would occupy too 
much space in our book for record. We have, therefore, recorded only 
a few of the most prominent of these, believing that a perusal of the 
same will be of interest to the reader. Thomas Blue, colored, alias 
Dick Dooley, was tried at the May term of the circuit court, 1867, 
and found guilty of murder in the first degree for killing William 
Vandeventer, a white man, and was hanged June 21, 18(i7, just north 
of Paris. The following men composed the jury : William Dunna- 
way, George F. Palmer, Moses Noel, J. M. Brooks, Henry Evans, 
George Ridings, William Foster, George J. Pinnell, T. T. Rodes, Na- 
thaniel W. Duncan, Joseph L. Hill, William Bohon, George F. Pal- 
mer, foreman. 

MISS JENNIE SEARCY KILLED BY A TRAIN OF CARS. 

On Monday, December 6, 1875, Miss Jennie Searcy was run over 
and killed by the cars. We copy from the Appeal: — 

Stoutsville was the scene of a most distressing and heart-rending 
accident on last Monday morning. Miss Jennie Searcy, a young lady 
of 16, and a boy by the name of Elliott were going from Elliottsville 
to Stoutsville, and were walking upon the railroad track about a mile 
and a half from Stoutsville, when engine No. 35 came along and over- 
took them ; the engineer, Mr. Donald, invited them to get on and 
ride to the station,' which they did. He stopped for them to get off 
and they alighted and started to cross the railroad track immediately 
behind the engine, thinking it was going to move on. At the same 
instant, the engineer reversed the engine and started back, knocking 

9 



216 HISTORY OF MONROK COUNTY. 

down the young lady, who uttered one scream, and the wheels of the 
engine passed over her body leaving it a mangled, mutilated, lifeless 
corpse. The engine also struck the boy but he managed to escape un- 
hurt. The girl was a daughter of Mrs. Searcy, a widow who resides 
in Elliottsville, and was much esteemed by all who knew her. No 
blame was attached to the engineer, as they (the girl and boy) were 
so near the engine when attempting to cross that he could not see 
them. 

W. T. JOHNSON. 

A committee of citizens near Middle Grove was preparing to hold 
a picnic on September 18, 1876, and a difficulty originated over the 
letting of a booth or stand for selling refreshments. Another com- 
mittee of arrangements met at the druoj store of Nave & Johnson. 
Mr. Thomas H. Hocker came into the room and after conversing upon 
some other subject relating to the picnic, said he wished to put in a 
bid on the booth. Mr. W. T. Johnson, being one of the committee, 
rather objected to Mr. Hocker putting in a bid on the booth, and 
remarked he expected to occupy the booth himself, and was willing 
to leave the price of the booth to the committee. Some angry words 
passed between the parties, which resulted in Johnson's ordering 
Hocker out of the store, and shortly after caught hold of Hocker to 
enforce his order, and led or pushed him out on the platform in front 
of the store. As soon as Johnson released Hocker, the latter rushed 
upon Johnson and stabbed him near the left of the left lung, it is sup- 
posed with a small pocket knife, severing the sub-clavian artery. 
Friends interfered, and Mr. Johnson went back into his store and in 
a few moments expired. Mr, Hocker was promptly arrested. Shortly 
after his arrest he expressed a desire to see his mother. He was ac- 
companied to his residence by a guard, and it was thought he passed 
on immediately through the house and out the l)ack door and made his 
escape, leaving the guard in front of the house. 

Mr. Hocker was raised in this county. Mr. Johnson was from Boone 
county. Hocker was tried and acquitted, and now resides in Texas. 

JEPTHA HEATHMAN. 

Dan Hendricks shot and killed Jeptha Heathman on the 11th day 
of December, 1877. On the morning of the 11th, Mr. Hendricks 
drove over to Mr. Heathman's in a two-horse wagon, taking with him 
two hands. The hands and the wagon were left standing in the road. 
Mr. Hendricks got over into Mr. Heathman's corn field and went to 
where Mr. Heathman and two little boys were gathering corn. After 
the wagon was loaded the two boys went with it to the house, leaving 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 217 

the two men alone. What occnrred after that no one knows but Mr. 
Hendricks, for when the boys returned to the field they found their 
father in the agonies of death — too far gone to speak to or recognize 
them. Mr. Hendricks says after the boys left he and Mr. Heathman 
attempted to have a settlement, when Heathman disputed the account 
and in an angry and threatening manner began to roll up his sleeves. 
Hot words passed between the parties and Mr. Hendricks says Mr. 
Heathman assaulted him with his pocket knife. Then he drew his 
revolver — a small five shooter, and shot Mr. Heathman, the ball 
enterino; Heathman's left breast, about two inches above and to the 
right of the heart. The two men then grappled and during the 
scuflie Mr. Hendricks again discharged his revolver, the shot this 
time missiuo;. Durinij the scuffle Mr. Heathman received two cuts on 
the back of the head, which appeared to have been made with the 
hammer of a revolver. It appears after the affray Mr. Heathman 
attempted to go to his own home, but fell and expired about eighty 
yards from where the difficulty occurred. Hendricks surrendered 
himself to the constable. 

Hendricks was finally acquitted.^ 

GEORGE STAYTON KILLED BY HIS BROTHER. 

At half-past one o'clock on the morning of the 24th of December, 
1882, at the dwelling place of widow Stayton, two miles south-east of 
Clapper Station, a fratricidal homicide occurred, seldom equaled — 
either by brutality or fiendishness, in the annals of crime. The family 
in question consisted of the widow, her daughter Miss Mary, and two 
sons — James and George W. — the latter recently married to Mar- 
garet M. 7iee McLeod. The night of the tragedy they sat up until a 
late hour, engaged in social converse, nothing occurring either by word 
or action to irritate the mind or create unpleasant feelings. At the 
hour above mentioned, when all were wrapped in sleep (except the 
murderer), George's wife was startled irom her clumber by a loud 
report, which she could not under the circumstances well define, 
whether it was the report of a pistol, the slamming of a door or a 
crash of falling timbers. She immediately attempted to arouse her 
husband to ascertain the cause of the noise, but all her efforts to effect 
this object failed — he neither by word, sign or motion made any 
response. She then screamed for help to the balance of the family 
who slept up stairs. In the meantime she looked across the room and 



1 Paris Appeal. 



218 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

by the feeble light she saw James Stayton standing on the floor, in his 
night clothes. She asked him what he was doing and he answered 
'• nothing." She asked him if he had shot George, and he 
answered — "I have not; what is the matter with George; 
had I not better go and get a doctor." '* Yes, go 
immediately, " she said. He then proceeded to light a 
lamp, went up stairs, dressed himself and then went to the stable — 
got a horse and fled to parts unknown. All this occupied but a few 
moments. The female portion of the family were in the meantime 
applying remedies to restore vitality to a dead man, thinking he was 
attacked by a congestive chill in consequence of his previous sickness 
of ten days. Some time had elapsed in their vain efforts in this 
direction ere the fatal wound was discovered. It was produced by a 
32 caliber ball which entered about an inch back of the right ear, 
ranged upvvards and lodged in the brain. Only a few drops of blood 
exuded from the wound, on the pillow, which were covered by the 
position of the head. This settled the matter of the cause of death. 
The nearest neighbor was immediately apprised of the horrid deed. 
The news spread rapidly and a force collected who made arrangements 
to pursue and arrest the murderer. A warrant was issued by 'Squire 
Fields and placed in the hands of the leader, Robert F. Parsons, who, 
with a few determined men, struck his trail. All these arrangements, 
however, required time, which gave the off'ender some four or five 
hours the start. The pursuing party arriving at Stoutsville, tele- 
graphed to the Paris authorities that if James Stayton put in an 
appearance there to take charge of him. Shortly after the receipt of 
the telegram Officer Thalus Hocker of that place arrested Stayton 
near the Glenn House. Stayton had a pistol cocked in his pocket, but 
did not resist and was lodged in jail. It appears that his object was 
to catch a train and make his escape. When within a few miles of 
Paris he turned his horse loose and walked into the town. 

In justice it must be said that the unfortunate offender had for 
some years manifested at times strong evidences of insanity, resulting 
from an injury sustained by being thrown from his horse, which was 
subsequently intensified by a sun-stroke. He was declared to be in- 
sane and sent to the insane asylum, where he now is. 

ROBERT CUMMINGS. 

May 31, 1883, Robert Cummings was killed in Madison, Monroe 
county, by Clifton Wade. Several parties were at Madison on the 
day of the occurrence, drinking freely, among them Robert Cummings, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 219 

but Cumrnings had not created any particular disturbance. Clifton 
Wade had also beeu drinking. Prior to this — two or three months 
previously — Cumrnings and Wade had a fight, the latter getting the 
better of his antagonist. Last Saturday they both appeared to be 
prepared for war, and got into a difficulty. Wade struck Cumrnings 
on the back of the head with a weight, and as Cumrnings turned 
round, Wade shot him in the forehead. He lived until about one 
o'clock Sunday morning. No inquest was held on Cumraing's body, 
and no special effort made to arrest Wade, by the people of Madison. 
Slieriff Jackson sent his deputies on Sunday, but when they arrived, 
Wade could not be found. Four hundred dollars were offered for 
Wade's arrest, but he has never been found. ^ 

WILLIAM ROUSE KILLED BY AN UNKNOWN PARTY. 

[From the Mouroe City News of March 1, 1883.] 

There was considerable excitement aroused in our city last Sund*ay, 
a little after one o'clock, when Al. Adams came riding in from the 
south, with the intelligence that he had found a man lying dead in 
the road, near a vacant house on John O. Wood's farm, about a mile 
and three-quarters south-east of town. A number of men and boys 
at once procured horses and started for the place, accompanied by 
'Squire T. J. Griffith. When they arrived at the spot where the dead 
man laid, an investigation disclosed the fiict that the dead man was 
J. W. Rouse, better known as " Billy," or " Little Will Rouse," a 
nephew of John W. Rouse, the merchant. 'Squire Griffith, acting as 
coroner, at once impaneled a jury consisting of W. P. Bush, J. A. 
Peirsol, J. T. Umstadt, Frank Elliott, S. S. Hampton and Mr. Gibber- 
son, who viewed the body and decided that death resulted from a gun- 
shot wound. The body was then brought to town and laid out in 
Wilson's undertaking establishment, while the inquest was adjourned 
until Monday. A report having been brought in that a man had been 
seen with a gun near the place where the murder was committed, a 
number of our citizens armed themselves and went out after him. 
They hunted until dark, but found nothing and abandoned the search. 

Tracks had been found leading in the direction of the house where 
the body Avas found, and a colored boy named Frank Smith was ar- 
rested on suspicion, and held until sometime Monday when he was 
discharged, there being no evidence to show that he made the tracks. 
It was further proved he had been in town all the forenoon. The 
murdered man had been working for J. H. Sullivan, who lives a mile 
north of town, and had been since' last October. He attended Sunday- 
school at the Methodist Church Sunday morning, and after it closed 
(which was a few minutes before 11 o'clock) he went to his grand- 



1 From the Appeal. 



220 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

father's in the south-west purt of the town, where he remained about 
five minutes, leaving there about half past 11 o'clock, to visit his 
brother, Robert L., who lives three or four miles south-east of this 
place. He was riding a pony belonging to Mr. Sullivan. 

At Sunday-school in the morning, he took out his pocket-book and 
save something when the contribution was collected. Some of those 
m the class with him say he had $2 or $3 in his purse. When the 
body w^as found, both purse and money were gone, showing that 
the murderer's object must have been robbery. When the body was 
found, it was lying in a fence corner, face downward, the hat, which 
was riddled with shot, a few feet away, and the pony standinff in the 
road about fifty yards from the body. J. F. Elder, of Ralls county, 
was the first man who saw the body. He was coming to town after a 
doctor, when he saw it lying there, but supposing the man to be 
drunk, and being in a hurry, did not stop. Soon afterwards, G. W. 
Gallaway and Al. Adams passed along the same road, going east, and 
noticed the body. Their first impression was, the man was drunk, 
and Mr. Adams called to him several times. Receiving no answer, 
Mr. Adams got ofi' his horse and bent over the body, when he noticed 
blood on the back of the head. He took hold of the shoulder and 
found the man was dead. Adams then brought the news back to 
town while Mr. Gallaway rode on to Robert Cranston's and noti- 
fied him and his brother William. The murdered man was a widower 
and leaves two children, who have been living with some of their rela- 
tives, since their mother died. He was of a quiet, retiring disposition 
and is not known to have had an enemy in the world. From the fact 
that he was robbed, it is believed that he was mistaken for some other 
person. This is oidy speculation, however, and the truth may never 
be known. One thing is certain, a cowardly murder has been com- 
mitted and all hope that the perpetrator may be identified and awarded 
the full penalty of the law. The murdered man's remains were buried 
Tuesday at the Moss Chapel. 

Below, we give the main points of Dr, McNutt's testimony : — 

I found four shot-holes penetrating the brain, one entering the head, 
just under the left ear and ranging in the direction of the nose ; eleven 
holes in his body and one through his right arm. From the course 
of the holes he was shot from the left side and from behind ; one or 
two shot had struck his head and not entered his skull ; several shot 
had discolored the skin of his body, but had not entered. I cut one 
shot from the back of his neck and it was pronounced by several par- 
ties as double 00 in size ; some of the holes seemed to have been made 
with larger size shot, I think buckshot ; I think any one of the five 
shot entering his brain would have killed him. 

As above stated, Frank Smith was arrested, tried and acquitted. 
No arrests have since been made, and the foul murder remains a mys- 
tery to this day. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 221 



W. O. CREASON KILLED. 



The Appeal of July 24th says : — 

It l)ecomes our painful duty this week to chronicle the lamentable 
circumstances connected with the shooting of W. TT: Creason, one 
©f the most deplorable and shocking affairs that has ever startled our 
community. Mr. Creason resided ou Long Branch, some fifteen miles 
south-west of this place. He hired a couple of young men last spring 
to work for him, during the wcu'king season. When the harvest ap- 
proached, they informed Creason that they desired to leave as they 
could o-et better wages bv the day in the harvest field than they were 
o-ettin^ by the month. Creason protested against their leavmg him 
before'' their time was up; but they left, he owing one ot them — 
Joseph Kribs — a part of a month's wages, which he refused to pay 
unless Krilis would work his time out. There were some words be- 
tween them when Kribs left. On last xMond:iy evening, having armed 
himself with a revolver, Kribs returned to Creason's, called him out 
to the fence and told him he wanted liim to settle, when Creason 
answered, he had not complied with his contract and that he had no 
settlement to make with him, whereupon Kribs flew into a passion, 
and commenced cursing Creason, who ordered him off his premises. 
Creason got over the fence as he ordered Kribs to leave, who was sit- 
tmcr upon his horse outside of the yard. Kril)s fired upon him as he 
^Tot^upon the ground, the ball entering the right side, just under the 
arm and penetratino- His breast, killing him instantly. After the 
shooting Kribs left in a gallop. Wes. Johnson and Henry Johnson, 
two of the neighbors, came down and informed the sheriff of the ter- 
rible afRiir. Sheriff Pitts procured a writ immediately from Esq. 
Armstrong, of this place, and in company with James Curtright and 
Thalus Hocker, repaired to the scene of the tragedy, and thence to 
the home of the young man in Audrain county where, having pro- 
cured the assistance of several others, he surrounded the house and 
captured him about daylight on Tuesday morning. The Sherifi re- 
turned with the prisoner to Paris, and lodged him in jail. Kribs is a 
vouno- man about twentv-two years, well made and muscular. 
' William O. Creason was one of the most promising and highly 
esteemed young men in the countv. He was about 32 years of age. 
He was a soldier in the First Missouri Confederate Brigade, had tougiit 
upon manv hard contested battle fields, and lost an arm at Corinth 
on the 4th day of October, 1863, while charging the breastworks 
Coming back from the armv without a dollar, he settled with his aged 
father and mother in this "^county, where he has been raising stock, 
and at the time of his death, was prominent among the large stock- 
men, beins a member of the firm of McCann & Creason. Kril)s was 
tried and sent to the penitentiary for 20 years, but after he had 
about half his time was pardoned by Gov. Crittenden. 



serveil 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Mexican War — Call for Volunteers — Monroe County Men — California Emigrants — 
The Scenes in '49 and '50 — Emigrants From Monroe County — Incident — Death 
of Emigrants —The Civil War of 1861 — Number of Men Entering Southern Array 
from the County — The Battle at Monroe City — Capture of Paris — Grant's Expe- 
dition V. Harris — Mercury Suspended — Skirmish Near Elliott's Mills — Florida 
Fight — Bott's Bluff Fight — Lieutenaut Killed by One of His Men. 

MEXICAN WAR. 

We have stated elsewhere in this work that the Mexican War began 
in Maj^ 1846, and during the middle of that month Gov. Edwards, 
of Missouri, called for volunteers to join the " Army of the West" 
in an expedition to Santa Fe. The full complement of companies 
was made up from the following counties, which composed the first 
regiment: Jackson, Co. A, 114 men, Capt. Waldo; Lafayette, 
Co. B, 112 men, Capt. Walton; Clay, Co. C, 113 men, Capt. 
Moss; Saline, Co. D, 94 men, Capt. Reid ; Franklin, Co. E, 117 
men, Capt. Stephenson ; Cole, Co. F, 100 men, Capt. Parsons ; 
Howard, Co. G, 100 men, Capt. Jackson ; Callaway, Co. H, 104 men, 
Capt. Rogers. 

" Our heroes of the former days 
Deserved and gained their never fading bays." 

Monroe county has never been wanting in patriotism, but upon the 
contrary, her citizens have alwaj^s been among the first to respond to 
the call of their country when its honor or its liberty were imperilled. 
Whether they were called to meet the savage Indian at home, or the 
scarcely less civilized Mexican under the burnins; suns of a foreisfn 
clime, they have responded with the same alacrity, and gone forth to 
do battle with an enthusiasm and courage that have ever characterized 
the true soldier. 

The men who buckled on their armor for the distant fields of 
Mexico, numbered about 44, a few of whom had seen service in the 
Black Hawk and Florida wars. These men were mustered in at Fort 
Leavenworth, in July, 1846, and mustered out at the same place in 
September, 1847. They were in the battles of Taos and Morotown, 
and sustained a loss of one man killed, Robert Bower. The following 
(222) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 223 

are the names of the men who went from Monroe county ; the list is 
not quite complete : — 

N. B. Giddings, captain ; Samuel Sproule, first lieutenant, Elijah 
Burton, second lieutenant, T. C. McKamey, third lieutenant; Benja- 
min Owings, C.Nelson, T. B. Giddings, T. Branham, R. Brown, S. 
P. Scaneker, Washington Scaneker, D. Helm, T. Helm, W. McGee, 
Hugh J. Glenn, R. Farrell, — Sharp, R. M. Scott, G. A. Maddox, Rob- 
ert Bower, E. W. Bovver, Richard Poage, R. Burton, A. Burton, T. 
Archer, F. Buckner, W. F. Buckner, Dr. Caskey, 01. Smith, John 
Blanton, C. C. Palmer, Shad Whittington, E. H. Boon, William 
Lightner, — Lightner, Green Berry Featherton, — Featherton, 
Frank Gilbert, N. B. Todd, Frank Helm, Berry Shoot, J. W. Pace, 
Robert M. Scott, William Painter, Rufus Ferrell. 

[From the Paris Mercury of September, 1847.] 

A meeting was held in Paris to make suitable arrangements for the 
reception of the returning volunteers from Mexico. The barbecue 
and reception took place September 29, 1847. 

On motion, the meeting appointed the following gentlemen a com- 
mittee of arrangements: Col. Thomas Nelson, William Orr, J. Twy- 
man, John Wright, Thomas Crutcher, John N. Parsons, Massa 
Tanner, Joel Ma\ipin and J. C. W. McKinny. 

The following were made a committee to select speakers : William 
G. Moore, Dr.^Moss and E. W. McBride. 

On motion, the following gentlemen of the several townships were 
appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions and provisions for the 
festival : — 

Jackson — Bsivid W. Campbell, Joseph H. Fox, William M. Sharp, 

ThoniDSon Holliday, Thomas Pool, J. C. W. McKinny, J. Twyman, 
John S. Convers. Jeferson — Thomns Poage, Dr. Williams, Alex- 
ander Hickman, Dr. McNutt, Joseph Goss. Indian Creek — Joseph 
Hiio-an, Joshua Gentry, Moses Parris, Brooks Bell. South Fork — 
Joliu Cissel, James F. Botts, Samuel Drake, Theodore G. Price. 
Otter Creek — Marion Biggs, William Lamb, Samuel Hill, Bird S. 
Webb. J/«nou — James B. Swindell, N. H. Marders, Henderson 
Davis, Robert Gwynn, Dr. N. Ray, Charles Capp, F. Chandler. 
f7,„on — Charles Allen, J. M. S. Berry, P. Swinney, A. R. Oldham, 
William B. Giddings, William R. Stephens, William Vawter. Wash- 
ington —T>iXY\<\ Thomas, William A. Saunders, Benedict Gough, 
William Goe, Robert T. Smith, John W. Martin, Allen Thompson. 

On motion, the ^iieeting appointed the following gentlemen as a 
committee of invitation and correspondence: Hon. P. H. McBride, 
Maj. William J. Howell and Gen. R. D. Austin. 

It is ordered that the proceedings of this meeting be published. 

On motion, the meeting adjourned. 

Samuel E. Darnes, Sec'y. 



224 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



THE BARBECUE. 

A meeting of the committee of arrangements (for the barbecue to be 
given in honor of the Monroe volunteers) was held on Saturday hist, 
and made the following appointments: Marshal of the day — Col. 
Richard D. Austin. Assistant Marshals — Gen. Anderson W. Reid, 
Gen. William M. Sharp and Maj. Thomas Crutcher. Committee to 
superintend the cooking department — J. Twyman, William Orr, 
William Bridgford and Avory Grimes. 

CALIFORNIA EMIGRANTS. 

No doubt the desire for gold has been the mainspring of all pro- 
gress and enterprise in the county from the beginning till the present 
time, and Avill so continue to remote ages. Generally, however, this 
desire has been manifested in the usual avenues of thrift and industry. 
On one occasion it passed the bounds of reason and assumed the 
character of a mania. The gold fever first broke out in the fVdl of 
1848 when stories began to spread about of the wonderful richness 
of the placer mines in California. The excitement grew daily, feed- 
ing on the marvelous reports that came from the Pacific slope, and 
nothing was talked of but the achievements of gold diggers. The 
papers were replete with the most extravagant stories, and yet the 
excitement was so orreat that the 2;ravest and most incredulous men 
were smitten with the contagion and hurriedly left their homes and 
all that was dear to them on earth to try the dangers, difficulties and 
uncertainties of hunting gold. Day after day and month after month 
were the papers filled with glowing accounts of California. 

Instead of dying out, the fever rose higher and higher. It was too 
late in the fall of 1848 to cross the plains, but thousands of people in 
Missouri began their preparations for starting in the following spring. 
The one great sul)ject of discussion around the firesides that winter 
(1848) was the gold of California. It is said at one time the majority 
of the able-bodied men of the county were unsettled in mind, and were 
contemplating the trip to California. Even the most thoughtful and 
sober-minded found it most difficult to resist the infection. 

Wonderful sights were seen when the emigrants passed through — 
sights that may never be seen again in Monroe cou;ity. Some of the 
emigrant wagons were drawn by cows ; other gold hunters went on 
foot and hauled their worldly goods in hand-carts. Early in the 
spring the rush began. It must have been a scene to liego-ar descrip- 
tion. There was one continuous line of wagons from the Orient to 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 223 

the Occident, as far as the eye could reach, moving steadih' westward 
and, like a cyclone, drawing in its course on the right and left many 
of those along its path. The gold hunters of Monroe crowded eagerly 
into the gaps in the wagon trains, bidding farewell to their nearest 
and dearest friends, many of them never to be seen again on earth. 
Sadder farewells were never spoken. Many who went, left quiet and 
peaceful homes only to find in the " Far West " utter disappointment 
and death. 

Just how many persons went to California in 1849-50 from Monroe 
county cannot at this date be ascertained. It is supposed that the 
parties named below composed the majority of the emigrants from this 
county : — 

John Sears, Alexander Mackey, Hugh Glenn, Frank Buckner, 
William Buckner, Daniel Boon, Jefferson Wilcoxon, D. A. 
McKamey, James Bridgford, Jefferson Bridgford, George Waller, 
James Waller, Thomas McKamey, Dr. G. M. Bower, Waller 
Withers, William Withers, William Withers, James Glenn, James 
Hill, Wesley Hill, Stephen Hill, James H. Smith, Boon Helm, David 
Helm, Fleming Helm, Samuel Sproule, Samuel Gaines, George 
Kipper, Joseph Donaldson, Alexander Thompson, Joseph Thompson, 
John Thompson, John Poage, William Poage, Thomas Cleaver, 
Thompson Holliday, William Hollida}^ Marion Biggs, Thomas 
Farley, Green Featherstone, Charles Featherstone, William Arm- 
strong, Thomas Reavis, David Reavis, William Williams, Curren 
Foreman, Edline Chapman, David Heninger, Joseph Heninger, 
Thomas Dry, Benjamin Davis, Hiram Collins, John M. Bates, Saul 
Threlkeld, Jesse Allen, Harrison Williamson, Will Sparks, John Goe, 
George Goe, Isaac Stalcup, George Bondurant, Vincent Worland, 
James Worland, Zimmerman Zigler, Malk Ashcraft, Adam Heckart, 
James Gough, James Lasley, William Gibson, David Craig, David 
Major, William Gilbert, Frank Williamson, Gose McBroom, Thomas 
Maupin, Taylor Barton, William Fitzpatrick, William Greenwell, Dr. 
M. Gough. 

INCIDENT. 

While the emigrants were passing through the county the following 
incident occurred : A large, burly looking fellow was driving an 
ox team through the principal street in Paris. He was attempting to 
read all the names of the business men as he passed along, but, being 
an uneducated man, he had to spell each name out slowlv and then 
pronounce it. He came to the name of Heitz — Dr. Heitz — and 



226 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

began to spell it — H-e-i-t-z, but before he pronounced the name he 
exclaimed, "Dutchman, by G — d!" Dr. Heitz happened to be 
standing in his office door at the time, and it is said enjoyed the matter 

exceedingly. 

[From Paris Mercury.] 

We are indebted to Mr. David A. McKamey, who has just returned 
from California, for the following list of persons who have emigrated 
from Monroe and died in that country. We truly S3'mpathize with 
those who have received the sad intelligence of the death of their 
friends and relatives who have died in the distant region : — 

Emigration of 1849. — Thomas Blane, Isaac Martin, Albert Arm- 
strong, Thomas Tyson, Tate Packwood, John W. Graves, F. Helm, 
Thomas Glasscock, Milton Vincent, James Ferguson, Thomtis Green- 
ing, Dr. Williams, Hickman, William T. Marr and Vincent 

Worldling. 

Emigration of 1850. — JohnF. Bryant, Thomas Ridgway, Thomas 

Poague, John Saling, Deavers, John Sidner, Franklin Moore, 

Andrew Kippers, George Sheppard, Broaddus, Joseph Smith, 

— Neal, Alvin Musset, Shelt, colored boy ; colored boy, name Shrop- 
shire. 

The above was published soon after 1850. 

THE CIVIL yVAB, OF 1861. 

When the first gun was fired upon Fort Sumpter (April 12, 1861), 
little did the citizens of the remote county of Monroe dream that the 
war which was then inaugurated would eventually, like the simultan- 
eous disemboguement of a hundred volcanoes, shake this great nation 
from its center to its circumference. 

Little did they then dream that the smoke of the bursting shells, 
which hurtled and hissed as they sped with lurid glare from rebel bat- 
teries upon that fatal morning, foreboded ravaged plains — 

"Aad burning towns and ruined homes, 
And mangled limbs and dying groans, 
And widows' tears and orphans' moans, 
And all that misery's hand bestows 
To fill the catalogue of human woes." 

Little did they dream that the war cloud which had risen above the 
waters of Charleston harbor would increase in size and gloom until 
its black banners had been unfurled throughout the length and breadth 
of the land. 

Little did they imagine that war, with all its horrors, would invade 
their quiet homes, and with ruthless hand tear away from their fireside 
altars their dearest and most cherished idols. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 227 

Could the North and the South have foreseen the results of that in- 
ternecine strife, there would be to-day hundreds of thousands of hap- 
pier homes in the land, hundreds of thousands less hillocks in our 
cemeteries, hundreds of thousands less widows, hundreds of thousands 
less orphans, no unpleasant memories, and no legacies of hatred and 
bitterness left to rankle in the breasts of the living, who espoused the 
fortunes of the opposing forces. 

All that transpired during that memorable struggle would fill a large 
volume. Monroe county, as did the State of Missouri generally, suff- 
ered much. Her territory was nearly all the time occupied by either 
one or the other antagonistic elements, and her citizens were called 
upon to contribute to the support of first one side and then the other. 
However much we might desire to enter into the details of the war, 
we could not do so, as the material for such a history is not at hand. 
Indeed, were it even possible to present the facts as they occurred, 
we doubt the propriety of doing so, as we would thereby reopen the 
wounds which have partially been healed by the flight of time and the 
hope of the future. It were better, perhaps, to let the passions and the 
deep asperities which were then engendered, and all that serves to re- 
mind us of that unhappy period, be forgotten. We have tried in vain 
to obtain the number and names of the men who entered the Confed- 
erate, army from Monroe county. No record of them has ever been 
preserved", either by the officers who commanded the men or by the 
Confederate government. 

It is supposed about 600 men went into the Southern army. Hon. 
Theodore Brace raised the first company at Paris for State guards, 
numbering about 70 men. These men went into camp on Elk fork of 
Salt rivert six miles south of Paris. After being in the service six 
months they were discharged, when some of them entered the Southern 
army at the battle of Lexington. 

THE BATTLE AT MONROE CITY. 

The only engagement that took place in Monroe county du ring the 
Civil War of 1861 where cannons were used was the fight at Monroe 
City. The following is a full and true account of the same as given 
by eye-witnesses, and those who participated in the engagement : — 

"The war clouds hovering over North-east Missouri grew blacker and 
blacker, and the rumblings of the battle thundered louder and louder, 
and at last the storm broke. 

Hon. Thomas A. Harris, the representative of this county in the 
Legislature, had been appointed brigadier-general in the Missouri 



228 HISTORY OF MONllOE COUNTY. 

Stiite Guard by Gov. Jackson under the military bill, and had estab- 
lished his headquarters first at Paris, and nex. at Florida, Monroe 
county, whither all the companies of the State Guard in this district 
or division (the 2d) were ordered to repair. About the 16th of June 
Capt. R. E. Dunn's company, near Philadelphia, of this county, took 
up the line of march for this rendezvous. 

Capt. Dunn's men were well organized, disciplined and drilled. 
They were uniformed and armed with muskets purchased the previous 
fall from the Palmyra military company, and presented a fine, soldierly 
appearance. Arriving at Paris, the men from Marion were mistaken 
for Federal troops, and it is said quite a panic and fright ensued 
among Harris and his men. 

The State Guard companies flocked to Gen. Harris in such num- 
bers that by the 5th of July he had probably 500 men in his camp 
near Florida. By their scouts and spies the Federal military com- 
manders were informed of his doings, and Col. Chester Harding at 
St. Louis, under authority from Gen. Lyon, ordered Col. Smith, of 
the Sixteenth Illinois, to march upon him and his fellow secessionist* 
and break up their camp. Smith had himself reinforced at Palmyra 
by four companies of the Third Iowa, one company of the Hannibal 
Home Guards, a piece of artillery, a six-pounder and got ready for 
the work. 

On Monday evening, July 8, Col. Smith marched from Palmyra 
against Tom Harris. His force consisted of Companies A, F, H andK, 
ofthe Third Iowa Infantry ; Companies F and H, of the Sixteenth Illi- 
nois ; Capt. Loomis' company of the Hannibal Home Guards ; the six- 
pounder cannon — in all about 500 men, or not more than 600. The 
expedition Avent per rail to Monroe City, where it arrived in an hour 
and disembarked. It was intended to make a night march on Florida, 
about 12 miles a little west of south of Monroe, and attack Harris' 
camp at daylight, but a severe storm coming up prevented this plan — 
as perhaps it should not have done. 

Tuesday morning (after his men had informed half the people of 
their destination) Col. Smith, with his entire command, not leaving 
even a guard at Monroe City to protect the town, the train and his 
stores of provision and ammunition, set out towards Florida to encoun- 
ter Gen. Harris. As Monroe City is situated in the midst of an ex- 
tensive prairie which stretches miles away in all directions, and as the 
troops were all infantry and marched slowly, their progress could be 
noted for hours, and ample preparation made on the part of the seces- 
r^ionists to receive them, especially as 10 hours' notice had been given 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 229 

of their approach. Passing out of the prairie through the " Swinkey 
Hills " the Federal troops reached the farm of Robert Hagar,^ three or 
four miles north of Florida. Here in the thick timber and brush, 
and on the top of an eminence known as Hager's Hill, they encount- 
ered perhaps 50 secessionists under Capt. Clay Price, who had been 
sent out by Gen. Harris to reconnoiter. These at once, and without 
warning, opened fire from their ambush at close range, severely 
wounding Capt. McAllister and two privates (one named Prentiss) of 
the Sixteenth Illinois, slightly wounding a private of the Third Iowa, 
and killing the horse under Adjt. Woodall, of the Sixteenth. 

The fire was returned and the Missourians retreated, leavins: one 
man mortally wounded, aijd perhaps half a dozen horses. This affair 
took place about four o'clock in the afternoon. Not caring to go on, 
and not daring to retreat through certain bodies of timber in the night 
on his way back to Monroe, Col. Smith went into camp on Hagar's 
farm, near the scene of the fight. 

During the afternoon and night of the 9th, Col. Smith learned that 
he had stirred up a hornet's nest, and that the secessionists were 
swarming all about him, — that they had gotten in his rear and were 
playing havoc at Monroe City, and their numbers were constantly 
increasing. Early on Wednesday morning, the 10th, he began his re- 
treat to Monroe City. On the " Swinkey Hills" his advance guard 
was attacked, but no serious damage done. Emers^ino; from the tim- 
ber north of " Swinkey" or Elizabethtown, and coming in sight of 
Monroe, the Federals discovered the station-house, out-buildings, six 
passenger coaches, and ten or a dozen freight cars in flames. The 
Missourians, Capt. Owen's company, could be seen a mile away to the 
left, or west, w^atching the fire and the Federals. Col. Smith opened 
on them with his cannon and fired half a dozen or more round shots 
at them, one of which, it is said, killed a horse. 

The station-house and train had been fired by 100 mounted seces- 
sionists, under command of Capt. John L. Owen, of Warren town- 
ship, Marion county. The value of the cars destroyed was placed by 
the railroad company at $22,000; the station-house and contents, 
aside from the government stores, $18,000. The value of government 
property taken and destroyed was considerable. The same morning 
the train from Hannibal was fired on a few miles east of Monroe, it is 
said, by some of Capt. Owen's men and by his orders. The engineer 
was slightly wounded by a rifle ball in the arm. 



1 Killed at the battle of Kirksville while serving as captain under Col. Jo. Porter. 



230 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Reaching the town, and finding himself surrounded, Col. Smith 
marched his men into a fine large two-stor}^ brick academy building in 
the place known as the ".Seminary, " took full possession of it and 
the grounds adjoining, around which he began throwing up breast- 
works, having dispatched a messenger to the nearest telegraph office 
to ask for reinforcements. 

Meantime the greatest excitement had arisen in the surrounding 
c6untry, the news that 500 or 600 Yankees were " holed up " or 
"treed up" at Monroe spread like wild-fire. Hundreds of persons 
living within TO or 12 miles of the scene, roused by the messen- 
gers that went galloping over the country, by order of Gen. Harris, 
mounted horses and rode to the "battle," some actuated by mere 
curiosity, others determined to participate in the fight. 

By noon Gen. Harris had collected around him probably 1,000 eflfec- 
tive men, who were reasonably well armed and were eager to take a 
pop at the cooped-up Federals. His skirmishers crawled up as close 
to the academy building as they dared, and fired away at the windows 
and breastworks very briskly, with but little effect, however. The 
Union troops returned the fire at every good opportunity. The main 
portion of Harris' forces were at a safe distance, watching their ene- 
mies and taking pains that they should not escape. 

The night of the 10th, Gen. Harris sent off for a cannon, the nine 
pounder which had been cast by Clever & Mitchell, of Hannibal, for 
Drescher's artillery company, and which was then hidden under a hay- 
stack on the farm of Blair Todd, a few miles north of Palmyra. The 
messengers dispatched for it were George W. Brashears and George 
Milton, of Owen's company, who had assisted in hiding the piece, as 
well as another six-pounder and a lot of balls. The six-pounder and 
the balls were under a pile of cord wood a mile west of Palmyra. The 
six-pounder was not mounted. The nine-pounder was serviceable, 
and with this Gen. Harris hoped to compel the Federals to surrender, 
or else batter down the buildino; and tumble the walls about their ears. 
That night a close watch was kept on the besieged that they did not 
make either a bold sortie or a stealthy attempt to escape. 

Thursday, the 14th, the cannon came to the great delight of the 
Secessionists, and the bombardment beo;an about 1 o'clock. A'stran- 
ger from Ohio was chief gunner. There were only a few nine-pound 
balls and these were soon shot away. Nothing was then left for use 
but the smaller balls, and artillery practice with six-pound balls from 
a nine-pound gun was not certain to be accurate. Some amusino- in- 
cidents were narrated of the cannonading by Capt. Kneisley's o-un. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 231 

It was said that the only safe pUice within its range when discharged 
was only immediately in front of it. One shot, it is stated, struck 
ill the road 30 feet from the muzzle of the gun, and ricocheted over to 
the left a quarter of a mile, struck a blacksmith shop and dispersed a 
crowd of Secessionists, who fled in dismay, declaring they could not 
stand to be fired on by their own men and the Yankees too ! The 
academy was struck but a few times and no serious damage done. 
One shot struck the casing of a window in the upper story, damaging 
the wall and window and passing on through two brick partitions, 
knocking holes 10 inches in diameter and finally fiilling on the floor. 

Another passed through a door and a partition wall in the lower 
story ; a third struck the stone foundation ; one shot passed through 
the breastwork, but did no injury. In the meanwhile the number of 
Missourians gathered around had increased to 1200 or 1500, many of 
whom were not warriors pro tern, but mere spectators who had come to 
see " the fun." Even ladies and children had ridden up in carriages and 
wagons, and seated in their conveyances under the shade of parasols 
and umbrellas, watched the battle, the first perhaps ever graced by 
the presence of the fair sex, out of deference to whose sensibilities it 
is to be presumed the occasion was made as bloodless as possible. 

It was a sort of picnic or holiday and while it lasted nothing 
occurred to mar the enjoyment of the occasion. Not a man was 
killed or badly wounded on either side by an enemy's ball. Gen. 
Harris was a great speech-maker. Where two or three were gath- 
ered together and he in the midst, he would, it is declared, mount the 
nearest elevation and proceed to orate. He could not let this occa- 
sion pass without making one of his noblest efl'orts. At noon on 
Thursday he assembled some of his troops and addressed them. His 
cannon had not yet arrived he told them and without it he could not 
take the academy unless at the sacrifice of many noble lives. He fur- 
ther said a large reinforcement for Col. Smith was hourly looked for 
and he thought the best thing that could be done under the circumstan- 
ces was to retreat. He then directed his troops to disperse, repair to 
their encampments and await orders. This, however, they refused to 
do. Then the cannon came up amid great cheering and the fight was 
resumed, without a leader really on the part of the Secessionists, 
every man fighting " on his own hook." 

Meanwhile Col. Robert Smith was not a little disturbed at the situ- 
ation. He had unwisely allowed the greater part of his ammunition to 
be captured or destroyed and he had but a few cannon balls or shells 
or other artillery ammunition, and so his six-pounder was not of much 

10 



232 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

service. He saved his ammunition in expectation of an assault, by fir- 
ing bolt pins gathered from the ashes of the burnt railroad cars. True, 
his enemies were doinsr him no damage. Out of 25 or more of their 
cannon shots, only three had hit the building', and the shot-guns and 
squirrel rifles could avail but little against strong breastworks and 
brick walls. Yet he feared that another and a more efficient piece of 
artillery might be brought up, and that Gen. Harris' already large 
force would be made larger, before his own reinforcements could be 
brought up. Gen. Harris failed to tear up the railroad track east and 
west of the town, as thoroughly as he could have done, and as he had 
no force in either direction, there was nothing to prevent the arrival 
of reinforcements for Col. Smith from either Quincy, Hannibal or 
Hudson, at all of which points it was known that Federal troops were 
stationed. True, Salt river bridge, to the west 10 miles, had been 
burned, but a transfer could easily be made and the distance soon 
compassed. 

At last they came. 

At about half past 4 o'clock, a train was seen slowly approaching 
from the east, and as it came well in view, it was discovered to be 
crowded with Federal soldiers and upon a flat car a brass cannon 
gleamed ominously in the slanting rays of the declining sun. The be- 
leaguered Federals sent up a loud cheer ; the cannon on the car opened 
with grape and Gen. Harris and his troops, to use an expression com- 
mon in the Civil War, skedaddled inshort order, or rather in no order 
at all. Eye-witnesses describe the scene as highly ludicrous. Many 
of the would-be soldiers hid their guns and sought safety in the car- 
riages with the women and the children. Others galloped wildly 
away. The prairie was covered with buggies, carriages, wagons, 
horsemen and footmen — all fleeing for dear life, and becoming more 
te 'or-stricken every rod they traversed. The majority of the State 
guards, however, retreated in good order to the westward and north- 
ward, carrying off their cannon, which was hidden that night and for 
some days in the timber a few miles north of the town and west of 
Santy Calverts. Capt. Owen took off" his company without much con- 
fusion and disorder. The Federal reinforcement proved to be Cos. 
A, B and D of the Sixteenth Illinois, under Maj. Hays of that regi- 
ment, accompanied by a nine-pound field piece manned by volunteer 
artillerists. The whole force numbered about 275 men and had come 
from Palmyra and Hannibal to relieve their comrades and commander 
from their predicament. While these events were progressing, the 
most painful and exaggerated reports and rumors were flying through 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 233 

the country, reaching not only Palmyra and Hannibal, but Quincy, 
Springfield, Chicago, and even New York and Washington. One re- 
port was, that a desperate battle was taking place at Monroe City, 
and that Col. Smith's regiment had been surrounded and was being cut 
to pieces. The Fourteenth Illinois, Col. John M. Palmer (afterwards 
Major-General and subsequently Governor of the State), and the 21st 
Illinois, Col. U. S. Grant (afterwards Lieutenant-General, etc.), and 
other Illinois troops, in camp at Springfield and Quincy, were ordered 
to the rescue. Palmer reached Monroe City on the morning of the 12th 
and remained two days, returning to Quincy. Grant came up a day 
later and went to Mexico. By Friday morning 2,000 Union troops, 
infantry, cavalry, and artillery, had reached Palmyra on their way to 
the scene of war. 

One body of reinforcements for Col. Smith, under ex-Governor 
Wood, of Illinois, came from Quincy down the river and landed at 
Marion City, and thence marched to Palmyra and on to Monroe. The 
old warehouse at Marion City had been burned a few days before. 
About 1,200 troops started from St. Joseph on the 11th and were 
joined at Hudson (or Macon City) by 700 more. These were 
detained, however, by the burning of Salt river bridge, which locality 
they reached on the 12th. The evening of the 11th the greater por- 
tion of Smith's command, including some of those who had been in 
the seminary, returned to Palmyra. Federal troops soon scattered. 
Grant and Palmer went down on the North Missouri. The Iowa 
troops from St. Joseph returned and Col. Smith remained in this 
quarter. 

Gen. Thomas Harris with a portion of his command went southward 
in the direction of Jefferson City. Near Fulton, Callaway county, he 
was dispersed by a regiment of Home Guards, under Col. John 
McNeil, in an affair that was known as " the Fulton races." In a* "^ew 
days quiet was restored ; trains were running regularly over the road 
by the 18th, transferring at Salt river for a few days until the bridge 
was built. A day or two after the affair at Monroe the Federals 
burned the residence of Capt. John L. Owen and seized a number of 
horses and mules and a laro:e lot of bacon belonofins: to him. This 
was done, as was claimed, in retaliation for his destruction of the 
railroad property at Monroe. 

During the fight at Monroe two or three of Smith's men were 
slightly wounded. Of the secessionists, one man was killed by the 
accidental discharge of his own gun, and another had three fingers shot 
ofl'. Another had a valuable horse killed, and one poor watch-dog, a 



\ 



234 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

non-combutaiit, lost his life by a stray shot. After Gen. Harris had 
ordered the Missoiirians to disperse, the daughter of a prominent citi- 
zen of Marion county, living near Marion City, approached within 100 
yards of the Federal breastworks, cheered for Jeif Davis, and urged 
the secessionists to charge the academy and drive " the Hessians " 
out. Her father and two brothers were in^ the State Guard at the 
time. 

Capt. McAllister and the other men wounded at the " Hagar Hill" 
fight were taken to Palmyra, and Capt. McAllister was given quarters 
at George Lane's hotel — the Overton House. 

Following is Col. Smith's official report to Gen. Lyon : — 

''Headquarters 16th Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, 
Monroe Station, Mo., July 14, 1861. 

Sir : In accordance with your order, on the 8th of this month I 
left my headquarters at Palmyra, Mo., with Cos. F and H of 
the Sixteenth Illinois regiment, and Cos. A, F, Hand K of the Third 
Iowa regiment, and Co. A of Hannibal Home Guards, and one 
six-pounder and proceeded to this place. A heavy rain storm coming 
on retarded our further progress. Early on the morning of the 9th I 
started out in search of the rebel force under Harris. At 4 o'clock 
p. m. when about 12 miles south of Monroe, our advance guard was 
fired into by the enemy, concealed in a clump of timber and brush, 
the first volley severely wounding Capt. McAllister of Co. G, 
Fifteenth Illinois regiment, also Private Prentiss of Co. A, same 
regiment, and slightly wounding a private of an Oliio regiment. I 
immediately ordered a charge and drove the enemy from their cover. 
As they were all mounted it was impossible to follow them further 
with advantage. We found one of their men mortally wounded and 
have reason to believe several more were shot who were carried off by 
their friends, and captured several horses, saddles and bridles. 

We made camp near this place for the night. On the morning of 
the 10th, having heard rumors of trouble at Monroe station, moved 
my command back. On coming in sight of Monroe found the station, 
out-houses, 17 passenger and freight cars and other railroad property 
in flames and found the enemy collected to the number of 300 to 400 
on our left. On nearing them they began to move off, when I brought 
forward the field piece and sent a few round shots into their ranks, 
Scattering them in all directions. The only damage done here that I 
know of was one horse killed. After coming into Monroe I took 
possession of a brick building known as the Seminary and enclosed 
grounds adjoining, its position answering my purpose for defense if 
necessary and the apartments good quarters for the men who were 
without tents. During the day we made several advances on the 
enemy without being able to get near enough to do much damage. 

On the morning of the 11th the enemy began to collect from all 
quarters, and by noon we were surrounded by from 1,500 to 2,000 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 235 

« 

men. At 1 o'clock p. m., they opened fire upon us from one nine and 
one six-pounder,^ at a distance" of about a mile. Their firing was very 
inaccurate, only three shots out of the first 27 strikinir the building, 
and they did very little damage, my men being well covered by a 
breastwork they had thrown up. After throwing their first six shots, 
they moved their cannon some 400 yards nearer and opened fire. 1 
immediately answered with the six-pounder, dismounting their smaller 
o-un, (?) which made a general scattering, and caused them to carry 
their nine-pounder to a safer distance. Their firing from this time had 
little or no etfect 

Much credit is due Capt. Fritz, of Co. F, Sixteenth regiment, for 
the able manner with which he led his men throughout our little expe- 
dition. Also to gunner Fishbourn, who planted his shot among them 
every time, but who had to deal sparingly, as he was almost out of 
shot^ when we were relieved. I was much pleased with the officers 
and men generally, for their coolness and obedience to orders 
throughout. 

At 4 :30 o'clock p. m., of the Uth, a train was seen coming from the 
east with reinforcements. It proved to be Maj. Hays, of my regi- 
ment, with Cos. D,B, and A, of the Sixteenth Illinois, and one nine- 
pounder field piece. The enemy now began to move ofi* and by dark 
had left the field entirely, since which time they have been skulking 
about the country in squads, burning wood-piles, small bridges and 
culverts, when opportunity oflers of doing so without danger. On 
the morning of the 12th, we were again reinforced by Col. Palmer's 
Fourteentirregiment, which returned to Quincy to-day, leaving us in a 
worse position than ever, with the exception that we have more 
ammunition. Col. Palmer brought two brass field pieces with him 
which he took away. Something of the kind would be very accepta- 
ble here just now, as there is a sUght probability of their being use- 
ful. 

I have the honor to be your obedient servant. - 

Robert F. Smith. 

To Brig. -Gen. Lyon. 

CAPTURE OF PARIS. 

Wednesday, July 30, 1862, a few days after the battle of Morris 
Mill in Callaway county, Col. Joseph Porter, coming north into Marion, 
Lewis and other counties, sent Joseph Thompson with a force of men 
who captured Paris. The county officials and a few Union citizens 
were arrested and paroled. Porter came up that night with 400 men, 
and after remaining a few hours left town, going north. 

1 The Confederates had no six-pounders. 

•^ History Marion County, from page 381 to page 389, inclusive. 



236 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



GRANT S EXPEDITION VS. COL. TOM HARRIS. 

The first service in the field (Civil War) performed by Gen. U. S. 
Grant was from Hunnewell to Florida against Col. Harris. (For 
particulars, see history of Shelby county.) 

During the time of Porter's raid, and while the Federals occupied 
Paris, the Mercury suspended — the Union soldiers took possession of 
the office and published (one issue) a red-hot radical paper. 

SKIRMISH NEAR ELLIOTT's MILLS. 

In the early spring of 1862, a band of men under Marion Marma- 
duke were routed near Elliott's Mills, on Salt river above Stoutsville, 
by a company of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia, commanded by 
John F. Benjamin, of Shelby county. The lieutenant and four men 
were captured. Marmaduke leaped his horse over a high bank, swam 
Salt river and escaped. Lieut. Rowland Harvey was taken to Shelby- 
ville and in a few days shot in retaliation for some Unionists killed by 
bushwhackers. (See history of Shelby county.) 

FLORIDA FIGHT. 

July 22, 1862, 400 Confederates under Col. Joseph Porter met 
50 men of the Third Iowa Cavalry, under Col. H. C. Caldwell (now U. 
S. Judge, Eastern District of Arkansas), at Florida. The Confeder- 
ates were returning South from Knox county and met the Federal 
soldiers unexpectedly. A fight ensued. The Federals lost six men, 
killed and wounded — the Confederates, one killed and three wounded. 
The Federals retreated to Paris and the Confederates went south. 

BOTTS' BLUFF FIGHT. 

A few days after the Florida engagement. Col. Porter and the Third 
Iowa Cavalry met again on the farm of Mr. Botts, near Santa Fe, when 
another fight ensued, with a loss to the Federals of one killed and three 
wounded and to the Confederates of one killed and three wounded. 

About May 6, 1862, Lieut. Theodore Brooks, Co. F, Ninth Cavalry, 
Missouri State Militia (Guitar's Regiment), had a scouting party in the 
southern part of Monroe, near Santa Fe. The party was staying at a 
house all night. Confederates heard of them, resolved to take them 
in — capture horses, etc. Made attack ; alarm given ; soldiers ran out at 
stable lot. Lieut. Brooks was shot by one of his own men (Sergt. W. 
W. Conger, of Centralia, who was killed in boiler explosion a few 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 237 

weeks ago ) , and died soon after. It was dark and Conger thought that 
Brooks was a Confederate. Brooks was from Columbia, a gallant and 
talented fellow. 

THE FIGHT AT PARIS. 

On the afternoon of October 15, 1864, at about the hour of three 
o'clock, the Confederate soldiers numbering about 500 men, under 
the command of Col. McDonald, entered the town of Paris from the 
west, in hot haste, with whoofDS and yells. Col. McDonald's object 
was to capture a company of militia, numbering 60 or 70 men, in 
charge of Capt. William E. Fowkes. Capt. Fowkes and his com- 
pany were, at the time, quartered at the Glenn House. The Confed- 
erates at once attacked the building containing the militia, their fire 
being returned in a spirited manner. After firing at each other at 
intervals from three p. m. to six p. m., Capt. Fowkes with his com- 
pany surrendered. The Confederates had kindled a fire under a frame 
building, which stood where the Masonic Hall building now stands, 
and this being connected by other frame buildings with the Glenn 
House, they thus expected to set fire to the latter. This fact being 
made known to Capt. Fowkes, and at the same time a flag of truce 
from Col. McDonald, being borne by Mrs. Fowkes, the Captain's 
wife, who was ushered into his presence, induced him to surrender. 
His men were all ^aaroled, only one person in either command was 
hurt, — a man by the name of Mills, in Capt. Fowkes' company, 
receiving a slight wound. 

MAJ. A. V. E. JOHNSON. 

It was from Paris that Maj. A. V. E. Johnson started (September 
26, 1864,) with detachments of Cos. A, G and H, Thirty-ninth Mis- 
souri, in pursuit of Bill Anderson, George Todd, John Thrailkill, et al. 
The next day, September 27th, the fight occurred near Centralia, 
where Johnson and 122 of his men were killed. 

CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS. 

Capt. Preston Adams, Thomas H. Adams, S. W. Adams, E. M. 
Anderson, Evan Anderson, J. W. Atterberry, Charles I. Allen, Wal- 
ter Ashby, J. W. Arnold, William Brown, John Bryant, George 
Bounds, Crockett Bovver, killed ; Col. Theodore Brace, R. T. Bridge- 
ford, G. M. Bower, James Bower, dead; A. J. Bower, killed ; Henry 
Bell, Edwin Bassett, William Bassett, dead ; Green Bodkins, B. B. Bod- 
kins, Jeremiah Baker, J.K. P. Bozarth, Isaac Beauchamp, John Bridge- 
ford, William Bridgeford, James T. Ball, Henry Bryant, Richard Bry- 



238 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ant, J. O. Coats, G. W. Cro\v, Capt. James P. Crow, Robert Carver, 
Samuel Crutcher, J. Q. Carry, G. M. Curry, R. E. Caldwell, J. R. 
Chauiiing, John C. Combs, John S. Combs, James T. Combs, Man- 
less Curry, Preston Combs, killed ; Isaac Coppage, O. F. Chancey, S. 
Coppage, John Cleaver, Edward Callaway, Jacob Clayton, dead ; James 

A. Dye, John T. Dry, Thomas P. Dawson, B. F. Dowell, 
V. P. Davis, William Davis, John S. Drake, Henry Daniel, 

B. M. Eli, Singleton Evans, A. K. Edwards, James Edwards, J. M." 
Edwards, H. M. Eaton, S. B. Fitzpatrick, Joel A. Foster, Duck 
Fletcher, L. M. Farrell, William M. Farrell, Joseph M. Farrell, Rich- 
ard Farrell, N. B. Farrell, W. S. Forsyth, John Fox, Charles B. 
Grant, W. B. Giddings, Joshua Goodnight, P. H. Goodnight, J. R. 
Grove, A. H. Gvvyn, J, W. Gillespie, dead ; George T. Goe, dead ; 
William Goe, dead ; E. Grigsby, Chilton Gosney, B. F. Hickman, 
James Hulen, Henry Howard, Joseph Howard, chaplain ; Benjamin 
Houtchens, dead; J. H. Harp, J. R. Hanger, C. W. Hanger, John T. 
Hickey, Benjamin N. Harvin, Joseph Hersman, C. E. Holtzclaw, Frank 
Holtzclaw, Capt. W. H. Holliday, Capt. W. G. Hastings, David Hol- 
lingsworth, Al. Hamilton, Gus, Holtzclaw, dead; E. C. Hedden, 
Henry C. Horn, W. C. Horn, E. E. Hickok, Sylvester Hagan, Dud. 
Hagan, J. E. Horn, Samuel Jarber, Nathan King, Joseph Klumph, 
J. D. Kerlin, William Keugh, James E. Lanhan, Thad. Leake, J. M. 
Moore, R. T. Moore, Thomas Moore, killed ; Thomas McBride, John 
McDowell, dead; Rice Maupin, J. R. Moredock, J. B. Morris, Tip. 
Mordens, killed ; Capt. E. D. Major, W. H. Major, James I. Major, 
H. H. Maupin, J. H. Maupin, James E. McLeod, J. D. Mitch- 
ell, John Meadows, E. McGee, James A. McGee, S. H. Mor- 
rison, dead; Thomas Meals, William Noel, S. H. Nave, F. L. 
Pitts, Col. L. A. Piudall, B. F. Power, Hugh Pollard, killed; James 
L. Pollard, B. D. Pollard, Peter Powell, Robert F. Parsons, James 
Pogue, Robert Pogue, W. L. Penn, Silas M. Rodgers, John P. Ruda- 
cill, Philip H. Rudacill, John Rigsby, W. W. Roberson, James Rouse, 
dead; James Raney, Thomas Reavis, E. W. Smith, Robert Swinney, 
William Sparks, killed; Thomas Siduer, killed ; Hugh Stewart, T. B. 
Sprowl, R. H. Smithey, S. W. Smithey, J. E. Smiser, W. E. Smiser, 
Thomas Smiser, T. J. C. Smith, Thomas Sparks, E. P. Snell, Joseph 
Stephens, Albert Shortridgo, William Smith, Walker Stewart, Stephen 
Scobee, Thomas Terrill, Capt. Joseph Thompson, Richard Trussell, J. 
N. Turner, Singleton Thompson, John Tread way, dead ; Neal Turner, 
Richard Thompson, William Utterback, Owen Utterback, John 
Vaughn, dead; Frank Vaughn, Clayton Vivian, Al. Vandeventer, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 239 

Charles Willis, Daniel Waltz, Daniel Woodward, B. T. Welch, killed ; 
S. G. Woodson, John Williams, N. Williams, Capt. B. F. White, 
W. H. Wigginton, G. W. Waller, John M. Wood, Capt. T. V. Wil- 
son, Samuel Wooldridge, W. Wright, Henry White, Thomas White, 
John White, Thomas Woods, Nat Wood, Joseph White. 

UNION SOLDIERS. 

Up to December 31, 1863, Monroe county had furnished 41 men 
for the regular United States service ; in the Missouri State Militia, 38. 

Under calls previous to December 19, 1864, Monroe county furn- 
ished 474, being 7 more than her quota. Under call of December 19, 
1864, the county furnished 134. There was no deficiency under the 
draft. 




CHAPTER XV. 

RAILROADS. 

Missouri, Kansas and Texas and the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroads. 

Man is so constituted that in order to make any appreciable progress 
in prosperity and intelligence he must live in a state of civil society. 
One's wants are so diverse and innumerable, and the physical con- 
ditions of the country in which he lives so varied, that he can not 
possibly supply his needs, either by his individual exertions or from 
the products of any one district of country. Hence, trade and com- 
merce become necessities. One, with given talents and aptitudes, in 
certain territorial conditions, produces to the best advantage a partic- 
ular class of commodities in excess of what he needs, whilst he is able 
to produce only at great disadvantage, or not at all, other commodities 
quite as needful to him as the first ; another produces these needed 
commodities in excess of what he personally requires, but none of 
those which the industry of his neighbor yields. Thus springs up 
trade between the two, and to the advantage of both. As with indi- 
viduals, so with communities and peoples. Nations can not live and 
prosper independent of each other any more than families can live 
independent of their neighbors and prosper. So that, as prosperity 
constitutes the foundation of human progress and civilization, and 
■ince this can not be attained except by means of trade and commerce, 
these become the indispensable conditions to advancement in material 
affairs and in intellig-ence. 

But neither trade nor commerce can flourish without practicable, 
efficient means of transportation. Products must be carried to the 
place of demand at a cost that will leave the producer just compensa- 
tion for his toil after they are delivered and sold and the cost of 
carriage paid. Hence, an adequate means of transportation — meaus 
sufficiently cheap and expeditious — becomes a matter of the first 
importance. Without some such system communities can not be built 
up or be made to flourish. So we see that in earlier times, and even 
yet, where regions of country were and are not thus favored, they 
have been and still are either uninhabited or peopled by semi- 
civilized or barbarous populations. Take the map of the Old World 
(240) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 241 



and scan it; it more than justifies what is here said. In the past 
most, and, indeed, all of the more advanced nations inhabited regions 
of country washed by the seas, or drained by navigable rivers or other 
inland waters. Navigation afforded and still affords to such countries, 
to a measurable degree, at least, the means of transportation required 
for their prosperity and advancement. But the interior, or regions 
far removed from navigation, remained either unpeopled, or in a savage 
or tribal state. So such regions, not penetrated by railways, remain 
to-day, as, for instance, the non-navigable districts of India and Russia 
and other countries. 

The problem of meeting this desideratum of transportation into 
non-navigable regions, which constitute a large portion of the best 
lands of^'the globe, came to be looked upon in early times as, and 
continued up to our own time, one of the greatest with which man- 
kind had to deal. In every country were vast regions with every 
other advantage for supporting prosperous and enlightened commu- 
nities which, on account of their want of transportation facilities, were 
valueless, or worse than valueless — the homes of wild and warlike 
tribes. As more enlightened and progressive peoples sought to ex- 
tend themselves into those regions, the effort was made to supply 
their want of transportation facilities by means of canals, which were 
constructed on quite an extensive scale in some, and, indeed, in most 
of the leading countries of Europe. But the districts of country 
through which canals could be constructed were, of course, compara- 
tively small, and the great problem of interior transportation so far 
as non-navigable regions were concerned, continued open and to 
attract the thought and experiment of the best minds of all countries 
and of every age. At last Stephens' experiment, in 1825, solved the 

great problem. 

It is beyond question that no invention of the present century, and 
perhaps of all time, has proved so beneficial to, and mighty in its 
influence upon the material affiirs of mankind, if not for the general 
proo-ress of the human race, as that of land transportation by steam, 
as I'epresented in our present railway system. An eminent French 
writer has said that "the railway trebled the area of the mhabitab e 
clobe " It has not only brought and is bringing vast regions hith- 
erto valueless under the dominion of civilized man, but has quickened 
and is quickening every movement of humanity in the onward march 
of civilization. Wonderful as have been its results in the develop- 
ment and civilization of our own continent, results at which the world 
stands struck with astonishment and admiration ; wonderful as have 



242 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

been its results elsewhere, and wherever it has penetrated, its achieve- 
ments in the past,, compared to what it is destined to accomplish in 
the future, are as the dust that floats in the air to the suns that people 
the infinity of space. 

The railway has been chiefly instrumental in transforming the wilds 
of this country into great and prosperous States, and in placing the 
American Union in the front rank of the great nations of the earth. 
Speaking of this, in an article in the February number (1884) of the 
Nineteentli Century, in which he strongly urges the establishment of 
an extensive railway system in India, as the surest means of develop- 
ing the natural resources of that magnificent country, Hon. William 
Fowler, Member of Parliament for Cambridge, says : " But if encour- 
agement be needed, it is well to consider what has been done on the 
other side of the Atlantic. Before the railway came to Illinois, it was 
little more than a prairie. In a very few years its produce doubled, 
and now it stands as one of the first producing States of the Union, 
and can point to Chicago as an evidence of its progress. It is diflicult 
to imagine what would have been its present condition had not the rail- 
way come to its aid. Missouri had much facility of water carriage, 
but its progress was very slow until railways traversed it. Nebraska, 
now a most flourishing young State, has been created hy the railway. 
Its vast agricultural wealth must have been locked up indefinitely but 
for the locomotive. The same remark applies to Kansas, now ad- 
vancing with rapid strides. 

«♦ Shareholders may grumble at competition in America, and bond- 
holders may tremble, but the producer flourishes in low rates of 
carriage, and no economical facts are so wonderful as those pre- 
sented by the progress of the United States since the development 
of the railway system. The experience of Canada is hardly less 
remarkable, for I am informed by Mr. Macpherson, of Ottawa, 
that during last year 25,000,000 acres of land were allotted by the 
Dominion Government to settlers or companies. The great temp- 
tation of those who settle in that severe climate is the excellence 
of the wheat land, but it is obvious that without cheap carriage 
no such settlement would be possible, for the produce would be 
unsalable." Thus, the railway is rapidly peopling and developing 
this continent. What it is doing here, it can do elsewhere — in 
India, Australia, Interior Russia, South America, and everywhere, 
where the physical conditions of territory and climate render possible 
the abode of man. It is the great civilizer of modern times, and 
wherever the headlight of its locomotive gleams out, or the shrill echo 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 243 

of its whistle is heard, burbarisni falls back as the darkness of ignor- 
ance before the lis^ht of knowledg-e. 

By the railway communities and States, separated from each other 
by thousands of miles, are made neighbors and the populations of 
whole continents are not only enabled to intermingle and thus benefit 
by association and interchange of ideas, but trade and commerce 
between them, the life-blood of all prosperity and advancement, are 
reduced to a perfect system and to the minimum of expense. Under 
its influence the nations of Europe have been brought more nearly 
under the government of common interests and ideas — in fact, are 
nearer one people, — than the shires and manors of England were 
under the feudal system. And its influence in this direction, as in all 
others for the betterment of the condition of mankind, will go on and 
oi), as the ages roll away, until ultimately the dream of the noblest 
philosophers who have conned the aff'airs of men shall have been real- 
ized — the universal brotherhood of man. 

By the railway space is already practically obliterated. To illus- 
trate this, a fact or two will suffice: The present rate on a bushel of 
wheat from Hnntsville, Missouri, to St. Louis is about 8V2 cents ; the 
rate on to New York is IOV2 ; and from New York to Liverpool, or Glas- 
gow, 4 cents — thus making the rate from Huntsville to Great Britain 
al)Out 22 cents per bushel, or about $7.25 per ton. This is but little 
more than it cost, before the era of railroads, to haul the same amount 
of wheat from Randolph county to Glasgow, Missouri ; so that, prac- 
tically, the market at Glasgow, Scotland, and, indeed, the markets of 
the whole world have been brought nearly as close to the farmers of 
this county as the market at Glasgow, on the Missouri river, only 
twenty or thirty miles away, was in former times. What is true of 
wheat is true, in a greater or less measure, of other products and of 
merchandise, and of everything that ministers to the comfort and 
happiness of man. 

But without this system of railway transportation the present vast 
products of agriculture in the interior would have been impossible, 
and population would still have been compelled to hug closely to the 
coasts of seas and to the shores of inland navigable waters. " Had 
one been asked ten years ago," says Mr. E. Atkinson, of Boston, in 
his paper, in 1880, on *' The Railroads of the United States and their 
ertects on Farming Production," " ' Can 150,000,000 bushels of grain 
be removed from the prairies of the West 5,000 miles in a single sea- 
son, to feed the suffering millions of Europe, and prevent almost a 
famine amongst the nations? ' he who answered ' Yes, it is only neces- 



244 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTIT. 

sary to apply the inventions already made to accomplish that,' would 
have been deemed visionary. It has been accomplished." And, illus- 
trating the same point, a writer, under the caption "The Railroad 
and the Farmer," in the American Agricultural Review for August, 
1882, speaking for Oregon, says: " Our export of wheat to Europe 
had hardly begun ten years ago for lack of cheap transportation to 
the ship. * * * Before the advent of railroads the nominal price 
of farm land was from $5 to $10 per acre, yet its average productive- 
ness was from 25 to 30 bushels of wheat per acre. * ♦ * When 
railroads were built, or since 1873, improved farm land sells readily 
at from $15 to $100 per acre. Wheat has become the principal prod- 
uct. The export of wheat and flour, mostly to Europe, has risen from 
zero to about 5,000,000 bushels per annum, with regular yearly in- 
crease." 

It is this means of getting the products of the interior to market 
that renders the land of non-navigable regions valuable, and indeed 
inhabitable, by civilized man. Ten years ago Oregon exported no 
wheat, for want of railway facilities of transportation. In 1880 she 
exported $5,000,000 worth, and her exports will continue to increase 
until her vast wheat lands, hardly touched yet with the plow, are 
covered with rich harvests, and all her territory is filled with a pros- 
perous and enlightened population. Who can be found, then, bold 
enough to say that the great Commonwealth will not owe its greatness 
more directly to the railway than to any other and all other physical 
causes combined? What is true of Oregon is true of all the States of 
the West, and, in only a less measure, of the other States of the 
Union. Missouri, though essentially a river State, has been built up 
almost alone by the railway since the war. Her vast area of grain 
and stock lands and her other resources have been opened up by the 
railway to industrial development, for by it the markets of the world 
have been brought to her very door. So of Kansas and Nebraska, 
and of Arkansas and Texas. Texas, although with a vast extent of 
sea-coast, has been developed by railway transportation, and there is 
hardly a parallel, even in the history of the Great West, to the won- 
derful progress that State has made in material development, and in 
population, and in wealth and in intelligence. 

No people under the sun have shown the enterprise, even by com- 
parison, shown by the people of this country in railroad building, and 
no people have increased in population and in every measure of ad- 
vancement in a ratio even approaching the progress made by the 
United States. But for railroads this could not, of course, have been 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



245 



done, for the regions accessible by navigable waters would long since 
have been taken up and overcrowded. This country, or rather, the 
people of the country, saw at a glance the importance of railway trans- 
portation to their material prosperity and general interests. Every 
community, wherever settled, turned its attention to railroad building 
in order to open up the territory tributary to it. The result was that 
railroads were pushed in all directions, and are still being extended, 
so that the whole land is rapidly being warped and woofed with a per- 
fect labyrinth of railway tracks. Speaking of this, a recent English 
writer says : " The American, confident of the future, pushes forward 
the railway into the wilderness, certain that the unoccupied land will 
be settled, and that he will get his reward in the increased value 
of this land, as well as in the traffic on his railway." At first, in order 
to make his road self-sustaining, on account of the sparseness of popu- 
lation (indeed, there is often no population at all in large regions 
through which his road passes), and the consequent lightness of busi- 
ness, he is compelled to charge high rates of traffic and of travel, and 
often these rates do not save him, for it is the experience of most roads 
through new States and Territories that in their early years they 
pass into the hands of a receiver. But soon the country tributary to 
them settles up and the volume of business increases, so that they be- 
come prosperous enterprises. 

And it is a remarkable fact that, although railroads in this country 
have had more to contend against and more to discourage them than 
those in any other, they have shown a degree of public spirit and a 
regard for the interests of the communities through which they pass 
unequaled by any other roads on the globe. To those who get their 
information from the average politician, anxious for an office or solici- 
tous to retain one, and who has been refused a pass, this statement 
may sound strange. To begin with, the rates of traffic on railroads 
were higher here than those on the roads of any country in Europe, 
as it would seem they ought to be, for wages and everything else are 
higher, and in most of this country traffic is much lighter than it is in 
Europe. But to-day railway freight rates in the United States are 
lower than the rates in any other country. 

And it is this fact that has proved the salvation of the American 
farmer, and, therefore, of the prosperity of the whole country. But 
for the high railway rates in India and Eussia and in Australia, Ameri- 
can wheat would long since have been driven from the markets of 
Europe. "It costs considerably more," says a recent writer, "to 
carry a ton of wheat 600 miles over the Great Indian Peninsula Rail- 



246 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



way than it does to carry the same quantity 1,000 miles over an 
American line. " There labor is incomparably cheaper than it is in 
this country, the lands are quite as fertile and cheap, and the ship' 
rates to Europe are nearly or quite as favorable as ours. But here 
wheat can be carried from Iowa to New York by rail so cheap that the 
Indian grower, with his present railway rates, can not compete to 
advantage with the American farmer in European markets. In the 
United States rates have been reduced to less than one-fourth of what 
they were in 1865. This reduction is still going on, and with the 
improvements constantl}^ being made in the railway system, it will 
doubtless continue to go on until rates are far below what they are 
to-day. The following table, in which are given the average pas- 
senger and freight rates of six leading Western roads since 1865, 
shows the steady reduction in tariffs : — 

TABLE OF RATES. 



Year. 




Passenger 
Hates Per 
Mile, 
Cents. 


FreightRate 
Per Ton 
Per Mile, 
Cents. 


1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 


























4.81 
4.58 
4.32 
4.17 
3.91 
3.80 
3.58 
3.46 
3.38 
3.15 
3.09 
3.01 
2.94 
2.89 
2.63 
2.59 
2.49 
2.41 
2.38 
2.35 


4.11 
3.76 
3.94 
3.49 
3.10 
2.82 
2.54 
2.39 
2.30 
2.18 
1.97 
1.89 
1.63 
1.61 
1.47 
1.32 
1.20 
1.07 
.97 
.89 



These are the general averages of rates of Western roads, the dif- 
ferent classes and the relative amounts of each class considered,. and 
both through and local rates computed. Similar estimates for East- 
ern roads would of course show much lower rates, as would estimates 
of through rates from the West to the East, as, for instance, grain 
was being shipped in April, 1884, from St. Louis to New York at 
17| cents per 100 pounds, and from Chicago to New York at 15 cents. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 247 

These are the present pool rates, which show a ton-rate per mile of 
about .33 of a cent, instead of .89, as given above Surely, when a 
ton of grain can be hauled three miles for a cent, rates ought to be 
satisfactory to the producer. It is not, therefore, surprising that 
American farmers are the most prosperous class of agriculturists 
on the globe. If, on account of the cheapness, fertility and abun- 
dance of land they can raise produce at a comparatively nominal cost, 
and, by the cheapness of transportation rates, they are placed almost 
as near the markets of Europe as the farmer of France, Enghind or 
Germany, why should they not prosper? The saving to the producer 
and consumer in this country in- a single year from the reductions of 
freight rates made between 1865 and 1879, according to Mr. Poor, an 
American statistician recognized as authority in both America and 
Europe, amounted to over $35,000,000. During the same period the 
rates from Chicago to New York were reduced over $13.50 on the on. 

Nor does it follow that because these reductions have been made, 
freights could have been carried at lower rates than were previously 
charged. As has been said, the increase of population and traffic and 
the improvements made in the railway system have made these 
reductions possible. Freights can now be carried at little more than, 
if indeed not half the rates charged ten years ago. Explaining this, a 
prominent Eastern railroad official recently said : "The economies 
that are being introduced in the management of the railroads of this 
country are very poorly appreciated by the public. With the in- 
troduction of steel rails, with which all the leading lines are now 
equipped, the improved condition of rolling stock, the enormous 
increase in the strength and power of the locomotives and the solidity 
of road-beds, that can only be attained after many years' use, 
together with a multitude of economies that can not be learned without 
many years' practical experience, where so many men are employed 
as are required to handle one of our trunk lines, the actual cost of 
transportation has been reduced far below the point at which a few 
years ago the most sanguine advocate of railroad transportation, as 
the economical successor of all other means of moving freight, did 
not dream. " 

The people of the country are rapidly coming to understand and 
appreciate the importance the railway is to their highest and best 
interests. The old prejudice against railroads is rapidly dying out. 
States and communities, — counties, towns and townships, — and the 
National Government showed commendable public spirit in assisting 
in the construction of railroads in the infancy of the development of 

11 



248 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

our railway system, and because the roads, when constructed, were 
compelled for a time to charge what seemed high rates of traffic, much 
wrath was visited upon the railway, or rather upon railway manage- 
ment. But whether these rates were necessary is shown by the result. 
More men of means have been bankrupted by railway investments, — 
not from mismanagement of the roads, only in exceptional cases, but 
because, by the best management they could not be made to pay at 
the rates charged, — than by any other class of investments. More 
roads have gone into the hands of receivers than any other enterprises 
have in the country, numbers and importance considered, and fewer 
fortunes have been made by railway hi vestments. True, a few great 
fortunes have been accumulated, for the interests involved were of the 
greatest magnitude, so that, if one fails, he fails as Villard did, but it 
he succeeds, he succeeds as Gould has. 

But, however much railways have cost the public generally, who is 
there to question that they have been of greater public benefit than 
their cost, a thousandfold? Missouri's railways cost her in State and 
municipal bonds (county, city, etc.), about $29,000,000. In one 
vear alone, 1883, her taxable wealth increased $63,349,625, not 
including the increase in the value of railway property; and the 
increase of the present year will probably carry the aggregate up to 
$800,000,000. No one will claim that this would have been possible 
without the railway, for Missouri is an agricultural State and to her, 
efficient practicable transportation is everything. So far as the rail- 
roads are concerned, they are of far greater benefit and profit to the 
public at large, and especially to the farmer and business man, than to 
their owners. A fact or two will illustrate this : The net earnings of 
Missouri railroads in 1882, after deducting operating expenses, were 
in round numbers $11,000,000, which was about $2,444 a mile, or less 
than four per cent, on the capital they represent. This is a fair average 
of the profits of the roads generally throughout the country. Where 
is the farmer or business man whose profits are no more than these 
who would not feel outraged if his customers were to denounce him 
for extortion or overcharges? The more one looks for the reasons of 
the late outcry against railroads, the more unreasonable he finds it to 
have been. 

Whilst, in common with all human enterprises and institutions, it 
can not be claimed that railways have always been an unmixed blessing, 
it may be safely said of them that they have been productive of less 
harm to humanity and have resulted in less injury in proportion to the 
good that they have done than any other influence in material affairs. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 249 

They have done more to develop the wealth and resources, to stimulate 
the industry, to reward the labor, and to promote the general com- 
fort and prosperity of the country than any other, and perhaps all 
other, mere physical causes combined. They scatter the productions 
of the press and literature broadcast through the country with amazing 
rapidity. There is scarcely a want, wish or aspiration they do not iu 
some measure help to gratify. They promote the pleasures of social 
life and of friendship ; they bring the skilled physician swiftly from a 
distance to attend the sick, and enable a friend to be at the bedside of 
the dying. They have more than realized the fabulous conception of 
the Eastern imagination, which pictured the genii as transporting in- 
habited palaces through the air. They take whole trains of inhabited 
palaces from the Atlantic coast, and with marvelous swiftness deposit 
them on the shores that are washed by the Pacific seas. In war they 
transport armies and supplies of Government with the utmost celerity, 
and carry forward on the wings of the wind, as it were, relief and 
comfort to those who are stretched bleeding and wounded on the field 
of battle. 

As a means of inland transportation the locomotive has exceeded 
the expectations of even those most sanguine of its usefulness. Since 
its introduction canals have been practically abandoned and river 
transportation has become a matter of comparative unimportance. 
Missouri has a river outlet to the sea, but only an insignificant per- 
centage of her products transported to the Atlantic is carried down 
the river. While a few large shippers of heavy freights in the cities, here 
and there, and the politicians are agitating interior water transportation, 
the vast body of the people are shipping by the railroad. In this age 
" time is money," and the time occupied by freight shipped by river 
is generally of more consecpience to those interested, than the small 
difference of rates between river and railway charges ; and in most 
instances this alleged difference is more imaginary than real. The 
railroads from St. Louis make the same rates on freights for New 
Orleans that are charged by the steamers, and the difference of rates 
from St. Louis to the latter city, and from the former to New York, 
are merely nominal. 

By the railway the shipper, informed what the prices are at the 
wholesale markets to-day, may have his products delivered at 
those markets in 12, 24, or 36 hours, and thus feel reasonably 
safe in the estimates of the prices he expects to get. And 
by abolishing space and uniting the communities of a whole continent 
in one confederacy of trade and interests, regularity and stability are 



250 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

given to prices, for the supply of one section, if that of another fails, 
tends to regulate the general demand. This fall the farmer may sow 
his wheat and this winter fatten his stock with an intelligent and safe 
estimate of the approximate returns he is to receive the succeeding 
year. Nor does a rich harvest in one State glut the markets and 
depreciate the prices to ruinous figures, for the markets of the whole 
world are almost equally accessible, so far as the cost of carriage is 
concerned. The farmer of Missouri is practically as near to London, 
England, to-day as was the farmer in the vicinity of Cambridge less 
than half a century ago, and all Christendom is reduced to narrower 
limits, so far as time of transit is concerned, than the limits of this 
country prior to the era of railroads. Galveston, Texas, is nearer to 
New York by railroad travel to-day than Kansas City was to Hunts- 
ville a few years ago. In making Texas a neighbor to New York 
State and Missouri to Massachusetts, in penetrating the great West, 
the railways have opened up this hiighty region to the flood-tides of 
immio-ration from the East and all the world which have poured into 
and are still pouring in, establishing here the greatest and most pros- 
perous commonwealths in the Union. 

Foremost among the railway systems of the West, and, indeed, the 
greatest combination of railway systems on the globe, is that of 
Gould's Western System, which includes the Missouri Pacific, or South- 
western system, the Wabash, and the Union Pacific systems, aggre-" 
o-ating, in all, over 15,000 miles of main track. The lines of these 
systems penetrate every State of the West and nearly every Territory, 
and aggregate more miles of track than are laid in any country in 
Europe except Germany, France and Great Britain, each of which 
they closely approach in mileage. These three systems are run in 
harmony with each other, and the last two, the South-Western and 
the Wabash, are practically under one management, or, in other 
words, constitute virtually one system of railways. Together they 
aofo-reo-ate over 10,000 miles of road, and include lines of travel in 
12 of the great States of the Union and in the Indian Territory. 
The South-Western and Wabash systems constitute one of the most 
valuable and prosperous combinations of railroads in the United 
States. They were built up of many independent lines in the different 
States, and the Missouri Pacific proper and the old Wabash were taken 
for the basis of the systems. The original roads, of which these sys- 
tems were finally formed, were in many instances in financial and 
business embarrassment, and some of them were in the hands of re- 
ceivers. Largely by the genius of one man, through the assistance 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. - 251 

of the able men he drew around him, the}'' were gathered np, one by 
one, and were united and made to prosper, so that we have seen built 
up in a few years the greatest combination of railroads of the age, a 
work that has been accomplished with such success that one can not 
but view it with mingled admiration and surprise. We can not go 
into the details of the historj'^ of these roads at this time, but must 
confine ourselves to an outline of the South- Western System. 

THE SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY SYSTEM. 

This system includes and operates 5,983 miles of railroad, which 
lie in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, the Indian Territory, 
Louisiana and Texas, and is composed 'of the old Missouri Pacific 
proper, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain 
and Southern, the International and Great Northern, the Central 
Branch of the Union Pacific, and the Texas and Pacific. The follow- 
ing table shows the miles of each division in operation : — 

mileage: 



Missouri Pacific Division .... 
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Division . 
International and Great Northern Division . 
St. Louis and Iron Mountain Division . 
Central Branch of the Union Pacific Division 
Texas and Pacific Division .... 



990 
1,386 
826 
906 
388 
1,487 



Total 



5,983 



As has been said, the Missouri Pacific forms the basis of this sys- 
tem. The charter for this road, or, rather, of its predecessor, the 
Pacific Railroad Company, was granted by the Missouri Legislature by 
act approved March 12, 1849. The Pacific Company was authorized 
to build two lines of road from St. Louis, one, the main line, to Jef- 
ferson and on to the western boundary of the State, and the other, a 
branch, to the south-western part of the State. The capital stock of 
the company was fixed at $10,000,000, and the road received aid from 
the State to the amount of $7,000,000. To aid in the construction 
of the Southwest Branch, as the branch was called, Congress also 
made a grant to the company of 3,840 acres of land to the mile, 
which amounted in all to 1,161,204 acres. Construction of the main 
line was commenced July 4, 1851, but its progress was slow. It 
reached Jefierson City in 1856 and Sedalia in 1861, but was not com- 
pleted to Kansas City until the fall of 1865. The construction of the 
Southwest Branch was even slower, but was finally completed to the 



J52 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

State line by Avay of Springfield. In 1866, however, the Southwest 
Branch was taken possession of by the State for non-payment of in- 
terest on the State subsidy and, with its lands, was sold to the Atlan- 
tic and Pacific Kailroad Company, which company, in 1872, leased the 
lines of the old company, or Kansas City trunk road. The two roads 
were then operated under one management until 1876, when the 
Pacific was sold under foreclosure and conveyed by the purchasers to 
the present Missouri Pacific Company. This company, with a capital of 
$3,000,000, was incorporated October 21, 1876. In the meantime, 
in 1868, $5,000,000 of the State subsidy had been back-paid to the 
State. The amount of indebtedness the new Missouri Pacific assumed 
when it bought the road was $13,700,000. 

Since the completion of the road to Kansas City, it has successfully 
competed with all its rivals for the traffic of the Great West and, 
besides its numerous tributary lines, its connections with other roads 
are such that cars run to and from St. Louis to every point in the 
West and South-west without break of freight-bulk. Its career since 
it became the property of its present owners has been one of unpar- 
alled success, and it has grown from a single line across Missouri to 
one of the most important trunk lines in the Union, with its thou- 
sands of miles of feeders extending in every direction west of St. 
Louis and in the South-west. In 1880 the St. Louis and Lexington, 
the Kansas City and Eastern, the Lexington and Southern, the St. 
Louis, Kansas City and Arizona, the Missouri River and the Leaven- 
worth and North- Western were consolidated with it. This was on the 
11th of August, and tlie authorized share-capital of the consolidated 
company was fixed at $30,000,000. The amount issued to carry out 
the consolidation was $12,419,800. The debt of the company after 
this consolidation was $19,259,000. 

MISSOURI, KANSAS AND TEXAS. 

On the 1st of December, 1880, the Missouri Pacific leased the 
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway for a period of 99 years, the 
consideration paid being the net earnings of the road. The Missouri, 
Kansas and Texas was organized April 7, 1870, by consolidation of 
the Southern branch of the Union Pacific, the Tebo and Neosho, 
the Labette and Sedalia, and the Neosho Valley and Holden. The 
St. Louis and Sante Fe Railroad from Holden, Missouri, to Paola, 
Kansas, was purchased by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas in 1872, 
and the Hannibal and Central Missouri, from Hannibal to Moberly, 
was purchased in 1874. This is the division of the road which passes 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 253 

through Randolph county and is about 20 mileb in length. It was 
chartered February 13, 1865. The line of the Missouri, Kansas 
and Texas was opened from Junction City to the southern boundary 
of Kansas in 1870, and from Sedalia to Parsons in 1871. From the 
southern boundary of Kansas to Denison it was opened January 1, 
1873, and from Hannibal to Sedalia, in September of the same year, 
thus completing a continuous line from Hannibal, Missouri, to Deni- 
son, Texas. 

The Missouri, Kansas and Texas^ received laro;e OTants of land under 
act of Congress, both in Kansas and in the Indian Territory, and also 
important grants from the State of Kansas. The lands in the Indian 
Territory, however, are subject to the extinguishment of the Indian 
title, and have not therefore become available to the company. This 
road has been mainly instrumental in settling up and developing 
South-west Missouri and Southern Kansas. By it, also, Texas was 
given an outlet to the North, and over its line a perfect stream of 
trade and commerce and of travel, flowed to and from that great 
State. Probably no road on the continent has been of so much value 
and importance to a State or section of country, as the Missouri, 
Kansas and Texas has been and still is to Texas. Over it population 
has pushed into the State and settled up all of its northern counties, 
a section of country nearly as large as the entire State of Missouri. 
Hundreds of thousands of people have been added to its population, 
and millions of property have augmented its wealth. The Missouri, 
Kansas and Texas has been to Texas what the Missouri river was in 
pre-railroad days to Central Missouri — the main artery of its popu- 
lation and wealth, and of its general advancement and prosperity. 

In 1882 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas acquired the International 
and Great Northern by the exchange of two shares of its own stock 
for one share of the latter. This exchange increased the share-capital 
of the company by $16,470,000. By the International and Great 
Northern, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas also acquired a land grant 
in Texas of about 5,000,000 acres. With the acquisition of the 
International and Great Northern and other tributary lines, a con- 
tinuous route was given from Hannibal and St. Louis to Galveston, 
Texas, and to Laredo, on the Rio Grande. At Laredo connection 
is made with the Mexican National, which Will lead into the city of 
Mexico, when the present gap in its line shall have been filled up. 



1 The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad was completed through Monroe conufy 
in 1871. This road passes through the entire length of the county. 



254 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



However by the Missouri, Kansas and Texas a through rail route is 
already opened to Mexico, by connection with the Texas Pacific and 
the Mexican Central, which latter is completed to the capital city of 
the Montezumas. 

Official record of the result of the railroad election held in Monroe 
county on the 18th day of April, 1868, and upon which is based the 
subscription of $250,000 stock by said county in the Hannibal and 
Central Missouri Railroad. For county taking stock in railroad : — 



Toionship. 


res. 


No. 


Union 


90 


116 


Marion 


286 


4 


Woodlawn 


50 


34 


Clay 


60 


75 


Washington 


12 


14 


Monroe 


101 


6 


Indian Creel? 


70 


18 


Soutli Fork 


103 


21 


Jefferson 


129 


85 


Jackson ........... 


584 


14 


Total 


1,485 


887 



For Hannibal and Moberly Railroad 

For Tebo and Neosho Railroad .... 

Resistered votes for taking stock In railroad . 

Registered votes against taking stock 

Registered votes for Hannibal and Moberly Railroad 

Rescistei'ed votes for Tebo and Neosho Railroad 



1,201 
448 
141 

45 
128 

12 



Official vote of the county on the question of transferring the 
stock : — 



Township. 



Jackson 

Monroe 

Marion 

Clay 

South Fork 

Union 

WoodlavFn . 

Jefferson (Florida) 

Stoutsville 

Indian Creek 

Washington 

Total 



Yes. 



1,609 



No. 



781 


80 


142 


24 


295 


55 


31 


94 


37 


121 


59 


128 


2 


142 


77 


58 


86 


5 


67 


44 


32 


118 



870 



Majority for transfer, 739. 

The vote was taken May 9, 1873. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 255 

Oil the 19th of May, 1873, at a meeting of the county court (a 
special term), at which the propositions made by the Missouri, Kan- 
sas and Texas Raih'oad Company was considered, the court appointed 
Abram B. Baylis agent for and in behalf of Monroe county to assign 
and transfer the stock of said county in the Hannibal and Central 
Missouri Railroad Company to the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Rail- 
road Company. 

Hon. A. W. Lamb, of Hannibal, Mo., was appointed by the court 
agent and proxy for Monroe county to vote the stock of said county 
on any proposition which mis^ht be brought before the meeting of the 
stockholders of the Hannibal and Central Missouri Railroad Company, 
having for its object the consolidation of said railroad with the Mis- 
souri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. 

The following are the general officers of the Missouri Pacific Rail- 
way : — 

GENERAL OFFICERS. 

Jay Gould, President, New York City. 
R. S. Hayes, First Vice-President, St. Louis, Mo. 
A. L. Hopkins, Second Vice-President, New York City. 
H. M. Hoxie, Third Vice-President, St. Louis, Mo. 
D. S. H. Smith, Fourth Vice-President, Assistant Secretary and 
Local Treasurer, St. Louis, Mo. 

A. H. Calef, Secretary and Treasurei", New York City. 
John C. Brown, General Solicitor, St. Louis, Mo. 

C. G. Warner, General Auditor, St. Louis, Mo. 

George Olds, General Traffic Manager, St. Louis, Mo. 

W. H. Newman, Traffic Manager Lines South of Texarkana and 
Denison, Galveston, Texas. 

G. W. Lilley, General Freight Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 

H. C. Townsend, General Passenger and Ticket Agent Lines North 
of Texarkana and Denison, St. Louis, Mo. 

H. A. Fisher, Assistant General Passenger and Ticket Agent, St. 
Louis, Mo. 

B. W. McCullough, General Passenger and Ticket Agent, Lines 
South of Texarkana and Denison, Galveston, Texas. 

LOCAL AGENTS. 

G. Meslier, Special Passenger and Land Agent, 102 North Fourth 
Street, St. Louis, Mo. 

W. H. Morton, Land and Passenger Agent, Union Depot, St. 
Louis, Mo. 



256 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

S. W. Elliott, Ticket Agent, 102 North Fourth Street, St. Louis, Ma. 
H. Lihou, Ticket Agent, Union Depot, St. Louis, Mo. 
M. Griffin, City Passenger Agent, 102 North Fourth Street, St. 
Louis, Mo. 

J. C. Nicholas, General Baggage Agent, St. Louis, Mo. 

MR. JAY GOULD, 

the well known president of the South-Western System, is 
certainly one of the most remarkable men of this or any other age» 
A New York farmer's son, self-educated, and starting out in life for 
himself without a dollar, by dint of his own exertions and character 
he has risen to the position of the first railroad manager on the globe. 
A great deal has been said for and against Mr. Gould. A great deal 
has been said for and against every man who has made a distinguished 
success in life. It is one of the conditions of success to be criticised 
and slandered as well as honored and esteemed. But if men are to be 
judged according to the general results of their lives, Mr. Gould has 
nothing to fear for his reputation in history. He has given to the 
country the finest systems of railway and telegraph the world ever 
saw, and if the people do not seem to appreciate 

"What raanuer of man is passing by their doors, " 

the time will come when his services and character will receive the 
homase which is their due. Mr. Gould became the President of the 
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific on the organization of the company in 
1879. Personally, however, he does not direct the affairs of the 
road, but is directly represented in its management, as he is in the 
management of all his other Western roads, by Capt. R. S. Hayes. 

HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD. 

The Hannibal and Joseph Railroad^ was completed to Monroe City 
from Hannibal in 1858, and to St. Joseph in 1859. Along this rail- 
road, for 12 miles on each side of the road, the company was granted 
alternate sections of land by the United States Government in 1852. 

As early as August 11, 1851, we find the following proceedings 
had by the county court in reference to the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad Company : — 

Now, at this day, came R. Stewart, president, and makes a mo- 
tion for the board of directors of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 



1 Only about four miles of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad passes through 
Monroe county. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 257 

road that Macon county take us much as 100 shares of stock in said 
road by authorizing the judges of said court to subscribe the same. 

Whereupon, it is ordered by the court that the county of Macon 
take 100 shares of stock in said road, and that the president of said 
stock subscribe the same, provided said road runs through the county, 
and not prejudicial to the county seat of said Macon county. 

In our history of Buchanan county, we gave some facts in reference 
to the early history and completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad to St. Joseph, and as they will not be out of place here we 
will reproduce them. 

The people of St. Joseph early awoke to a sense of the importance 
and necessity of railroad communication with the East. About the 
first reference to this matter we find in the Gazette of Friday, Novem- 
ber 6, 1846 : — 

"Our country is destined to suffer much, and is now suffering, 
from the difficulty of navigation and the extremely high rates the 
boats now charge. Our farmers may calculate that they will get 
much less for produce and will be compelled to pay much more for 
their goods than heretofore, and this will certainly always be the case 
when the Missouri river shall be as low as it now is. The chances 
are fearfully against having any considerable work bestowed in im- 
proving the river, and until it is improved by artificial means, the 
navigation of it to this point must always be dangerous and very 
uncertain. 

" The prospects for this fall and winter are well calculated to make 
the people look about to see if there is no way to remedy this incon- 
venience, if there can be any plan suggested whereby our people can 
be placed more nearly upon terms of equality with the good citizens 
of other parts of our land. 

*' We suggest the propriety of a railroad from St. Joseph to some 
point on the Mississippi — either St. Louis, Hannibal or Quincy.. For 
ourselves, we like the idea of a railroad to onp of the latter places 
suggested, for this course would place us nearer to the eastern cities 
and make our road thither a direct one; we like this road, too, be- 
cause it would so much relieve the intermediate country which is now 
suffering and must always suffer so much for transporting facilities in 
the absence of such an enterprise. 

" If this be the favorite route, we must expect opposition from the 
southern portion of the State, a« well as all the river counties below 
this. For the present, we mean merely to throw out the suggestion 
with the view of awaking public opinion and eliciting a discussion of 
the subject. In some future number we propose presenting more ad- 



258 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

vantages of such a road, and will likewise propose and enforce by 
argument the ways and means of accomplishing the object." 

The suggestions thus offered of the necessity of a railroad seemed 
to have been universally popular, and through the vigorous action of 
the friends of the enterprise, we find, thus early, a charter granted by 
the Legislature, as follows : — 

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD 

COMPANY. 

Be it enacted hy the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as 

foUoivs : — 

Section 1. That Joseph Robidoux, John Corby and Robert J. Boyd, 
of St. Joseph, in Buchanan county ; Samuel J. Harrison, Zachariah 
G. Draper and Erasmus M. MofFett, of the City of Hannil)al ; Alex- 
ander McMurtry, of Shelby county ; George A. Shortridge and Thomas 
Sharp, of Macon county ; Wesley Halliburton, of Linn county ; John 
Graves, of Livingston count}'^ ; Robert Wilson, of Davies count}', 
and George W. Smith, of Caldwell county, and all such persons as 
may hereafter become stockholders in the said company, shall be 
and they are hereby created a body corporate and politic in fact and 
in name, by the name and style of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 
road Company, and the same title, the stockholders shall be in per- 
petual succession, and be able to sue and l)e sued, implead and be 
impleaded in all courts of record and elsewhere, and to purchase, 
receive, have, hold and enjoy to them and their successors lands, tene- 
ments and hereditaments, goods, chattels and all estates, real, personal 
and mixed of what kind or qualit}' soever, and the same from time to 
time to sell, mortgage, grant, alien and convey, and to make divi- 
dends of such portion of the profits as they may deem proper, and, also, 
to make and have a common seal, and the same to alter or renew at 
pleasure, and also to ordain, establish and put in execution such by- 
laws, ordinances and regulations as shall appear necessary and con- 
venient for the government of such corporation, and not being 
contrary or repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United 
States or of the State of Missouri, and generally to do all and singular 
the matters and things which to them it shall lawfully appertain to 
do for the well being of the said corporation and the due management 
and ordering of the affairs of the same : Provided, alwags, that it 
shall not be lawful for the said corporation to deal, or use or employ 
any part of the stock, funds or money, in buying or selling any wares 
or merchandise in the way of traffic, or in banking or broking opera- 
tions. 

Sec 2. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be $2,000,- 
000, divided into 20,000 shares of $100 each, and it shall be lawful for 
said corporation, when and so soon as in the opinion of the individuals 
named in the foregoing section a sufficient amount of stock shall have 
been taken for that purpose, to commence and carry on their said 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 251) 

proper business and railroad operations under the privileges and con- 
ditions herein granted. 

Sec. 3. That the said company is hereby authorized and empow- 
ered to cause books for the subscription stock to be opened at such 
times and places as they may deem most conducive to the attainment 
of the stock required. 

Sec. 4. The said company [shall] have power to view, hiy out and 
construct a railroad from St. Joseph, in Buchanan county, to Palmyra, 
in Marion county, and thence to Hannibal, in said county of Marion, 
and shall, in all things, be subject to the same restrictions and entitled 
to all the privileges, rights and immunities which were granted to the 
Louisiana and Columbia Kailroad Company by an act entitled " An 
act to incorporate the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company," 
passed at the session of the General Assembly in 1836 and 1837, and 
approved January 27, 1837, so far as the same are applicable to the 
company hereby created, as fully and completely as if the same were 
herein enacted. 

Sec. 5. Nothing in this act, nor in that to which it refers, shall be 
construed so as to allow said company to hold or j^urchase any more 
real estate than may be necessary and proper for the use of the road 
and the business transacted thereon. 

This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage. 

Approved February 16, 1847. 

The following were the 

proceedings of the railroad convention, 

held at Chillicothe, Mo., June 2, 1847. 

Delegates from the various couiities of North Missouri assembled at 
Chillicothe, Mo., on June 2, 1847, according to previous notice. The 
convention was organized in the court-house at 11 o'clock, by calling 
Judge A. A. King, of Ray county, to the chair, and electing Dr. John 
Craven, of Davies county, and Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby county, 
vice-presidents, and H. D. La Cossitt, of Marion county, and Charles 
J. Hughes, of Caldwell county, secretaries. 

It was moved that the delegates in attendance report themselves to 
the secretaries, whereupon the following gentlemen gave in their 
names and took their seats : — 

B. F. Loan and Lawrence Archer, from Buchanan county; Absalom 
Karnes, from DeKalb ; Robert Wilson, John B. Connor, Volney E. 
Bragg, William Peniston, James Turley, Thomas T. Frame, Jacob 
S. Rogers, M. F. Greene, John Mann, Woody Manson and John 
Craven, from Davies county ; George Smith, Patrick Smith, Jesse 
Baxter, A. B. Davis and C. J. Hughes, from Caldwell county; A. A. 



260 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Kiug,^ from Ray county; John Craven, Thomas B. Bryan, Elisha 
Manford, John Harper, F. Preston, F. L, Willard, John L. Johnson, 
S. Munser, John Bryan, B. F. Tarr, Thomas Jennings, William 
Hudgens, William Hickliu, William L. Black, James H. Darlington, 
Eobert Mitchell, John Austin, James Austin and F. Preston, from Liv- 
ino-ston county; Dr. Livingston, from Grundy county ; W. B. Wood- 
ruff, James C Moore, James Lintell, John J.Flora, Jeremiah Phillips 
and W. Halliburton, Linn county; George Shortridge, A.L. Gilstrap 
and Benjamin Sharp, from Macon county ; Alexander McMurtry, from 
Shelby county; Z. G. Draper, James Waugh, Henry Collins, H. D. 
La Cossitt and William P. Samuel, from Marion county. 

On motion of Col. Peniston, it was resolved that a committee con- 
sisting of one member from each county represented in the conven- 
tion be appointed for the purpose of reporting upon what subjects 
this convention shall act. The president appointed Robert Wilson, 
L. Archer, A. Karnes, G. Smith, F. L. Willard, Dr. Livingston, W. 
B. Woodruff, George Shortridge and Z. G. Draper. 

On motion, it was resolved that a committee, consisting of one 
member from each county here represented, be appointed to report a 
basis upon which to vote in this convention. The president appointed 
A. L. Gilstrap, B. F. Loan, William P. Peniston, Thomas Butts, 
Thomas R. Bryan, Dr. Livingston, W. Halliburton and James 
Waugh. 

Georo-e Smith, of Caldwell, presented the following propositions 
for the consideration of the convention, and moved to lay the same 
upon the table, which was done: — 

Whereas, The people of Northern Missouri are in favor of the 
project of a railroad from Hannibal to St. Joseph ; therefore. 

Resolved, By the delegates (their representatives) that we recom- 
mend the following as the best method to procure the means for the 
construction of the same : — - 

First. A liberal subscription by the citizens of the State to the 
capital stock of said company. 

Second. That Congress be petitioned for a grant of alternate sec- 
tions and parts of sections of all vacant lands 10 miles on each side 
of said road, when located. 

Third. That the company procure a subscription to the stock by 
Eastern capitalists, and, should the foregoing means prove inadequate, 
we then recommend that the Legislature pass an act authorizing the 



1 Austin A. King, who presided over this convention, was Judge of the Fifth 
Judicial Circuit, of which Ray county was a part, from 1837 to 1848, when he was 
elected Governor of Missouri. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 261 

company to issue bonds, to be indorsed by the Governor or Secretary 
of State, for the residue ; the company to give a mortgage on the 
whole work to the State, for the liquidation of said bonds. 

The convention then adjourned till afternoon. 

At the opening of the afternoon session, it was resolved that the 
rules for the government of the House of Representatives, of Mis- 
souri, be adopted for the government of this convention. 

A report was adopted, by which the basis of voting in the conven- 
tion was fixed as follows : that each county represented in the con- 
vention be entitled to one vote for every 100 votes therein, by which 
rule the county of Marion was allowed 15 votes ; Shelby, 7 ; Macon, 
9; Linn, 7; Livingston, 8; Grundy, 6; Davies, 9 ; Caldwell, 4 ; 
Ray, 15 ; DeKalb, 3 ; and Buchanan, 22. 

The committee to whom was referred the duty of submitting sub- 
jects for action of this convention reported. 

1. To appoint a committee of three members to draft an address in 
the name of this convention to the people of Western Missouri, setting 
forth the advantages to be derived from the contemplated railroad 
from St. Joseph to Hannibal. 

2. To appoint a committee of three, whose duty it shall be to peti- 
tion the Legislature of Missouri for such aid in the undertakino; as 
can be afibrded consistently with the rights of other sections of the 
State. 

3. To appoint a committee of three to petition Congress for a dona- 
tion of alternate sections of lands within six miles en each side of said 
road when located. 

4. To appoint a committee whose duty it shall be to superintend 
the publication and distribution of the proceedings of this convention, 
together with the charter of the road, and the address to the people 
of Northern Missouri. 

5. Said committees to be appointed by the president and the mem- 
bers of each committee as nearly contiguous as practicable. 

The convention then adjourned till the following morning, when on 
reassembling, the five above mentioned resolutions were unanimously 
adopted, with the exception of the fifth, which was adopted with an 
amendment striking out all after the word president. 

Among other resolutions offered at this session of the convention, 
the following by Judge King, of Ray, was unanimously adopted by 
way of amendment to a similar one offered by Dr. Grundy, of Liv- 
ingston : — 

Resolved, That, whereas, this convention has adopted a resolution 



262 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

authorizing a memorial to Congress for donation of alternate sections 
of land to aid in the construction of the contemplated railroad, also 
authorizing a memorial to the Legislature for such aid in the under- 
taking as can be aflbrded consistently with the rights of other portions 
of the State ; therefore, we, the delegates, pledge ourselves to sup- 
port no man for Congress who will not pledge himself to the support 
of the proposition aforesaid, nor will we support any man for Gov- 
ernor, Lieutenant-Governor, or member of the Legislature who will 
not pledge himself to give such aid in the construction of the said 
railroad consistent with the rights of other portions of the State as 
contemplated by the resolution aforesaid. 

Mr. George Smith, of Caldwell, offered the following resolution, 
which was read and adopted: — 

Resolved, That the committee appointed to petition the Legislature 
be instructed to ask for an amendment to the fourth section of the 
act incorporating the Louisiana and Columbia Railroad Company 
(being the law by which the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Com- 
pany are to be governed), so as to give the power to the president and 
directors of the last mentioned company to call in an amount not 
exceeding 10 per cent every 60 days, and change the notice from 60 
to 30 days. 

The following resolution by Mr. Sharp, of Macon, was adopted : — 

Whereas, It is not only extremely important t® the agricultural 
and commercial interests of the immediate country that a good wagon 
road be opened from St. Joseph to Hannibal, but the United States 
mail stages can not be put in motion on said route until said road shall 
be opened. And 

Whereas, It is of the utmost importance, as well to the whole in- 
termediate country as to the two extremes, that mail facilities be 
speedily obtained in stages through said country. Therefore, 

Resolved, by this Convention, That it be recommended to each 
county through which said road may pass, immediately to open, bridge, 
and put in good repair the said road, in order that mail stages may. 
be immediately started, according to the act of Congress establishing 
said road. 

Mr. Tarr, of Livingston, moved to reconsider the vote adopting 
the third proposition reported by the committee on business, which 
was agreed to. 

He then offered the following amendment to said third proposi- 
tion : — 

Adding to third proposition by the committee on business, as fol- 
lows, "Also to petition Congress that should any of the alternate 
sections on the road, or within six miles on either side thereof to be 
sold at any time subsequent to the 16th day of February, 1847, and 
before the action of Congress in relation to these lands, that other 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 263 

lands be granted as nearly contiguous as possible in lieu thereof. " 
This was agreed to, and the third proposition as amended was then 
adopted. 

Dr. Livingston, of Grundy, offered the following resolution, which 
was adopted : — 

Resolved, That the proceedings of this convention be signed by the 
president, vice-presidents and secretaries, and that the president be 
requested to transmit a copy thereof to each of our representatives in 
Congress, requesting them to use their utmost endeavors to obtain 
from Congress the grant of land contemplated by the proceedings of 
this convention. 

The president then announced the following committees : — 

1. To address the people of Northern Missouri — Archer, Bragg, 
and La Cossitt. 

2. To petition Congress, in accordance with the resolution of the 
convention — Cravens, Halliburton and Shortridge. 

3. To petition the Legislature — Tarr, George Smith, of Caldwell, 
and Dr. Livingston. 

On motion, it was resolved that the thanks of the delegates and 
constituents are due the officers of this convention for the able manner 
in which they have discharged their duties in this convention. 

The convention then adjourned sine die. 

The charter of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad was secured 
mainly by the exertion of Robert M. Stewart, afterwards Governor of 
the State, and at the time of its issuance, a member of the State Sen- 
ate, and of Gen. James Craig, and Judge J. B. Gardenhire, who 
represented Buchanan county in the Legislature. (Gen, Craig 
was afterward president of this road, with two brief intervals, for the 
period of 11 years, from 1861). 

With all the enthusiasm on the part of the people, material aid was 
lacking, as it was not until 1852 that the building of the road became 
a definite fact. At that period, Hon. Willard P. Hall represented a 
district of Missouri in Congress, and was chairman of the committee 
of public lands. By his efforts the passage of a bill was secured grant- 
ing six hundred thousand acres of land to the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad Company, and the success of that long cherished enterprise 
was finally assured. The preliminary survey had been made by Simeon 
Kemper and Col. M. F. Tiernan, accompanied by Robert M. Stewart, 
whose indefatigable efforts in behalf of the interests of the road, con- 
tributed as much if not more than those of any other man to their ulti- 
mate accomplishment. Stewart became afterwards the first president 

12 



264 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNJY. 

ofthe company. The building of tlie road commenced at the east end. 
About the spring of 1857 work was begun on the west end, and by 
March of that year, the track extended out from St. Joseph a 
distance of seven miles. The first fire under the first engine that 
started out of St. Joseph on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Kailroad, 
was kindled by M. Jefferson Thompson. This was several years before 
the arrival of the first through train in February, 1859. (Sometime 
in the early part of 1857). 

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was completed February 13, 
1859. On Monday, February 14, 1859, the first through passenger 
train ran out of St. Joseph. Of this train E. Sleppy, now (1881), 
master mechanic of the St. Joseph and Western machine shops, in 
Elwood, was engineer, and Benjamin H. Colt, conductor. 

The first to run a train into St, Joseph was Geo. Thompson, who 
ran first a construction and then a freight train. 

The first master mechanic of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Eailroad 
shops in St. Joseph was C. F. Shivel. These shops were established 
in 1857. In the following year Mr. Shivel put up the first car ever 
built in the city. 

On the 22d of February, 1859, occurred in St. Joseph the celebra- 
tion of the completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Road. This 
was, beyond doubt, the grandest display ever witnessed in the city 
up to that period. 

M. Jeff"erson Thompson, at that time mayor of the city, presided 
over the ceremonies and festivities of this brilliant occasion. The city 
was wild with enthusiasm and the most profuse and unbounded hos- 
pitality prevailed. 

A grand banquet was held in the spacious apartments of the Odd 
Fellows' Hall, which then stood on the corner of Fifth and Felix 
Streets. Not less than 600 invited guests were feasted here ; audit 
was estimated that several thousand ate during the day at this hos- 
pitable board. 

Broaddus Thompson, Esq., a brother of Gen. M. Jefferson Thomp- 
son, made the grand speech of the occasion, and performed the cere- 
mony of mingling the waters of the two mighty streams thus linked 
by a double band of iron. 

The completion of the road constituted an era in the history of St. 
Joseph, and from that period dawned the light of a new prosperity. 
In the five succeeding years the population of the city was quadrupled, 
and her name heralded to the remotest East as the rising emporium 
of the West. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



265 



III the summer of 1872, the managers of this road commenced the 
building of a branch southward from St. Joseph, 21 miles, to the city 
of Atchison. This was completed in October of the same year. 



MONROE COUNTY BONDED DEBT. 



30 ten per cent. bonds of f 500 each, issued December 

15, 1869, to aid in the construction of the Hannibal & 
Central Missouri Railroad, now the Missouri, Kansas & 
Texas Railroad, interest payable 15th of January and 

July, at National Park Bank, New York 

200 six per cent. 5 year bonds of $100 each, issued May 15, 
1880, 40 do. 6 year bonds of $500 each, 40 do. 7 year, 
40 do. 8 year, 40 do. 9 year, 20 do. 13 year of $1,000 
each, 20 do. 14 year, and 23 do. 15 year, issued May 15, 
1880, under Chap. 83, Revised Statutes, in compromise 
and redemption of bonds issued to the Hannibal & Cen- 
tral Missouri Railroad, now the Missouri, Kansas & 
Texas Railroad, interest payable annually May 15, at 
National Park Bank, New York 

Interest promptly paid; interest tax on $100 valuation 50 
cents. Taxable wealth $5,118,788. 



$15,000 00 



163,000 00 



$178,000 00 




CHAPTER XYI. 

MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 

Old Landmarks — Maj. William N. Penn — Fielding Combs — James G. Fox — Major 
James M. Bean — Death Rates — Births — Hurricane — Agricultural Societies — 
Monroe County Immigration So ciety — Monroe City Immigration Society — Patrons 
of Husbandry — Census of Monroe County in 1848 — 1860 — Population by Town- 
ships in 1880 — Beef Cattle — Bridges, Their Location and Cost. 

OLD LANDMARKS. 

" Can storied urn, or animated bust, 
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? 

Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust. 
Or flatt'ry soothe the dull cold ear of death?" 

One by one have the old hmdraarks of the county disappeared, un- 
til at length but a few remain. These landmarks were early planted 
in the sfenial soil of old Monroe, and some of them breasted the 
storms of three-score years and ten before they were efiaced and 
blotted out of existence. Their lives were such, however, that they 
left behind them pleasant memories — memories which will become 
more and more fragrant as time recedes. 

MAJ. WILLIAM N. PENN. 

The Paris Mercury 'n\ its issue of August, 19, 1873, in noticing the 
death of Major Penn, said: — 

He breathed his last at about one and a half o'clock last night, after 
an illness of only about twenty-seven hours. Was taken with a violent 
attack of cholera morbus, or cholera, about 11 o'clock Sunday night, 
which baffled every effort of our best medical skill to arrest. Thus 
suddenly has passed away one of our oldest, most worthy and useful 
citizens. At the time of his death he held two of the most important 
trusts in the county — that of county clerk and probate judge, the 
last of which was but a few weeks since bestowed upon him through 
the free suffrages of his fellow-citizens, and which fully attested the 
people's confidence in his honesty, integrity and faithfulness in office. 
No man in the county enjoyed a greater degree of the public esteem 
than did Maj .Penn . The greater portion of his time for the last 40 years 
he served the people in important public trusts — always faithful, hon- 
est and true to the trust imposed. He was one of the few men of our 
day, a long time in office, who died poor. But he is gone — taken 
(266) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 267 

suddenly from among those who honored, who loved him and who 
will ever cherish his many virtues. He was a noble man — filling in 
a high degree the duties of husband, father. Christian citizen, public 
servant, neighbor and friend. But why attempt an eulogy? His 
honorable, useful life, is his best eulogy. We commingie'our sor- 
rows with those of our citizens generally, in the loss which society, 
the church and the county at large have sustained in his death. May 
God bless his heart-stricken family and sustain them in this the hour 
of their deep affliction. We can but offer them our heart-felt condo- 
lence. 

FIELDING COMBS. 

[Paris Mercury, Sept., 1873.] 

It becomes our painful duty to record the death of another of our old 
and valued citizens in the person of Mr. Fielding Combs, who departed 
this life at 9 o'clock, on Thursday last, in the eighty-third year of his 
age. A more honorable, upright citizen our county did not possess. 
His word was as good as his bond. He was a brother of the venerable 
Gen. Leslie Combs, of Kentucky, with whom he served with great 
gallantry in the War of 1812, and both were taken prisoners at Gen. 
Dudley's defeat at the battle of River Raisin. He moved to Missouri 
from Kentucky in 1819, and settled in Ralls county, when there was 
but a single inhabitant on the ground now occupied by the city of Han- 
nibal, and that was the person who kept the ferry at that point. 
Thence he moved to Monroe county in 1839, and settled upon the 
farm he occupied at the time of his death. He had been a member 
of the Presbyterian Church some forty years. He died after a very 
short illness. Was taken with cholera morbus on the Saturday pre- 
vious to his death, from which he partially recovered. On Wednesday 
night he was attacked with paralysis of the throat ; was unable to 
swallow anything, and never afterwards spoke. Thus has passed 
away one of the pioneer settlers of Missouri ; one who shared largely 
in the trials and hardships incident to frontier life. He acted well his 
part in life, and died respected by all who knew him. He leaves a 
rich legacy to his devoted children — that of an exemplary life, strict 
integrity and a spotless character, " He rests from his labors and his 
works do follow him." 

JAMES C. FOX. 

James C. Fox died Thursday, August 15, 1878. He was a native 
of Fayette county, Ky., and was born in 1802. At the age of fifteen 
he emigrated to the Territory of Missouri, and located about three 
and a half miles east of Middle Grove, which, for many years after- 
wards, was known as the Fox settlement. In 1822 he was married to 
Miss Ann Smith. The first public road established in the county was 
known as the " Old London Trail." It began at the Fox settlement 



268 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and followed along down the divide between Elk and South fork, cross- 
ing South fork near where the Louisiana road now crosses that stream, 
and from thence on to New London. Mr. Fox assisted in surveying 
and locating this road. About this time (1829) he was appointed 
deputy sheriff and collector of the county (then Ralls), which position 
he held until the formation of Monroe county. When Monroe county 
was detached from Ralls, the commissioners selected to locate the 
county seat, stopped at Mr. Fox's home. In connection with Mr. 
Caldwell, he established the first store that was opened in Paris. 
The county court used to hold its sessions at Mr. Fox's residence. 
In fact, he was one of the noble persons who kiid the foundation for 
the wealth and prosperity of the county, and whose history is so 
closely interwoven with the history of the county, that in giving the 
history of the one you must needs give the history of the other. In 
1860 he lost his Avife, who left two children, Joseph H. Fox, of Shel- 
bina, and Mrs. T. L. Fox, of Quincy, Ills. In 1861 he was again 
married to Mrs. Mildred Caldwell, who, with her daughter, Miss 
Annie May, still survives him. He was one of the six members that 
organized the Christian Church at Paris in 1833, and from that time 
on was one of the pillars of that organization. By energy and econ- 
omy he amassed a large fortune, and spent thousands of dollars for 
the good of others and for charitable purposes. He was a good man, 
in the full sense of those words. 

MAJ. JAMES M. BEAN. ' 

Maj. James M. Bean died at his residence in Monroe county, Janu- 
ary 26, 1874. The Paris Mercury in its issue of January 27th, the 
day after his death, in speaking of him, said : — 

The deceased was born in Frederick county, Virginia, November 
21, 1819. In early life he moved to this State and settled in this 
town. Soon after he came here he became connected with this paper 
and continued with it until his death. He was married in this place 
in the year 1849, to Miss Fannie Runkle, whom he now leaves his 
widow. 

In the year 1854, Maj. Bean was elected as a Whig to represent 
Monroe county in the Lower House of the Missouri Legislature and 
re-elected in 1856. In 1872 he received from the Democratic party a 
nomination for, and was elected a State Senator from the seventh 
senatorial district by a majority more than double the number of 
votes his opponents received, which position he held at the time of 
his death. He had been a faithful, earnest member of the Christian 
Church and for a long time a teacher in the Sunday-school. He was 
a charter member of the Paris Lodge No. 29, I. O. O. F. In all the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 269 

relations of life, he discharged his duty faithfully. As a citizen, 
officer, husband, father or brother, he has left an example worthy of 
imitation. It was no uncommon thing for him to spend in con- 
.stant work in the {Mercury) office, 16 to 18 hours of the day, 
and sometimes 24 hours. By overwork, he made himself pre- 
maturely old, for at 54 his body was literally worn out. Work 
on the Mercury had become a kind of second nature to him and 
he felt restless and dissatisfied when not at work. He loved his 
kind, had a genuine feeling of love for humanity, but loved the peo- 
ple of his county with a love nearly akin to enthusiasm. The paper 
over which he presided and gave his life to make, may be searched in 
vain for one single instance where the interest of Monroe county was 
sacrificed or held of second importance to the interest of any one, 
himself not excepted. 

It is not our purpose to enter into any eulogy upon our former 
associate, for long, pleasant and intimate associations with him, have 
given us an enthusiastic appreciation of his character and we do not 
deem this a proper occasion to give our estimate of the man, but sim- 
ply with a sorrowful heart, to call attention to his labors, the objects 
he had in view and the motives by which he was actuated, as we have 
learned them in our intimacy with him. 

So universally esteemed was Maj. Bean, that the business men of 
Paris closed their business houses until the funeral services were over. 
The St. Louis Republican, the St. Louis Times, and other papers 
throughout the State contained tributes of respect to his memory. 
Appropriate resolutions were offered in the State Senate, of which 
body he was a member at the time of his death, and eulogistic re- 
marks were made thereon by Hon. Chas. H. Hardin, Senators Brock- 
meyer, Ladue, Brown, Williams, Child and others. 

DEATH RATES. 

From the death register of Monroe county, we having taken the 
following facts: Whole number of deaths from July 9, 1883, to 
April 9, 1884, — nine months, 144; males, 64; females, 80. 

The Most Prevalent Diseases. — Flux, 6; consumption, 13; 
typhoid fever, 10; pneumonia, 17. About one-third of the deaths 
occurred from the four diseases mentioned. 

From the number of deaths we give the names and ages of ten of 
the oldest persons : Elizabeth Swinney, 88 years ; Nancy Rouse, 
86; Elizabeth Carter, 86; Jacob Brown, 79: Malvina Young, 78; 
William Davis, 77; Mary Chadwick, 77; Rebecca Todd, 77; Ann 
Fowler, 75 ; Col. A. A. Anderson, 72. 

The death rate would reach 192 per annum, or 10 per cent of the 
population. 



270 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



BIRTHS. 

During the same period there were 355 births. Two hundred and 
two of these were male children. 

HURRICANE. 

[Paris Mercury.] 

On Monday the 13th day of April, 1874, a hurricane passed over a 
strip of country about 50 yards wide, near Florida. Mr. Samuel 
Heavenridge, who lives about two miles east of Clark's Mills, was 
working in his garden at the time. Hearing a keen whistling noise, 
he looked up and saw approaching a dark cloud in the shape of a fun- 
nel, the upper and smaller end of which extended as far up as the 
eye could see, while the lower and larger end was whirling around 
with the rapidity of 'lightning, carrying with it logs, grass, trees, etc. 
His boys were working in the field at the time, and one of them was 
taken up and thrown a distance of 50 yards, but sustained no injury 
as he fell on plowed ground. The other boy catching hold of a bush, 
held fast until tke storm passed. Mr. H. and William Ore — the 
latter being with him — took shelter in an outhouse to await the pas- 
sage of the storm, but getting uneasy about the state of affairs stepped 
out, intending to get into the main building, when they were caught, 
Mr. H. being carried about three rods and lodged against a granary, 
from whence he was lifted about 10 feet into the air and let fall upon 
his shoulders, close beside a large rock to which he clung with a death 
grip. Mr. Ore was thrown in a different direction to that of Mr. H. ; 
he was carried about two rods north, where a flying timber struck him 
on the arm and side of the head, knocking him senseless. He soon 
after recovered, sustaining no injuries beside a few bruises. Mr. H. 
was not hurt beyond being severely jolted. Fortunately no one was 
killed. Mr. Heavenridge sa4d while the cloud was over him, it Avas 
impossible to breathe and the atmosphere smelt like burnt powder. 

March 10, 1876, a cyclone swept over a portion of Indian Creek 
township, doing great damage to houses, stock and human life. 

We take the following account of it from the Paris Mercury : — 

One of the most fearful and destructive wind-storms that ever 
occurred in the county visited the north-eastern part of it and adjoin- 
ing counties last Friday evening. Its pathway was marked by deso- 
lation, suffering and death. The moriMng sun that lit up many happy 
and cheerful houies, set, leaving them shrouded in death and desola- 
tion — the work of the Storm King. The march of a hostile and ruth- 
less army could not htive been more destructive. From its first mad 
rush, from its own mad element to the most remote point reached by 
it, one common desolation was apparent ; one continuous lane, in 
width less than half a mile, through farms, strewn with rails, building 
material, etc., while the leaves, grass and straw were drifted in piles, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 271 

as though the country had been swept by a flood. Large forest trees 
were twisted off like reeds and carried away some distance. 

On last Friday night we had information of the terrible ravages of 
the storm, and at the earliest practicable hour were on the fields 
desolated by the maddened elements. Nothing we had heard gave an 
adequate idea of the extent of the destruction caused by the'storm. 
From all we could learn the cyclone had its formation but a short 
distance west of Mr. William Priest's, about one and a half miles 
south of Clapper Station. Two clouds, one from the south-west and 
another from the north-west, appeared to collide immediately over this 
place. The collision was followed by a noise strongly resembling that 
made by a train of cars in running over a bridge. Simultaneously 
with the noise white puffs of vapor were seen to shoot up, as if to mark 
the place where heaven's engine of destruction began its fearful ruin. 
The resemblance was so striking, that some persons at Clapper 
Station mistook it for an extra train on the railroad. The illusion 
was so perfect that they did not observe their mistake until they saw 
the destroying angel pass over the prairie south of town, in an easterly 
direction. Fences at once yielded to the fury of the storm, and as ft 
moved its way over the prairie, increasing in violence, houses began 
to totter under the weight of the wind. Mr. Utterback's house was 
the first to receive any damage. Next the house of Mrs. Statew, a 
widow lad}^ was completely demolished and leveled to the ground. 
She and her son were in the building at the time. Both received 
severe injuries. The latter had two ribs broken. Mrs. Statew has 
been extremely unfortunate. Less than one year ago her house was 
burned down. It was again rebuilt. To-day it is a wreck and she 
and her son injured. Mr. Smith's house a short distance to the 
north-east of Mrs. Statew's house was unroofed on one side. Then 
Philip McNelis' house, a log building, was swept to the ground and 
portions of it carried into valley beyond. At this point the 
storm seems to have taken new strength, making a mad rush for 
the village of Elizabethtown, on an eminence beyond the valley of 
Indian creek. Four small houses and the parsonage, as if overlooked 
by the destroying engine of heavens construction, are all that 
remains of the village. Save these the desolation of the place 
is complete. On every hand piled in every conceivable shape, 
mixed and intermingled, lie the debris of buildings, homes and 
business houses. Thomas Yates, Sr., had seven houses leveled to 
the ground. The house occupied by the Misses Higgins, that occu- 
pied by Elijah Durbin, Patrick Ryan's business house and dwelling, 
James Skey's house, Joseph Carrico and Samuel Christian's business 
house, Nicholas Bick's business house, the residence of Mrs. John 
Bick, and the house occupied by Mrs. Green, a widow lady with a large 
family, have all been swept away. Some of these families are in the 
most destitute circumstances, having lost all they had. Among those 
who need help, we are informed, are Elijah Durbin, the Misses Higgins, 
Patrick Ryan and James Skey. The injured are Treacy Hayden, a 



272 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

blind girl vvho lived with Elijah Durbin, slightly injured; Patrick 
Ryan and daughter, the latter said to be fatally injured ; a little girl, 
aged five or six years, child of James Skey, fatally injured ; the Misses 
Higgins slightly ; Mrs. Green an arm broken in two places, and one 
of her children seriously injured. Viewing the wreck and ruins, it 
seems almost a miracle that so few were so seriously hurt. The 
church, a large brick ])uilding, walls 18 inches thick, well built, was 
swept to its foundation. The ground sacred to the dead did not 
escape the invading storm. The most costly monuments and slabs 
were torn from their basis and ^jroken into pieces. Large timbers 
were carried into the fields beyond the village. Dry goods were 
caught up by the fierce blast and pinned to the topmost branches of 
the trees, and left as the flags of the Storm King, raised in triumph 
of the almost complete desolation which he had wrought at this place 
in one brief instant. Still on to the north-east, with unabated fury 
drove the storm, plowing its way through the forests and leveling the 
fences. David W. Spalding's house was unroofed, and further on 
the house of W. Crane suffered the same fate. Fortunately no one 
was injured at either place. The house on the farm of A. B. Combs, 
deceased, occupied by Samuel A. Peirsol, was hurled to the ground. 
Several persons were visiting at the house at the time. Mrs. Peirsol, 
a daughter about ten years okl, named Josephine, and Mrs. Gartin, a 
sister of Mrs. Peirsol, were crushed to death instantly. A son of 
Mrs. Gartin, Mrs. Patrick Mudd, Mr. Peirsol and other members 
of the family were more or less injured. The terrible tornado leaving 
its work of desolation, swept on in the direction of Hassard. It is 
reported that Jerome Kendrick, living near Hassard, lost a child ; 
that in the vicinity of Hassard three women were killed, and a man 
and woman seriously if not fatally injured. At Hassard, the station- 
house was unroofed, the section-house entirely demolished and other 
buildings injured. Beyond Hassard, Peter Smith's house was blown 
down. Mr. Smith is said to have been instantly killed and his wife 
fatally injured. In the vicinity of West Ely, Mr. Turpin's house was 
blown down and members of the family seriously injured ; also, the 
barn and residence of Capt. Rowe were badly wrecked. The storm 
crossed the Hauni])al and St. Joseph Railroad at Wither's mill, about six 
and a half miles north-west of Hannibal. In this neighborhood, was a 
frame house occupied by a Swede, named Peterson, and his wife and 
child killed. It crossed the Mississippi river about five miles above 
Hannibal and is said to have been most terrific in that vicinity. The 
many sufferers have our sympathies. We never before witnessed 
such desolation ; may we never again. While at Indian Creek, we 
met Fathers Mulholland and Shea, Hon. P. H. McLeod and Drs. 
Norman and Mays. They were untiring in their efforts to relieve 
distress and suffering. 

(It was afterwards ascertained that 14 persons were killed and 
wounded in Monroe county by the storm.) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 273 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 

The people of Monroe county, feeling the need of a county fair, 
effected an organization in 1837. The benefits of such an organization, 
when rightly conducted, are varied and manifold. The society placed 
right ideals before the people, and by various incentives, called them 
to a higher plane of thought and action. The best thoughts of the 
world, the results of much study, experiment and investigation, are 
transferred from all lands and brought into the homes of the people. 
The premium list covers the whole circle of human industries, and 
every family in the county feels the benefits incident to emulation. 
The gathering of people in masses and the annual display of the best 
products for examination, comparison and study, carries higher ideals 
and new thoughts to every home. Farmers discuss these matters 
around the fireside and their farms begin to show improvements in 
every way. Improved breeds of stock are introduced, better seed is 
sown, and new cereals tried, improved implements are bought, farm- 
houses are constructed on better plans, and the home is furnished with 
many comforts and luxuries which would never have been thought of, 
without the fair. It may be conceded that conductors of fairs have 
fallen below the true ideals, and have not used all the forces placed in 
their hands by these organizations for human improvement, but the 
Monroe county fairs have never fallen below the average. 

The first fiiir in the county was held in the ftiU of 1838, on a lot 
which lies immediately east of J. C. Fox's residence in the town of 
Paris. The o-rounds were inclosed bv a rope drawn around them, 
and although the exhibition was small — confined chiefly to agricul- 
tural products — yet much interest in the success of the fair was mani- 
fested. This general interest was kept up for many years. 

On the 27th day of July, 1879, a number of citizens met at Paris to 
take the necessary stops to reorganize the fair association. Another 
meeting was held July 30, and the following named gentlemen associ- 
ated themselves together for the purpose of holding a fair during the 
fall of 1879, and thereby became responsible for the success or failure 
of the fair: W. S. Conyers, E. T. Wetraore, Jeff. Bredford, T. T. 
Kodes, F. L. Pitts, T. B. Powers, R. M. Burgess, William Foster, 
T. W. Ragsdale, T. W. Kurd, J. H. Carr, John S. Crow, C. E. Holtz- 
claw, T. J. Barker, Thompson Holliday, James F. Woods, M. O. 
Robertson, T. O. Collins, J. J. McGee, Mercury Printing Company, 
Gress. Glascock, C. F. Afllick, M. J. Clark, R. B. Worrell, M. A. 
Maupin, M. B. Leowenstine. 



274 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

This body of men, numbering 25, was culled the Monroe County 
Fair Association. The directors were E. T. Wetmore, Jeff. Brido-- 
ford, J. J. McGee, James T. Woods, Thompson Holliday, R. M. 
Burgess, M. A. Eobertson, T. P. Bashaw, T. J. Barker, T. W. Hurd 
and J. W. Eagsdale. The board of directors elected J. J. McGee, 
president; T. P. Bashaw, vice-president; T. T. Rodes, secretary, and 
F. L. Pitts, treasurer. 

In 1880 the Monroe County Fair Association was incorporated with 
the following stockholders, each of whom subscribed the sum of $50 : 
M. A. Maupin, S. S. Bassett, Joseph West, G. P. Grimes, M. J. 
Clark, Holtzcla^v & Batsell, J. J. McGee, Edwards & Smizer, R. B. 
Worrell, M. O. Robinson, T. J. Barker, Jeff. Bridgford, E. T. Wet- 
more, F. L. Pitts, Burgess & Son, Silas Threlkeld, Ragsdale & 
. Rubey, J. H. Fox, W. W. Clapper, Crow & Goetz, Foster & Jackson, 
McCann & Son, M. B. Leowenstine, Aus. Curtright, Armstrong & 
Long, T. Buerk & Bro., Mason, Bashaw & Burnett, Rose, Rose & 
Harlow, J. D. McCanne & Snell, Rodes & Blanton, C. M. Reid, W. 
L. Burke & Bro., Charles Selby, Grimes & Barker, James Curtright 
& Woodson, W. S. Conyers, J. D. Curtright, J. G. Harley & Bro., 
John S. Crow, James F. Woods, C. M. Shrader, John S. Conyers, 
James Worrell & Branham, G. M. Bower, H. P. Long, R. T. Smith, 
Daniel Curtright & Glascock, Theron Powers, F. Lee Bros., D. H. 
Moss, George Green well. 

Fairs have been regularly held at Paris since the reorganization, and 
have been financially a success. Present officers: John D. McCann, 
president ; Hugh E. McGee, secretary ; J. J. Armstrong, treasurer. 
The next fair will be held in September, 1884. 

MONROE COUNTY IMMIGRATION SOCIETY. 

The Monroe County Immigration Society was organized March 14, 
1874, at Paris. The directors for the first year were : Dr. E. Bailey, 
of Monroe ; Jefferson Bridgford, of Jackson ; Henry Dooley, of Jeffer- 
son ; Thomas Yates, of Indian Creek ; M. D. Blakey, of Clay ; John 
BrownfieldjOf Marion; James Bridgford, of South Fork; R.Porter, 
of Union ; George F. Palmer, of Woodlawn, and F. B. Vaughn, of 
Washington township. 

The first officers elected were : Dr. E. Bailey, president ; R. M. 
Bodine, secretary, and William F. Buckner, treasurer. 

M. D. Blakey and Henry Dooley were appointed as an executive 
committee. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 275 



MONROE CITY IMMIGRATION SOCIETY 

was organized on the 6th day of August, 1875, by electing Judge G. 
L. Hardy, chairman, and J. C. Peirsol, secretary. Present at the 
meeting were E. Bailey, G. L. Hardy, J. M. Proctor, S. E. Comings, 
E. H. Walker, Samuel Sparks, J. P. Myers, G. E. Blatchford, Bishop 
& Gerard, Moss & Carsan, P. A. Pendleton, George M. Kinchloe, 
B. O. Wood, J. A. Peirsol, J. C. Peirsol, D. C. Comings, E. M. Gal- 
loway, S. H. Hallock, U. S. Pike, Sherman & Jackson, Samuel 
Snider, and K. C. Brown, all of whom became members of the 
society. 

PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 

In June, 1873, Col. A. A. Anderson organized the Granger move- 
ment in Monroe county. The following are the Granges ; Union 
Church, at school-house nearby; Dowell's School-House, Vauo-hn's 
School House, Middle Grove, Jefferson Grange, at Florida ; Excelsior 
Grange, Greenwood Grange, Central Grange, Santa Fe Grange, Elk 
Fork Grange, Long Branch Grange, Jackson Grange, Star Grange, 
Youngs Creek Grange, Granville, Madison, Oak Ridge School House, 
Cross Hollows School House, Austin School House. 

CENSUS OF MONROE COUNTY IN 1848. 

Number of free white males under 10 years of age, 1,332 ; free white 
females under 10 years of age, 1,310; white males between 10 and 18 
years, 854 ; white females between 10 and 18 years, 796 ; white males 
between 18 and 21 years, 227 ; white females between 18 and 21 years, 
236; white males between 21 and 45 years, 1,142; white females 
between 21 and 45 years, 1,049 ; white males 45 and upwards, 409 ; 
white females 45 and upwards, 336 ; deaf and dumb, 1 ; free persons 
of color, 40; slaves, 1,826; total, 9,558. Number of voters, 1,551. 
Population of Paris, 502. 

In 1860 Monroe county contained, white, 11,722; colored, 3,063. 
1870 — white, 15,144; colored, 2,005. 1880— white, 16,925; col- 
ored, 2,146. 

POPULATION BY TOWNSHIPS IN 1880. 

Clay township, 1,555 ; Indian Creek township, 567 ; Jackson town- 
ship, including Paris, 4,898 ; Paris, 1,253 ; Jefferson township, 2,416 ; 
Marion township, 2,273; Monroe township, including Monroe City, 
1,130; Monroe City, 640 ; South Fork township, 1,514 ; Union town- 



276 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ship, including Middle Grove, 1,963; Middle Grove, 169; Washing- 
ton township, 1,436; Woodlawn township, 1,319; total, 19,071. 

Of this number 338 were foreign born. 

The population of the county in 1884 is estimated to be about 22,000 . 

We take the following from the Paris Mercury of July, 1845: — 

BEEF CATTLE. 

We call the attention of our readers to the advertisement of Messrs. 
Samuel & Haines, in another column, on the subject of beef cattle. 
They shipped Monroe beef, packed at Hannibal, to England, which so 
much pleased the subjects of Queen Victoria that they have ordered 
more. This speaks well for the stock-raisers and feeders of Monroe, 
Avho, by their industry and enterprising spirit, have taken the front 
rank in the stock and produce trade. This must and will cause Monroe 
to prosper. She is now the brag county in Missouri on the subject of 
live stock and produce, and from her numerous natural advantages she 
is able, and no doubt will maintain her position. The people of 
Monroe owe a debt of gratitude to our enterprising and indefatigable 
fellow-citizen, Pleasant McCann, Esq., for his well aimed exertions in 
brino-inof about this advantao-eous state of things. One such citizen 
as McCann is worth more to a community than a thousand of your 
glove-handed ruffle-shirt gentry. Who would have thought a few 
years ago that Monroe county would now be raising beef to feed the 
citizens of Great Britain? This should encourage us to persevere, to 
make good roads, bridge our water courses, cultivate our rich and 
beautiful prairies, and enhance the value of our lands, and facilitate 
our transportation. 

BRIDGES, THEIR LOCATION AND COST. 

North fork. Salt river, three bridges — Elliott bridge, Paris and 
Hannibal road, 145 feet, $5,000.00; Pratt truss double intersection, 
iron, 156 feet span, one mile north of Florida, $7,000.00 ; Pratt truss 
combination, 140 feet span, at Clinton, $1,500.00 ; Clear Creek, on 
Paris and Shelbina Road, wooden, $150.00 ; Four bridges on Crooked 
Creek, 1 combination and 3 wood, $1,500.00; Otter Creek, 5 
wooden bridges, $1,500.00 ; on Middle fork of Salt river, 5 bridges 
to wit: at Leesburg one Pratt truss combination, 110 feet span, 
$1,000.00; at Porter's Ford 1 National truss, 100 feet span, con- 
demned; 1 on Holliday and Grunville road, Pratt truss, iron single in- 
tersection, 100 feet span, $2,000.00 ; 1 at Paris, Elliott's bridge, 100 
feet span, $5,000.00 ; 1 a mile south of Florida, National truss, 3 
spans, 400 feet, $5,000.00; 7 bridges on Elk fork of Salt river, 
viz. : 1 on Paris and Louisiana road, Pratt truss combination, 135 feet 
long, $1,500.00 ; 1 on Paris and Mexico road, Elliott make, $4,000.00 ; 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 277 

1 on Paris and Columbia road, Pratt truss combination, 135 feet span, 
$1,500.00 ; 1 on Paris and Middle Grove road, Elliott make, $5,000.00 ; 
1 on Madison & Sturgeon road, Pratt truss combination, 135 feet span, 
$2,000.00 ; 1 wooden bridge on road from Madison to Middle Grove, 
$200.00 ; 1 wooden bridge on road from Evansville to Middle Grove, 
$200.00 ; On Long Branch of Salt river, 4 bridges, viz. : 1 on Paris 
and Santa Fe road, Pratt truss combination, 130 feet span, $1,500.00; 
1 on Paris and Mexico road, Pratt truss combination, 75 feet, 
$800.00; 1 wooden bridge on Paris and Centralia road, $200.00; 1 
wooden bridge on Madison and Centralia road, $200.00 ; 1 bridge 
on South fork of Salt river, Elliott make, 100 feet span, $4,000.00 ; 
1 bridge on Indian creek, wooden, $250.00 ; 1 wooden bridge on Mud 
creek, $200.00. Total, $51,200.00. 




CHAPTER XVII. 

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 

First Baptist Church of Paris. — On the 7th daj of May, 1831, at 
the house of Eli Bozarth, four miles south of Paris, the organization 
of this church (then called Bethlehem) was effected through the 
efiorts of Revs. Archibald Patterson and Edward Turner. The con- 
stituent members were John Suney, Mary Suney, Paul Herreford, 
Sarah Herreford, John H. Curry, Matilda Curry, Benjamin Suney, 
Mary Suney, Isaac Coppage, Edward Turner, Lucretia Turner, Nancy 
Donaldson, Mary Smith, C. C. Acuff, Peter N. Mahan, Jane C. 
Mahan, John Hocker, Fanny Pool, and a colored man named Peter. 
At a subsequent meeting, in April, 1832, the name was again 
changed, this time to Middle Fork, afterwards receiving the present 
title. The first pastor of the church was Edward Turner, followed 
successively by Anderson Woods, 1836; Norman Parks, 1841; W. 
Keach, 1844 ; Jacob Bower, 1847 ; Bartlett Anderson, 1849 ; Henson 
Thomas, 1851 ; W. Mitchell, 1858 ; S. A. Beauchamp, 1860; G. W. 
Robey, 1866 ; George C. Brown, 1867 ; H. M. King, 1869 ; James S. 
Green, 1873; G. T. Colvin, 1874: W. W. K(me, 1875; William E. 
Chambliss, 1877; William Green, 1880, and J.T.Williams, 1881. 
The first church building was built of brick in 1833, it being suc- 
ceeded by a frame house in 1859. In 1858 a Sabbath-school was 
started and has had six superintendents since then : W. B. Craig, 
R. D. Woods, Charles Dawson, T. B. Gannaway, Jere. B. P. Smith 
and J. T. Williams. It now numbers 100 scholars. The church has a 
membership of 150. 

North Fork O. S. Baptist Church. — The location of this church 
is in section 13, Jeiferson township, east of Stoutsville. Its forma- 
tion occurred about 1832 or 1833, the first house being a log struct- 
ure, built near 1835. Those who comprised the original members 
were Hiram Thompson and wife ; Jonas Reavis and wife ; Jane Don- 
aldson, John Ingle and wife; William J. Henderson and wife; Zach. 
Herndon and wife ; Charles Crutcher, Mary Dooley, Lucy Hard- 
wick, John B. Yowell and wife ; Joel Finks and wife ; William 
Turner and wife ; Richard Turner and wife ; Hert Yager and 
(278) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 279 

wife ; James Bush and wife ; George Williamson and wife ; Edward 
Eagsdale, Mrs. Eagsdale and a relative, also Miss Ragsdale ; Polly 
Martin, Samuel Vanscoike and wife ; William Crutcher, Hiram 
Dooley and wife; Jane Ridgeway, William Allen and wife; Mrs. 
Edwards, Sophia Gatson, Dulcena Shearer, Calvin Shearer, Will- 
iam Wilkerson, Levina and Peggy Wilkerson. William J. Hen- 
derson is the only surviving member of this church of 40 years ago. 
There are now 38 members. Christopher Gentry, Archibald Patter- 
son, Charles Turner and William Priest have been their pastors, the 
latter for a period of over 30 years. Their present church edifice, a 
frame, was erected about 1851, costing nearly $800. 

Mount Prairie Missionary Baptist Church — On section 13 of 
Jefferson township, was constituted as a church April 15, 1837, the 
original members being William Conrad and wife ; Sarah Scobee, 
Elmira Lee, Emily Hasket, Sarah Morton, James Dixon, Catherine 
Utterback, Matthew Walton, Henry L. and Hannah Houston, Lucy 
White and Celia Ann Conrad. Their present church edifice, a frame 
structure, was built in the summer of 1859, and is valued at about 
$300. William Hurley Henderson, Woods C. Gentry, N. P. Acraft, 
H. Thomas, Dudley Enlow, F. Smith and W. B. Craig have served 
as pastors of the congregation, which now numbers nearly 60 mem- 
bers. 

Crooked Creek Baptist Church. — As might be inferred from its 
name, this church is situated on Crooked creek, in township 56, range 
10. It is one of the oldest congregations in the county, having been 
constituted as a church on the first Saturday in March, 1840, with 
Isaac Bates, Jane Bates, William Cook, Dorcas Cook, Margaret Mau- 
pin, Margaret Goe, David Lusk, Jane Lusk, Jacob Troup, Catherine 
Troup and Jessie White as the original persons of a membership 
which now numbers 96. Various changes and of a diversified nature 
have accompanied this little band through its long continued useful- 
ness here, but at present it is prosperous, and has every reason to be 
encouraged. They have had three church buildings — the first a log, 
built in 1844 ; the second a frame, in 1858, costing $1,400 or $1,500 ; 
and the third a frame, erected during the present year at a cost of 
$1,800, and which was dedicated on the first Sunday in July, 1884, 
by Rev. W. Pope Yeatnan. The names of the pastors who have had 
charge here, with the length of the service of each, is as follows : 
Elders B. Stephens, two years ; Norman Parks, four years : Christie 
Gentry, two years ; H. H. Tilford, two years ; Henson Thomas, two 
years ; H. H. Tilford, three years ; S. A. Beauchamp, one year ; Mil- 

13 



280 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ford Powers, one year; Gr. C. Brown, two years; J. F. Smith, five 
years ; W. E. Chambliss, two years ; W. B. Craig, eight years, and now 
the incumbent of the position. The Sabbath-school of 40 scholars, 
superintended by William Fuqua, is in a flourishing condition. 

Long Branch Baptist Church — Situated near the south line of 
South Fork township, on the Mexico road, was constituted an organi- 
zation early in 1844, when John B. Eudasill, James Botts and wife, 
Margaret ; Mrs. Lucy Dowell ; James W. Cauthorn and Betsy, his 
wife ; Edward Goodnight and wife, Polly ; Harrison Goodnight, and 
Nancy Charlton comprised the membership. Among those who have 
ministered to them are William Jesse, Norman Parks, James F. 
Smith, H. H. Tilford, Dudley V. Inlow, S. A. Beauchamp, H. M. 
King, M. M. Powers, N. S. Johnston, G. T. Colvin and W. B. Craig. 
In 1857 their frame house of worship was constructed at a cost of 
$800, and in 1873 it underwent extensive improvements at an addi- 
tional expenditure of nearly $1,000. It now has a membership of 
150. P. H. Rudasill is superintendent of a Sabbath-school of 40 
scholars. An interesting meeting is held by some of the members 
on Sunday, in a school-house in this vicinity. 

Salem Baptist Church. — This church has been organized since 
May, 1857, Revs. H. Thomas and A. Goodridge being instrumental 
in its formation. The original members were 17 in number, anions^ 
them were Lewis Phillips and wife, Thomas P. Moore and wife, 
Simeon Heddens and wife, Benjamin Phillips and wife, Samuel Willis 
and wife, David Phillips, Dick Thomas, John and William Burner 
and Mrs. Nancy Bundrent. In 1857 the first house for worship was 
built and in the fall of 1881 the second one was completed, the latter 
a frame, costing in the neighborhood of $1700, the dedicatory ser- 
vices|being held the second Sabbath in January, 1882, by Rev. Berry. 
Revs. H. Thomas, Abram Goodridge, Milford Powers, Wiley Patrick, 
Henry King, William B. Craig, William Chambliss and John T. Will- 
iams have at different periods supplied the pulpit of this church. The 
membership is now about 90. The Sabbath-school has an enrollment 
of about 35 pupils. Lewis Thomas is the superintendent. The loca- 
tion of this congregation is in the northern part of Jackson township, 
on section 22. 

Mt. Airy Baptist Church — Was organized in February, 1868, with 
William Elders, Mary Elders, N. W. Dawson, E. H. Dawson, John W. 
Bell and Melvina Bell as the constituent members. In 1873 a frame 
building, in which services are held, was erected at a cost of about 
$1,000. W. B. Craig, W. T. Elliott, Rev. George C. Brown, M. Powers, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 281 

and W. B, Craig a second time, have served as pastors. There are 
now about 60 communicants in the church, which is located on section 
3 of Union township (township 54, range 11). 

Huntsville Baptist Church. — About the year 1869, Ab ram Utter- 
back and wife, Gustavus Bannister, Joseph Smeltzer and perhaps 
others, met and formed an organization at Hand School-house through 
the efforts largely of Rev. Milford Powers. Since then Revs. W. B. 
Craig, George C. Brown, W. B. Craig (a second time) and G. D. 
Tolle (who was the last one) have been the ministers in charge. 
There is no pastor of the church at present. Services are held once 
a month. The number of present membership is about 50. In the 
summer of 1873 a frame house in which services are held was com- 
pleted and is valued at nearly $1,000. 

Lebanon Baptist Church — Is located near Victor, in South Fork 
township. Its formation was consummated in 1879, the organizing mem- 
bers being A. C. Goodridge, Sarah Simpson, Joseph M. Simpson, Nancy 
Gillespie, Milford Powers, Harriet Powers and Laura, James, Louella, 
Richard, Anna and Mary C. Powers. The present membership is 21. 
Milford Powers has been the only pastor of the church since its organ- 
ization. The frame church building was erected by the Christian and 
Baptist denominations in 1879 and is valued at $1,200. It is an interest- 
ing fact to note that no debt hangs heavily over this enterprising body 
of believers. Miss Alice Clark is superintendent of a Sabbath-school of 
25 scholars. 

Paris M. E. Church South. — This church was one of those 
who, in 1844, upon the division of the denomination, went into the 
Southern association, and it has since remained under the jurisdiction 
of the M. E. Church South. It was organized in 1832, the first 
members being Thomas S. Miller and wife, Thomas Noonan and wife, 
Wesley Hill, Joel Maupin, Jefferson T. Marr and wife, Richerson S. 
Marr, William Stevens and wife, John S. Fowkes and wife, John T. 
Nesbit and wife, Walker Wright and wife, Mrs. Virginia Bryan, 
Joseph Wast, Henry Marr and wife, Harrison Sparks and wife. Two 
buildings for worship have been erected — the first, a frame, in 1846, 
at a cost of $1,000, and the second, a brick structure, in 1881, this 
being valued at $3,000. Connected with it is a good parsonage, 
frame, worth $800. Seventy members constitute the present congre- 
gation. Those who have served as pastors are James Jameson, Jacob 
Lanius, Benjamin R. Johnson, J. Gray, Hugh L. Dodds, George 
Grove, Berry H. Spencer, Arthur Sears, John F. Young and Jesse 



282 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Sutton. A Sabbath-school of 35 scholars is superintended by J. M. 
McMurry. 

Spencer Chapel, M.E. Church South. — This organization was 
effected in 1832, Thomas Maupin and wife, William Maupin and wife, 
and others, being the lirst members. It is located in Clay township, 
in the north-western part of the county. Two houses of worship have 
been built, both frame, the first in 1846, at a cost of $600, and the 
second in 1871, the value of the latter being $2,000. 

Mount Zion M. E. Church South. — Eight miles south-west of 
Paris this church is found, it having been organized in 1833. Our 
efforts to secure additional data proved unsuccessful in this instance. 

Austin M. E . Church South. — At Austin station, in Jackson 
township, was formed in 1833, the members of the organization being 
Henry Marr and wife, Samuel West and wife, John Rucker and wife, 
Anthony Rucker, William M. Sharp and wife , John S. Sherman and 
wife, Susan Austin, David Ashby and wife, Henry Ashby and wife 
and Stephen Hess and wife. There are now 50 members in the 
church. Preaching services are held in a school-house, there being 
no regular house of worship. Ministers who hold services here are 
the same as the pastors of the Paris church. 

Granville M. E. Church South. — Was first organized in about 
1840, some three miles south of Granville, but in 1871 removed to 
that place, which is 10 miles north-west of Paris. Among the original 
members may be mentioned L. G. Maupin and wife, James Tyson, 
wife and mother, John Evans and wife, Mrs. James Dawson, Nancy 
Barton, William A. Sparks and Avife, Walker Wright and wife and 
Mrs. Orr. About 80 persons constitute the membership at this time. 
Their frame church-building, 32x40, put up in 1871 at a cost of 
$1,700, was dedicated by J. W. Cunningham of St. Louis. Revs. 
Jordan and Benj. Davis were the first ministers in charge, and since 
their removal to the present location. Revs. William Bell, James 
Smith, H. P. Bond, J. W. Jackson, B. F. Spencer, J. F. Monroe, 
J. W. Jordan, S. L. Woodie, W. E. Docery and W. T. Ellington 
have served as pastors. 

Monroe Chapel M. E. Church South. — Owing to the destruction 
by fire of the early records of this church, we are unable to give the 
date of its organization, though it was between 1840 and 1850, prob- 
ably 1845. The names of the first members could not be obtained. 
Some of the pastors of the congregation have been : William Bell, 
Lilburn Rush, Walter Toole, William Warren, W. W. Wainwright, 
J. W. Jordan, A. P. Linn, Revs. Hedgepeth, Root, Blackwell, Will- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 283 

iam M. Wood and Eev. Shackleford. The original church was built 
about 1845, and the present one in 1877. It cost about $1,500, is a 
frame, and is 34x50 feet in dimension. There is a membership here 
of some 200. The Sabbath-school of 106 pupils, is superintended by 
John C. Rhodes. 

Greemoood M. E. Church South. — Organized in 1854, is in 
Washington township, 10 miles north of Paris. The building in 
which services are held was built in 1866. It is a conveniently 
arranged structure, neat in appearance, and cost $1,800. It is a frame 
house. The ministers who served the church have been the same as 
the incumbents of the Paris pulpit, until the Greenwood church edifice 
was constructed. 

Mt. ZionM. E. Church South} — W. H. Violet and wife , Philip 
Schrader and wife, Harry Patterson and wife, M, F. Mason and wife, 
D. Miller and wife, and William Miller and mother were among the 
original members of this church, which was organized in 1858. There 
are now about 60 persons connected with its membership. The 
pastors of the congregation have been : Revs. William Fenton, John 
Taylor, Loving, Root, William Sutton, Collett, J. McErvin, James 
James, William Shackleford and Walter Tool. The same year of its 
formation a building for worship was erected at a cost of $800. There 
are 40 scholars in the Sabbath - school, superintended by Jacob 
Schrader. The location of this church in the center of section 8, in 
Jackson township. 

M. E. Church South. — Located at Madison, in Marion town- 
ship, is found this little band, now numbering 56 members. 
It was organized in 1868 by Rev. John R. Taylor, and on 
the records appear the following names as original members : 
Thomas Brownfield and wife, Nathaniel Brownfield and wife, 
Robert E. Thomas and wife, Rachel Thomas, Mary Thomas, 
Josiah Thomas, Solon Burnsworth and wife, Elmer Burnsvvorth, 
Caroline Harley, Jacob Lenhart, John W. Lenhart and wife, George 
H. Lenhart, Charles Lenhart, Nancy A. Pool, Annie E. Dawson, Ed- 
ward Dawson, James A. Dawson, May Frazee, Ella F. Wood, Anna 
Adkisson and Millie Crim. About $1,500 were raised for a frame 
house of worship which was completed in 1872. Rev. Walter Toole 
is the present pastor of the congregation. His predecessors were 
Revs. William Wood, Baldwin, William Sutton, R. G. Loving, H. 



1 See church of same page, 282. 



284 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

W. James, Joseph Row, John S. Hooker, William M. Sarter, William 
M. Sutton and W. G. Shackleford. 

[Contributed.] 
Monroe City M. E. Church South. — This church began its work 
in Monroe City in the year 1866, under the ministry of the Rev. 
Charles Babcock. Services were held in the Seminary building. The 
church was organized by Rev. John R. Taylor in 1870, witii 10 mem- 
bers ; Benjamin H. H. Tucker, class leader; John Shearman and 
Prof. J. Milton McMurry, stewards. The ministers who have 
officiated at her altar from time to time, by conference appointment, 
are Jesse Faubion, John S. Todd, Lilburn Rush, B. M. Spencer, H. 
W. James, A. P. Linn, and the present incumbent, L. F. Linn. The 
class has had a steady and healthy growth from its beginning to the 
present time, and now has a membership of about 200. Six to eight 
sermons are preached each month to overflowing congregations. The 
church building is a neat, plain brick structure, centrally located, 
having a seating capacity for about 300. The foundation was laid in 
1877, and was completed and free from debt, August 1, 1878, upon 
which day it was dedicated by Rev. J. H. Pritchett, of the Missouri 
Conference. The first board of trustees were Lovel Rouse (a great 
and good man who is with the blessed), H. H. See, J. B. Randol, 
Benjamin H. D. Tucker, S. R. Boulware, James H. Grady and John 
Shearman. The Sunday-school was organized in the spring of 1878, 
with J. B. Randol, superintendent; Dr. Adolphus Noland, secretary, 
and Mrs. Mary Carrol, treasurer, with a grand total attendance of 30, 
from which it rapidly increased till the grand total enrolled is now 
nearly 150. At the present time it is under the efficient manager, R. 
V. Sullivan, superintendent. The history of the M. E. Church South 
at this place would indeed be incomplete if special personal mention was 
not made of some individuals to whose fervency, zeal and self-sacrificing 
of personal interests, the society largely owes its grand success and 
bright prospects for a glorious future, conspicuously among whom 
were Lovel Rouse, deceased, and J. B. Randol, now of Colorado. 
These were the standard-bearers, but close to them stood J. H. and 
R. V. Sullivan, John Shearman, W. R. P. Jackson, H. H. See, 
deceased, and others. There were ladies, too, who stood the heat 
and burdens of the day. There were Mrs. Ann Boulware, deceased, 
Mrs. J. H. Sullivan, Mrs. Mary Carrol, Mrs. Dr. A. Noland and 
others. Harmony has been a prevailing principle from the founda- 
tion of the society. A weak effort was made by several who 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 285 

absorbed the heretical ideas of a traveling band called Holiness Band, 
to inculcate their ideas as Methodist doctrine, but the spirit ot God 
prevailed with the membership, and the misguided few either 
denounced their error or sought other lields in which to scatter their 
nefarious doctrine. 

Forest Grove M. E. Church South. — Located in Woodlawn 
township, at Forest Grove, about 16 miles north-west from Paris, was 
organized in 1879. Our endeavors to secure the names of the first 
members and the pastors proved futile. The present membership is 
30. A frame church building, costing $1,000, was built in 1880. 

Deer Creek M. E. Church South. — Located near Deer Creek, in 
Washington township, was constituted as the above in 1879, the con- 
stituent members being Samuel Bowling, Nancy J. Bowling, Mollie 
Bowling, Robert Bowling, J. H. Jette, Lue Lasley, Z. M. Lasley, 
Lue Ide, Elzada Ide, Levi Ide, James E Ragsdale, Mary E. Ragsdale, 
John Bohrer, Susan Bohrer, Benjamin E. Washburn, Sarah P. Wash- 
burn, William C. Washburn, Joseph H. Washburn, William Nesbit, 
Catherine Nesbit, J. H. Dooley, Mary E. Dooley, Walter Ransdall, 
Ann Ransdall, Lee Ransdall and Porter H. Manuel. Their frame 
house of worship was built at a cost of $1,000, in 1878. The present 
membership is 60 ; the pastor being Rev. William M: Featherston. 

Madison Christian Church. — Five persons composed the original 
membership of this church upon its organization in 1838. October 
24, 1841, Elders Henry Thomas and Martin Vivion succeeded in 
effecting a reorganization, when the constituent members were Mar- 
tin Grove and wife, Isaac and Elizabeth Baker, Thomas Farthino-, 
James P. Grove, Peter Johnson, John Grove, Moses Baker, Sarah 
Vivion, Samuel Akins, Ursula Waller, Mary A. Waller, Matilda 
Noel, Sarah Harris, Joseph Cunningham, Mary Cunningham, Mary 
Hayden, Susan Grove, Martin Vivion, Susan Vivion, Robert Harris, 
Armstrong Dawson, Elizabeth Johnson, E. M. Yager, Sally Waller, 
John W. Dawson and Sarah Dawson. The membership is now 143. 
The first pastor, Elder Martin Vivion, was succeeded by Henr}'- 
Thomas, followed in succession by John McCune, James Perry, Al- 
fred Wilson, Martin Wilmot, G. A. Perkins, J. C. Davis and H. F. 
Davis. The present incumbent is William M. Featherston. In 1873 
a frame house, in which services are held, was built for $1,500. 

Union Christian Church. — This congregation now worships iu a 
frame building on section 2Q, township 54, range 11 (Jackson town- 
ship), which was erected in 1872, costing $2,400. Their first house 
of worship was constructed in 1845, immediately following the organ- 



286 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

izatiou of the church, when E. Maddox and wife, William Fuhrman 
and wife, Con. Brown and wife, John Fuhrman, wife and family, 
Jesse Maddox and wife, Charles Burton and wife, Gabriel Wood and 
wife and Wilson Maddox and wife, composed the list of organizing 
members. It now boasts a membership of 135. D. P. Henderson, 
Henry Thomas, Alfred Wilson and Rev. Mason have ministered to 
the spiritual necessities of this band of believers. 

Christian Church of /Santa Fe. — About 1855 a house of worship, 
now occupied by this body, was completed at a cost of nearly $2,500. 
Its organization was effected June 17, 1838, when Daniel M. Swain, 
Enoch Fruit, Samuel Gilbert, Jane Camplin, William Donaldson, 
Berry Tally, Margaret Fruit, Sally Tally, Eleanor B. Davis, B. F. 
Davis, Jacob Cox, Cassandra Cox and Lovel Crigler were those com- 
prising the first members. This number has been increased by addi- 
tions until it has reached 1 70. Elders Henry Thomas, Alfred Wilson, 
— Errett, David Davis, John A. Brooks, W. G. Sniber and W. G. 
Barker have filled this pulpit at different times. James B. Davis is 
superintendent of the Sabbath-school, having an average attendance 
of 50. W. M. Houston is clerk of the church. 

Granville Christian Church. — This church which now numbers a 
membership of 202, had the following named persons as the original 
members upon its organization in November, 1858 : Penelope Shrop- 
shire, Sarah Evans, Maria HoUingsworth, Nancy Hayden, Eliza Wood, 
Sarah Jackson, Margaret A. Morrison, Eliza Jackson, Phebe Jackson, 
Margaret Whitesides, Mary Wilson, Catherine Howell, Sarah Shrop- 
shire, Berzilla Forsythe, Sarah Barnes, John W. Wood, Eliza Jane 
Wood, Nancy S. Wood, John Wood, America Shropshire, Walter 
Shropshire, Martha Goodwin, Phebe Thompson, Arabella Goodwin, 
Richard Thompson, Eli Jackson, Tirey Ford, J. H. Goodnight, John 
E. Howell, Thomas D. Whitesides, Milton Forsythe, James F. Wood, 
John Hickey, Jesse S. Dry, J. S. Mitchell, James S. Mason, George 
W. Clay, Benjamin HoUingsworth, John C. Kipper, George Porter, 
Ella Kipper, Laura Kipper, Mary A. Smith, Emily Smith, Minna 
Catlett, Mary B. Goodwin, Malinda Morrison and Mary Twiman. 
Those who have served as the pastors of the congregation are A. 
Wilson, J. D. Wilmot, William M. Featherston, Revs. Colston, 
Donan, Rice, Hatch, Hy. Thomas, J. C. Davis, Ridgeway, G. A. 
Hoffman and Rev. Hughley. On December 11, 1858, their first frame 
church building was completed, and in 1880 the present frame house 
of worship was erected at a cost of $1,900. The superintendent of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 287 

the Sabbath- school, which has an attendance of 100, is Mr. J. S. 
Austin. 

Pleasant Grove Christian Church. — This church is situated on 
section 3, township 54, range 9, five miles east and one mile north of 
Paris. Its formation occurred in December, 1862, Elders S. H. 
Smith, C. W- Chowning, J. N. Keaves and J. J. Crigler, Mllas John- 
son, W. F. Adams, H. C. Greening, Alexander Smith, William Y. 
Smith, Joseph Smith, S. O. Adams, A. H. Adams, Sue Elliott, Annie 
E. Long, Mattie A. Long, Nancy Adams, Lucy J, Reaves, Allie E. 
Crigler, Sallie A. Greening, Rebecca Johnson, Delia Searcy, Mary 
Adams, Eliza Norman, Patsy Smith, Elizabeth Reavis, Mary Johnson, 
Isabel Chowning, Mary A. Scobee, Sallie Adams, Hannah Livingstone 
Jane A. Adams, R. Underwood and Andy Underwood comprising the 
organizing members. Of these 18 are dead, and 15 survive. In 
1868 a frame house of worship was built for $1,400. The pastors 
of the congregation (which now numbers 108) have been E. J. 
Lampton, Alfred Wilson, Bob Wallace, Henry F. Davis, G. W. Sur- 
ber, Philip Bruten, A. J. Myhr, R. M. Giddens, J. N. Wright and 
Jacob Hughley. Several successful revival seasons have been held by 
E. J. Lampton, W. M. Featherston, Alfred Wilson, A. H. Rice, 
William Martin, J. C. Reynolds, H. F. Davis, G. W. Surber, R. M. 
Giddens, J. N. Wright, A. B. Wade and J. J. Errett. Mrs. E. M. 
Howell is superintendent of a Sabbath-school numbering about 70 
scholars. 

Christian Church. — Located at Monroe City, was organized on 
the 4th Sabbath in February, 1869, by Eld. J. N. Wright, the follow- 
ing named persons constituting the original members : John T. Ragg- 
land, Jonathan Fudge, David Payne, J. O. Wood, B. F. Noble, Mary 
A. Pond, Emma J. Bush, William Bowles, Mary Bowles, R. A. Palmer, 
Mary Dawson, E. P. Hayden and Sarah Boulware. Four of these are 
still livino^ and members of the conffrejjation. In 1870 a frame house 
of worship was built, costing $2,000. Since that time Revs. J. N. 
Wright, A. H. Rice, W. M. Featherston, E. B. Challenner, H. F. 
Davis and W. G. Surber, who is the present pastor, having nearly 
completed his fifth year, have been the ministers in charge. The 
church has a membership of 100, while the Sabbath-school presided 
over by H. Cory, as superintendent, numbers 50 scholars. 

Oak Ridge Christian Church — Three and a half miles south of 
Paris, was constituted a legal organization in August, 1871, when Will- 
iam H. Johnson, William T. Bryan, Benjamin Mallory, John West 
and wife, Sarah ; James H. Waller, Martha J. Waller, Belle Waller, 



288 HISTORY OF MOXROE COUNTY. 

Alonzo Waller, Robert Evans, Emaline Evans, James Dye, Mary 
Dye, Founteroy Dye, Elias Dye, Eliza Woods, W. H. McElroy, Ellen 
McElroy, John Bryan, John Foreman and Walter Grove placed their 
names on the church roll as constituent members. Daniel Booth was 
their first pastor, followed by Henry F. Davis, and James A. Grove is 
the present incumbent. The number of the membership at this time 
is 96. In 1874 a frame church building was completed at an expendi- 
ture of $700. It is now paid for. Mr. William Johnson painted the 
buildinof, gratis, thereby contributing not a little to the outward 
appearance and beauty of it. 

Jackson Chapel {Christian Church) — Is located six miles north- 
east of Paris, and is a frame building of the value of $1,250.00, erected 
in the summer and fall of 1875, and dedicated in March, 1876. 
This congregation was organized April 30, 1876, the original mem- 
bers being Jacob Kennedy, Anna R. Kennedy, W. P. Wallace, Belle 
Reed, W. P. Reed, Charlie Burke, John L. Burke, Eliza Burke, Jeff. 
Bi-idgford, M. E. Bridgford, Church Bridgford, Nelia Bridgford, 
Ambrose Crutcher, Mary Crutcher, C. W. Reed, Louie Reed, J. J. 
Wright, Sarah Wright, C. Bowman, Sarah Bowman, E. S. Brooks, E. 
J. Wallace, Virginia Ragland, Mary Brown, Hester Evans, Rena Tillett, 
A. E. Wallace, Jennie Maupin, Celestia Burgess, W. S. Brown, Mrs. 
Ella Brown, R. T. Smith and Mrs. R. T. Smith. Seventy-seven per- 
sons constitute the present membership. The various pastors of the 
church have been Elders W. G. Surber, Jacob Hughley, E. B. Chal- 
lone and R. M. Giddens. The Sabbath-school of 125 members has 
for its superintendent, Jennie N. Burgess. 

Antioch Cliristian Church — Which is ©n section 29, of Jackson 
township, upon the county line, was organized September 16, 1876, 
by Elder William Mason with the following as the first members : 
Granville Snell and wife, George Creason and wife, B. F. Creason 
and wife, J. D. Gant and wife, E. W. Rogers and wife, David Lee, 
W. H. Snell, E. P. Snell and wife, Volney Paris and wife, Henry 
Paris, John W.Lee and wife, G. R. Paris, Elijah Threlkeld and wife, 
Walter Snell and wife, William Fisher and wife, Edna Bookman, 
Alma Bookman, Nannie Camplin, Elijah Camplin, Elizabeth Adams, 
Augusta Moore, W. L. Petty, Elizabeth Yount, Charles Threlkeld, 
Mary Carr and Martha Swinney. The present membership numbers 
about 153. Rev. William Mason and Rev. H. F. Davis, who is the 
present pastor, have filled the pulpit of the church. Their house of 
worship, built in 1880, is valued at $1,400.00. Thomas Hess is super- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 289 

intendent and Miss Jennie Leet seci-etary of ii Sabbath-school n um- 
bering 60 scholars. 

Fail-view Christian Church. — In 1879, an organization now known 
as the above church, was constituted through the efforts of Elder 
Hoffman, with Mrs. S. A. Quarles, Mrs. Sarah Jordan, John Shelton 
•and wife, Michael Clark, Mrs. Hettie Armstrong, Mrs. Dr. Johnson, 
Mrs. Carrico, Charles Crump and wife, Mrs. S. J. White, G. Hunt 
and wife, William Williams and wife and Geo. W. Bonsell and wife, 
as the original members, which number has been increased by the ad- 
dition of nearly 100 persons. The frame church building, situated on 
section 18, township 54, range 8 (Jefferson township), is 32x48 feet 
in dimensions and cost $1,000.00 in 1878. Connected with the church 
is a Sabbath-school of 40 members, presided over by Miss Alice Clark, 
and also a Ladies' Christian Aid Society, with a membership of 20. 
Revs. Hoffman, I. F. Myrh, Phil. Benton and R. X. Giddens have 
been the pastors in charge. 

Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church. — In November, 1825, this 
church, now located six miles east of Paris, on the Louisiana road, 
was organized by Rev. Thomas Durfee, a missionary, with James 
McGee, John McKarney, Margaret McKarney, Elizabeth McKarney, 
Mary B. McKarney, Rosy Ann McKarney (all these of one fomily), 
]N[aryAnn McGee and Marietta, a colored woman, as the constituent 
members. Mrs. Rosy Ann ( McKarney ( Smith is the only one of 
the above now living. John McKarney and James McGee were 
the ruling elders. The membership now numbers 54. The present 
church edifice was constructed in 1857 ; it is a frame and cost 
$1,200.00. The tirst pastor. Rev. Alfred Wright, was succeeded by 
George C. Wood, Thomas Eustace, A. C. McConnell, J, B. Poage, J. 
P. Finley, H. P. S. Willis, William Wiley, W. H. Hicks, J. V. 
Barks, T. B. Lunsford, N. Armstrong (from Canada), L. P. Bowers 
and C. W. Humphreys, the present supply. Connected with the 
church is a flourishing Sabbath-school, containing 30 pupils, the super- 
intendent being C. F. Richmond. 

South Fork Presbyterian Church — In South Fork township, near 
the fork of Salt river, on the road from Florida to Mexico, was con- 
stituted an organization by Dr. Samuel C. McConnell, October 22, 
1853. The names appearing on the records as original members are 
John Kerr,, Hester Kerr, Elizabeth Anderson, Isabel M. Hanna, Rob- 
ert B. Kerr, Susan I. Botts, AVilliam H. Kerr, Sarelda M. Kerr, J. C. 
Heizer, Mary Heizer, James Smiley, Elizabeth A. Smiley, S. I. Bates, 
Daniel H. Kerr, Nancy V. Heizer, Joseph Heizer, Nancy Heizer, Maiy 



290 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

I. Kerr, John W. Heizer, James Haiina, John Hanna, Esther I. 
Hanna, William Hanna, Amelia Hanna, R. M. Hanna, Joseph Hanna, 
David Hanna, Eliza Hanna, Susan C. Hanna, James E, Crawford, 
Mitchel Meteer, Mary B. Meteer and Ellen Finks. The membership 
now numbers 130. From 1853 to 1858 Rev. Georo;e Van Erman 
filled this pulpit, and he was succeeded by J. M. Travis, from May, 
1859, to the present. Their frame church edifice was built in 1857. 
A Sabbath-school of 50 pupils has for its superintendent George W. 
Crawford. A large proportion of the members of this church who 
organized Florida and Bethel churches, were taken from South Fork. 
Over 400 persons have been enrolled as communicants of the church. 

New Hope Presbyterian Church — Now has a membership of 75, 
the pastor being Rev. John M. Travis. The frame church building, 
erected in 1858 at an expenditure of $1,000, is located one and a hilf 
miles south-west of Strother (in South Fork township). The organi- 
zation was effected December 19, 1857, John Forsyth, Isabel For- 
syth, William S. Forsyth, William M. Vaughn, Ann E. Vaughn, 
James M. Vaughn, Sarah J. Vaughn, Enoch Hunt, Harriet N. Hunt, 
Jane Alverson, Moses Hall, Mary E. Hall, Mary J. Guthrie, John N» 
Price, David Woolridge, Prudence Woolridge, Clifton E. Wills and 
Lewis A. Hunt being the original members. George H. Hersraan is 
superintendent of the Sabbath-school of 25 scholars. 

St. Stephen Church — At Elizabethtown (in Indian Creek town- 
ship), is one of the pioneer churches of the county, having been formed 
February 12, 1833. The organizing members consisted of Thomas 
Yates, Benedict Carrico, John Dixon, Joshua B. Carrico, Homer P. 
H. McLeod, T. Hagan, J. A. Cummings, J. J. Quinlan, J. Dough- 
erty, P. Morrissey and others whose names we could not obtain. The 
church now has in its membership 200 families. Their house of wor- 
ship cost $7,000 and was built in 1876, of brick. Those who have 
ministered to the spiritual necessities of this body have been Peter P. 
Lefaver, G. H. Ortlangenberg, Thomas Cussick, Dennis Kennedy, E. 
Berry, Thomas Ledwith, Edward Hammel, J. J. Hogan and others. 

Hickory Grove Church — In Marion township, has had eight pastors 
since its organization on the 4th Saturday in August, 1843. Benjamin 
Terrell, from 1843 to 1858; James Porter, from March, 1858, to 
October, 1859 ; James Burton, from October, 1859, to October, 1860; 
Bartlett Anderson, from October, 1860, to 1863 ; W. L. T. Evans, 
from 1863, to February, 1879 ; J. G. Swetnam, from February, 1879, 
to December of the same year ; M. F. Williams, from December, 
1879, to December, 1881, and J. D. Smith, from March following to 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 291 

the present. The church edifice was completed in 1846. It is a frame 
structure and cost $800. Among the original members were John and 
Emily Briscoe, Hugh Miller, Mary Miller, John Walkup, Lucinda 
Walkup, Gabriel Alexander, Lucinda J. Alexander, Nathaniel S. Bul- 
lock, Kebecca Bullock, H. Haley, Ehoda Haley, E. Haley, S. S. 
Embree, Elender Embree, James Williamson, O. C. Smith, Hannah 
Brown, John W. Ash, Naomi Ash, J. Y. Miller, AnnE. Miller, Rhoda 
Turner, Mary King, D. Bates, Edmond Ash, Elizabeth Evans, Diana 
Williamson and Charles W. Embree. The membership is now 175. 
Mr. J. W. E. Cosby is superintendent of the Sabbath-school, which 
numbers 50 scholars. The church is located in a small village, the 
post-office of which is Ash. 

Salt River Holiness Association. — There is a Holiness Association 
in the county known by the above name. It is located on section 18 
of Jefferson township. We were unable to learn anything else con- 
cerning it, save that it was organized during the summer of 1882. 




CHAPTEK Xyill. 

MONROE COUNTY IN 1884. 

A beautiful country is this North-east Missouri, whose fortunate 
location, charming hindscape, equable climate, versatile and generous 
soils, fruitful orchards and vineyards, matchless grasses, broad grain 
fields, *noble forests, abundant waters and cheap lands, present 
to the capitalist and immigrant one of the most inviting fields for 
investment and settlement to be found between the two oceans. Dur- 
ing the unexampled Western migratory movement of the last eight 
years, which has peopled Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska and other 
regions with an intelligent and enterprising population, this rich and 
productive country, has, until recently, remained a terra incog?iita to 
the average immigrant, the new States above named getting acces- 
sions of brain, heart, muscle, experience and capital, that have given 
them a commanding position in the Union. And yet it can not be 
denied that Missouri offers to intelligent, enterprising and ambitious 
men of fiiir capital more of the elements of substantial and enjoyable 
living than any country now open to settlement. In one of the fair- 
est and most fertile districts of Missouri is Monroe county. Monroe 
county is admirably located within the productive middle belt of the 
continent, a strip of country not exceeding 450 miles wide, lying be- 
tween the latitudes of Minneapolis and Richmond, reaching from ocean 
to ocean, and within which, will be found every great commercial, 
financial and railway city, ninety per cent of the manufacturing in- 
dustries, the great dairy and fruit interests, the strongest agriculture, 
the densest, strongest and most cosmopolitan population, all the 
great universities, the most advanced school systems, and the 
highest average of health known to the continent. Scarcely less 
significant is the location of the county in the more wealthy 
and productive portions of the great central State of the Union, 
which, by virtue of its position and splendid aggregation of 
resources, is bound to the commercial, political and material life 
of the country by the strongest ties, and must forever feel the 
quickening of its best energies, from every throb of the national heart. 
Monroe county is in the right latitude, which is a matter of primary in- 
terest to the immigrant. Lying in the path of empire and transcon- 
(292) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 293 

tinental travel, in the latitude of Washington and Cincinnati, it has 
the climate influence that has given to Northern Kentucky and 
North Virginia an enviable reputation for equable temperature. A 
mean altitude of about 800 feet above the tides gives tone and rarity 
to the atmosphere and the equable mean of temperature. 

Most of the short winter is mild, dry and genial enough to pass for 
a Minnesota Indian summer. The snow-fall is generally light, infre- 
quent and transient. The long summer days are often tempered by 
inspiring breezes from the South-western plains, and followed much of 
the time by cool, restful nights. 

The annual rain-fall is from 28 to 40 inches, and is so well 
distributed over the growing season, that less than a fair crop of 
grains, vegetables and grasses is rarely known. The annual drainage 
of the country is excellent, the deepest set streams readily carrying off 
the surplus water from the generally undulating surface, only a 
limited area being too flat to shed the surplus rains. 

The water supply of Monroe county is alike ample and admirable. 
More than a score of deep-set streams traverse every portion of the 
county, and with an occasional spring, hundreds of artificial ponds, 
and many living wells and cisterns, furnish pure water for all domestic 
purposes. The markets are well supplied with hard and soft woods 
at $2 to |3 per cord, and there is a good supply of building and fenc- 
ing timber. The supply of good building stone, too, is equal to all 
present and prospective needs, massive deposits of well stratified lime- 
stone being found outcropping along the streams and ravines. 

The cost of fencing is materially lower here than in most of the 
new or old prairie States. In the wooded districts, the fences are 
cheaply made of common posts or stakes and rails. In the prairie 
districts some fencing is done with osage orange. With proper care, 
a farmer can grow a mile of stock-proof hedge in four years, at a cost 
of $1.25 in labor. The newer farms are being fenced with barbed 
v;ire, which is esteemed the quickest, most reliable, durable and 
cheapest fence now in use here. The stock fiirmers are especially 
friendly to barbed wire fencing, some of them having put up several 
miles in the last three years. 

The soils of Monroe county are developing elements of productive 
wealth as cultivation advances. 

The prairie soil is a dark, friable alluvial, from one to three feet 
deep, rich in humus, very easily handled and produces fine crops of 
corn, oats, flax, rye, broom corn, sorghum, vegetables and grasses. 
The oak and hickory soil of the principal woodlands is a shade 



294 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

lighter in color ; is rather more consistent ; holds a good per cent of 
lime and magnesia, carbonates of lime, phosphate, silicia, alumnia, 
organic matter, etc., and produces fine crops of wheat, clover and 
fruits, and with deep rotative culture, gives splendid returns for the 
labor bestowed. 

The valleys are covered with a deposit of black, imperishable allu- 
vial, from three to eight feet in depth, and as loose and friable as a 
heap of compost, grow from 40 to 80 bushels of corn to the 
acre, and give an enormous yield to anything grown in this latitude. 
While these soils present a splendid array of productive forces, they 
are supplemented by sub-soils equal to any known to husbandry. 
The entire superficial soils of the county are underlaid by strong, 
consistent silicious clays and marls, so rich in lime, magnesia, alumnia, 
oro-anic matter, and other valuable constituents, that centuries of 
deep cultivation will prove them like the kindred loess of the Rhine 
and Nile valleys, absolutely indestructible. Everywhere about the 
railway cuts, ponds, cisterns, cellars and other excavations, where 
these clays and marls have had one or two years' exposure to frost 
and air, they have slacked to the consistency of an ash heap, and bear 
such a rankgrowth of weeds, grass, grain, vegetables and young trees, 
that in the older and less fertile States they might readily be taken for 
deposits of the richest compost. 

After three years' observation in Central and Northern Missouri, 
we are prepared to believe that a hundred years hence, when the 
older Eastern and Southern States, shall have been hopelessly given 
over to the artificial fertilizers of man, and a new race of farmers are 
carryino- systematic and deep cultivation down into this wonderful 
alien deposit of silicious matter, the whole of North and Central 
Missouri will have become the classic ground in American agricul- 
ture ; and these imperishable soils in the hands of small farmers will 
have become a very garden of beauty and bounty, and these Monroe 
county lands will command splendid prices on a strong market. 

The lanes of the county are nearly all available because they are 
nearlv all good. The lowest bottoms are becoming free of swamps 
and lagoons, and the highest elevations are comparatively- free of rocks 
and impediments to cultivation. It is safe to say these soils, together, 
o-ive the broadest ranoe of production known to American husbandry. 
It is the pride and boast of the Monroe county farmer that he can 
grow in perfection every grain, vegetable, grass, plant and fruit that 
flourishes between the northern limits of the cotton fields and the Red 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, 295 

river of the North. Both the surface indications of the soil and its 
native and domestic productions indicate its versatility and bounty. 

But a few years ago much of the outlying commons was covered 
with a luxuriant growth of wild prairie grass, of which there were 
many varieties, all of more or less value for pasturage and hay. 
Nearly all the natural ranges are now inclosed and under tribute to 
the herdsmen, and it is safe to say that their native herbage will put 
more flesh on cattle from the beginning of April to early au'tumn than 
any of the domestic grasses. With the progress of settlement and 
cultivation, however, they are steadily disappearing before the 
tenacious and all-conquering blue grass, which is surely making the 
conquest of every rod of the county not under tribute to the plow. 
Blue grass is an indigenous growth here — many of the older and open 
woodland pastures rivaling the famous blue grass regions of Ken- 
tucky, both in the luxuriance of their growth and the high quality of 
the herbage. Now and then one meets a Kentuckian so provincial in 
his attachments and conceits that he can see nothing quite equal to the 
blue grass of Old Bourbon county; but the mass of impartial Ken- 
tuckians, who constitute a large per centum of the population here, 
admit that the same care bestowed upon the blue grass fields of Ken- 
tucky gives equally as fine results in Monroe county, whose blue grass 
ranges are certainly superior to any in Illinois. 

This splendid king of grasses, which in this mild climate makes a 
luxuriant early spring and autumn growth, is also supplemented here 
by white clover, which is also "to the manor born;" and on this 
mixture of alluvial with the underlying silicious marls and clays 
makes a fine growth, especially in years of full moisture, and is a 
strong factor in the sum of local grazing wealth. 

With these two grasses, followed by orchard grass for winter 
grazing, the herdsmen of Monroe county have the most desirable of 
all stock-growing conditions —perennial grazing — which, with the 
fine grades of stock kept here, means wealth for all classes of stock- 
growers. There is another essential element of grazing resource here 
and it is found in the splendid timothy meadows, which are equal to 
any in the Western Eeserve br the Canadas. These meadows give a 
heavy growth of hay and seed, both of which are largely and profitably 
grown for export. Red clover is quite as much at hope here as tim- 
othy, and its cultivation is being successfully extended by all the 
better farmers for mixed meadow pasturage and seed. Here, too, is 
found a growth of herds' grass (red top) which during the past sum- 
mer has made fine showing, the low swale lands and ravines presentino- 



14 



'296 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

grand, waving billows of herds' grass, almost as rich and rank of 
growth as the blue stem of the wild Western prairie bottoms. With 
this showing for the native and domestic grasses, it is almost needless 
to pronounce Monroe county a superb stock county. 

With millions of bushels of corn grown at a cost of sixteen to eighteen 
cents per bushel ; an abundance of pure stock water and these matchless 
grasses ; the fine natural shelter afi'orded by the wooded valleys and 
ravines ; the facilities for transportation to the great stock markets ; 
the mildness and healthfulness of the climate and the cheapness of the 
grazing lands, nothing pays so well or is so perfectly adapted to the 
country as stock husbandry. Cattle, sheep, swine, horse and mule 
raising and feeding are all pursued with profit in this county, the busi- 
ness, in good hands, paying net yearly returns of twenty to forty per 
cent on the investment, many sheep growers realizing a much greater 
net profit. 

Cattle growing and feeding, in connection with swine raising and 
feeding, is now the leading industry of the county. High-grade short 
horns of model types, bred from the best beef getting stock, are kept 
by many of the growers and feeders, the steers being grazed during 
the warm months, after which they are "full fed" and turned off" 
during the winter and spring, weighing from 1,200 to 1,700 pounds 
gross at two and three years old, the heavier animals going to Euro- 
pean buyers. The steers are fed in conjunction with Berkshire and 
Poland China pigs, which fiitten upon the droppings and litter of the 
feed yard, and go into market weighing from 250 to 400 pounds at 
10 to 14 months old. These steers and pigs are bred and grazed, 
and without doubt will average in quality and weight with the best 
grades fed in any of the older States. Horse and mule raising is a 
favorite industry with many of the farmers and has been pursued with 
profit for years, a large surplus of well-bred horses anc\ mules going 
mainly to Southern markets each year. Sheep raising has for several 
years been a favorite and highly profitable branch of stock husbandry 
here, many growers realizing a net profit of 40 to 60 per cent on the 
money invested in the business. The wool produced in 1880 
amounted to 229,158 pounds. This county is remarkably well suited 
to sheep growing, the flocks increasing rapidly and being generally 
free from disease. There are many small flocks that give a higher 
per cent of profit than the figures above given, but even the larger 
herds make a splendid showing. Merinos are mainly kept by the 
larger flockmasters, but the hundreds of smaller flocks, ranging from 
40 to 100 each, are mainly Cotswolds and Downs, the former predom- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 297 

inating, and the wool clips running from five to nine pounds per capita 
of unwashed wool. 

Sheep feeding is conducted with unusual profit here, the mild win- 
ters, cheap feed and the very cheap transportation to the great mutton 
markets especially favoring the business. 

A statement, which gives the number of cattle, sheep, hogs, horses, 
mules, and the value of each class in this county, in 1880, is un- 
questionably fifteen to twenty per cent below the real number of ani- 
mals kept in the county, and shows a large increase over the report 
of 1870. The live stock exports of the county last year exceeded 
1,500 car loads of fat cattle, sheep, swine, horses and mules, worth 
in the home market at present prices considerably more than $2,000,- 
000, and yet the business is comparatively in its infancy, not more 
than half the stock growing resources of the county being yet 
developed. 

Dairy farming might be very profitably pursued here, the grasses, 
water and near market for first-class dairy products all favoring the 
business in a high degree. In 1880, there were 400,000 pounds of 
butter made. 

Monroe county could be made a stock breeder's paradise, as the 
demand for all classes of well-bred stock is always in excess of the 
supply. In former years the local growers have mostly depended on 
the breeders of the older neio:hborino; counties for their thoroughbred 
stock animals, but of late many fine short horns have been brought 
in, and superior stock horses have been introduced, and there are a 
dozen of good breeders of sheep and swine, whose stock will rank 
with the best in the country. 

Stock breeding, grazing and feeding under the favoring local con- 
ditions, is the surest and most profitable business that can be pur- 
sued in the West, or, for that matter, anywhere in the " wide, wide 
world." 

Not a single man of ordinary sense and business capacity in this 
county, that has followed the one work of raising and feeding his 
own stock, abjuring speculation, and sticking closely to the business, 
has (or ever will) failed to make money. It beats wheat growing 
two to one, though the latter calling be pursued under the most fav- 
orable conditions in the best wheat regions. It beats speculation of 
every sort, for it is as sure as the rains and sunshine. What are 
stocks, bonds, "options," mining shares, merchandise, or traffic of 
a,ny character besides those matchless and magnificent grasses that 



298 HISTORY or monroe county. 

come of their own volition and are fed through all the ages by the 
eternal God, upon the rains and dews and imperishable soils of such 
a land as this? If the writer were questioned as to the noblest call- 
ing among men, outside of the ministry of " peace and goodwill," he 
would unhesitatingly point to the quiet and honorable pastoral life of 
these Western herdsmen. Stock growing in Monroe county, as 
everywhere, develops a race of royal men, and is the one absorbing, 
entertaining occupation of the day and location. If it be eminently 
practical and profitable, so, too, it is invested with a poetic charm. 
To grow the green succulent, luxuriant grass, develop the finest lines 
of grace and beauty in animal conformation, tend one's herds and 
flocks on the green, fragrant range, live in the atmosphere of delicate 
sympathy with the higher forms and impulses of the animal life in 
one's care, and to be inspired by the higher sentiments and traditions 
of honorable breeding, is a life to be coveted by the best men of all 
lands. By the side of the herds and grasses and herdsmen of such a 
country as this, the men of the grain fields are nowhere. These men 
of the herds are leading a far more satisfactory life than the Hebrew 
shepherds led on the Assyrian hills in the old, dead centuries ; they 
tend their flocks and raise honest children in the sweet atmosphere of 
content. They are in peace Avith their neighbors, and look out upon 
a pastoral landscape as fair as ever graced the canvas of Turner. The 
skies above them are as radiant as those above the Arno, and if the 
finer arts of the old land are little cultivated by the herdsmen of these 
peaceful valleys, they are yet devoted to the higher art of patient and 
honorable human living. 

The lands are cheap, the location exceptionally fine, and the other 
advantages over the older States so great that the question of compe- 
tition is all in favor of this country. This country is admirably suited 
to " mixed farming." The versatility and bounty of the soil, wide 
range of production, the competition between the railways and great 
rivers for the carrying trade, and the nearness of the great markets 
all favor the variety farmer. With a surplus of capital, sheep, pigs, 
mules, horses, wool, wheat, eggs, poultry, fruit, dairy products, etc., 
he is master of the situation. The farmers of Monroe county live 
easier and cheaper than those of the older States. The labor bestowed 
upon 40 acres in Ohio, New York or New England, will thoroughly 
cultivate 100 acres of these richer, cleaner and more flexible soils. 
Animals require less care and feed and mature earlier ; the home re- 
quires less fuel ; the fields are finely suited to improved machinery, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 299 

and it is safe to say that the average Monroe county farmer gets 
through the real farm work of the year in 150 days. 

Nature is so prodigal in her gifts to man, that the tendency is to go 
slow and take the world easy. Nor is this at all wonderful in a coun- 
try where generous Mother Nature does seventy per cent 
of the productive work, charitably leaving only thirty per 
cent for the brain and muscle of her sons. It is only 
natural that this condition of things tends to loose and 
unthrifty methods of farming, and that the consequent waste 
of a half section of land here would give a comfortable sup- 
port to a Connecticut or Canadian farmer. It is in evidence, how- 
ever, from the experience of all thorough and systematic farmers here, 
that no region in America gives grander sections to good farming 
than this county. There is not one of all the thorough, systematic, 
rotative and deep cultivators of the country who has not and does 
not make money. No soils give a better account of themselves in 
skilled and thrifty hands than these, and it is greatly to their honor 
that they have yielded so much wealth under such indifferent treat- 
ment. These Monroe county lands will every time pay for themselves 
under anything like decent treatment. They are near the center of 
the great corn and blue grass area of the country, where agriculture 
has stood the test of half a century of unfailing production, where 
civilization is surely and firmly founded on intellectual and refined 
society, schools, churches and railways, markets, mills and elegant 
homes. The lands of the county will nearly double in value during 
the next decade. Nothing short of material desolation can prevent 
such a result. Everywhere in the older States there is more or less 
inquiry about Missouri lands, and all the indications point to a strong 
inflow of intelligent and well-to-do people from the older States. 
Does the reader ask why lands are so cheap under such favorable, 
material conditions? Well, the question is easily answered. Up to 
a recent date, little or nothing has been done by the people of the 
State to advertise to the world its manifold and magnificent resources. 
Still worse, Missouri has, for two decades, been under the ban 
of public prejudice throughout the North and East, the people of 
those sections believing Missourians to be a race of ignorant, inhos- 
pitable, proscriptive and intolerant bulldozers, who were inimical to 
Northern immigration, enterprise and progress. Under this impres- 
sion, half a million immigrants have annually passed by this beautiful 
country, bound for the immigrants' Utopia, which is generally laid in 
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. This mighty army of reso- 



300 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

lute men and women, with their wealth of gold, experience and cour- 
age, have been lost to a State of which they unfortunately knew little 
and cared to know less. Under such conditions there has, of course, 
been a dearth of land buyers. Happily Monroe county has been 
advertised by her local newspapers, her enterprising real estate men 
and other agencies, and has, perhaps, suffered less at the hands of ill- 
founded prejudice than many other sections. 

The people of Monroe county — 22,000 strong — are as intelligent, 
refined and hospitable as those of Ohio or Michigan ; and a more 
tolerant, appreciative, chivalrous community never undertook the 
subjugation of a beautiful wilderness to noble human uses. We have 
passed a number of years in Northern and Central Missouri, visiting 
the towns, looking into the industrial life of the people, inspecting the 
farms and herds, reviewing the school and carefully watching the drift 
of popular feeling, and are pleased to aflSrm that there is nowhere in 
the Union a more order-loving and law-respecting population than 
that of Monroe county. 

"The life they live" here is quite as refined and rational as any 
phase of the social and political life at the North. Whatever they did 
in the exciting and perilous years of the war, they are to-day as frank, 
liberal and cordial in their treatment of Northern people, and as ready 
to appreciate and honor every good quality in them, as if they were 
" to the manor born." 

A strong Union sentiment is everywhere apparent. Many persons 
were strong Union Democrats during the war, never swerving in their 
fealty to the Union, and the old flag floats as proudly in Central and 
North Missouri as in the shadows of Independence Hall. All parties 
are agreed that slavery is dead, and that its demise was a blessing to 
every prime interest of the country. There is not a man of character 
in the county who would restore the institution if he could. A good 
majority of the first settlers of this county hail from Kentucky and 
Virginia, or are descended from Kentucky or Virginia ftimilies, and 
have the deliberation, frankness, good sense, admiration of fair play, 
reverence for woman and home, boundless home hospitality and strong 
self-respect, for which the average Kentuckian and Virginian is pro- 
verbial. They have a habit of minding their own business that is 
refreshing to see. The new-comer is not catechised as to social ante- 
cedents or politics, but is estimated for what he is and does. They 
don't care where a man hails from, if he be sensible and honest. 
They take care of their credit as if it were their only stock in trade. 
When a man's word ceases to be as good as his bond, his credit, busi- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 301 

ness and standing are gone, and the loss of honorable prestige is not 
at all easy of recovery. 

Sterling character finds as high appreciation here as in any country 
of our knowledge. The visitor is impressed with the number of strong 
men — men who would take rank in the social, professional and busi- 
ness relations of any community in civilization. Monroe county has 
evidently drawn largely upon the best blood, brain and experience 
of the older States. In every department of life may be found men of 
fine culture and large experience in the best ways of the world, and 
the stranger who comes here expecting to place the good people of 
this county in his shadow, will get the conceit effectually taken out of 
him in about 90 days. They are not a race of barbarians, living a 
precarious sort of life in the bush, but a brave, magnanimous, intelli- 
gent people, who, if their average daily life be sternly realistic in the 
practical Avays of home-building and bread-getting, have yet within 
and about them so much of the ideal that he is indeed a dull observer 
who sees not in their relations to the wealth of the grain-fields and 
herds, and the poetry of the sweet natural landscape, a union of the 
real and ideal that is yet to make for them the perfect human life. 
They find ample time for the founding and fostering of schools, the 
love of books and flowers and art, a cultivation of the social graces, 
and the building of temples to the spiritual and ideal. Monroe county 
raises horses and mules and swine, fat steers, and the grain to feed 
the million, but is none the less a genereus almoner of good gifts 
for her children. She has 108 free schools for white and colored chil- 
dren . 

Public morals are guarded and fostered by the presence and influ- 
ence of churches, representing nearly all the denominations, and are 
nowhere displayed to better advantage than in the general observance 
of the Sabbath, and in the honest financial administration of county 
afiairs. There are no repudiators of the public credit and obligation 
here. They have in a high measure that singular and inestimable 
virtue called popular conscience, and make it the inexorable rule of 
judgment and action in all public administration. It is as unchange- 
able as the law of the Medes and Persians, and though public enter- 
prise has impelled the expenditure of a great deal of money, large 
sums have also been voted for the building of railways, for county 
buildings and appointments, and for bridges, with a liberal expendi- 
ture for incidental uses, all within little more than a decade ; nobody 
has had the hardihood to even talk repudiation, and Monroe will, we 



302 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

hope, soon be out of debt and the last doUar of her bonded indebted- 
ness be paid. 

It is clearly no injustice to other portions of Missouri to pronounce 
Monroe one of the model counties. She has an untarnished and envi- 
able credit, excellent schools, light taxes, a brave, intelligent popula- 
tion, and presents a picture of material thrift which challenges the 
admiration of all. There are a score of men in the county worth from 
$30,000 to 150,000. A few are. worth from one to $200,000. Half 
a hundred more represent from $20,000 to $50,000, and a large num- 
ber from $15,000 to $20,000, while after these come a good-sized army 
whose lands and personal estate will range from $10,000 to $15,000. 
This wealth is not in any sense speculative, for it has been mainly dug 
out of the soil, and, in a modest degree, represents the half-developed 
capacity of the grasses and grain fields. It is not in the hands of any 
speculative or privileged class, but is well distributed over the 
county in lands, homes and herds. It is one of the pleasures of a life- 
time to ride for days over this charming region of fine old homes, 
thrifty orchards, green pastures and royal herds, and remember that 
the fortunate owners of these noble estates have liberal bank balances 
to their credit, and are well on the road to honorable opulence. 

Many of our readers will be inclined to wonder if it is an over- 
colored sketch of the country and people, and ask for the shady side 
of the picture. " Are there no poor lands, poor farmers, or poor farm- 
ing in Monroe county — nothing to criticise, grumble about or find 
fault with in the ways of the 22,000 people within the range of the 
latter? " Yes, there is a " shady side " to the picture, and it is easily 
and quickly sketched from life. The scarcity of farm labor is apparent 
to the most superficial observer. The negroes, who did most of the 
farm labor under the old compulsory system, have gone almost solidly 
to the towns, and are no longer a factor in the farm labor problem. 
The average farm hand has acquired the easy, slip-shod habits of the 
slave labor system, and is at best a poor substitute. Four-fifths of 
the farmers undertake too much, expending in the most superficial 
way upon 200 or 400 acres the labor which would only well cultivate 
100 acres, and the result is seen in shallow plowing, hurried seeding, 
slight cultivation, careless harvesting, loose stacking, wasteful thresh- 
ing and reckless waste in feeding. The equally reckless exposure of 
farm machinery in this county would bankrupt the entire farm popu- 
lation of half a dozen New England counties in three seasons. The 
visitor in the country is always in sight of splendid reapers, mowers, 
seeders, cultivators, wagons and smaller implements, standing in the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 303 

swarth, furrow, fence-corner or yard where last used, and exposed to 
the storms and sunshine until the improvident owner needs them for 
further use. 

The exposure of flocks and herds to the cold, wet storms of the 
winter, without a thought of shelter, in a country where nature has 
bountifully provided the material for, and only trifling labor is required 
to give ample protection, is a violation of the simplest rule of economy 
and that kindly human impulse that never fails to be moved by the 
sight of animal suffering. The astonishing waste of manures by the 
villainous habit of burning great stacks of straw and leaving rich half- 
century accumulations of manure to the caprice of the elements, may 
be all right in bountiful old Missouri, but in the older Eastern country 
would be prima facie evidence of the insanity of the land-owner who 
permitted the waste. 

The waste of valuable timber is equally unaccountable, if not really 
appalling. While economists in the older lands are startled at the 
rapid approach of the timber famine, and are wondering where the 
timber supply is to come from a dozen years hence, the farmers of 
Monroe county and all North Missouri have until recently been split- 
ting elegant young walnut and cherry trees into common rails to 
inclose lands worth $10 to $25 per acre ; cutting them into logs for 
cabins, pig troughs and sluiceways, and even putting them on the wood 
market in competition with cheap coals, complaining the while of the 
cost of walnut furniture brought from factories a thousand miles 
away. 

There are too many big farms here for the good of the overtasked 
owners or the country. No man can thoroughly cultivate 600, 1,000 
or 1,500 acres of land, any more than a country of homeless and land- 
less tenants can be permanently prosperous ; and the sooner these broad, 
unwieldly estates are broken into small farms and thoroughly culti- 
vated by owners of the soil in fee simple, the better it will be for land 
values, schools, highways, society, agriculture, trade and every vital 
interest of the country. Such a consummation would vastly add to 
the wealth and attractions of this beautiful and fertile region, grivins: it 
the graces of art, manifold fruits of production, and universal thrift 
that attend every country of proprietary small farmers. There is too 
much speculation and too little work for the benefit of farming or 
economic living. Everybody is trading with his neighbor in live stock, 
grain, lands, town lots, options, or anything that promises money 
without work, forgetting that the country is not a dime the richer for 
the traffic. Nothing surprises the Eastern visitor as much as the want 



304 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

of appreciation for their couiitrj, expressed by so many of the old and 
substantial farmers of this region. They get the Texas, Kansas or 
Colorado fever, and talk about selling beautiful farms in this fair and 
fertile county for the chances of fortune in one of these regions of the 
immigrant's Utopia, as if they were unconscious of living in one of 
the most favored lands upon the green earth. A six weeks' tour of 
some of the older and less favored States, followed by a trip of crit- 
ical observation into some of the newer ones, might give these uneasy 
and unsettled men a spirit of happy content with their present homes 
and surroundings. 

Monroe county has productive capacity great enough to feed a fourth 
of the population of Missouri, but before its wonderful native resources 
are developed to the maximum, it must have 20,000 more men to aid 
in the work. Men for the thorough cultivation of 40, 80 and 120 
acre farms ; for the modern butter and cheese dairy ; skilled fruit 
growers to plant orchards and vineyards and wine presses ; hundreds 
of sterling young young men from the Northern States, the Canadas 
and Europe to solve the farm labor problem in a country where relia- 
ble labor is scarce and wages high, and skilled artisans to found a 
hundred new mechanical industries. All these are wanted, nor can 
they come a day too soon for cordial greeting from the good people of 
Monroe county, or the precious realization of a great destiny for one 
of the most inviting regions on the green earth. 

Taking the census of 1880 as a basis of calculation and comparison, 
Monroe county, agriculturally, occupies a place in the front rank of 
counties, and in some respects it is unrivalled by any other in the 
State. 

In 1880 the county produced 3,379,539 bushels of corn, only 12 
counties out of the entire number of 114 producing a greater number 
of bushels than Monroe. The crop averaged 38^/2 bushels per acre. 
We can more fully appreciate the crop of corn raised by Monroe 
county by a simple comparison. 

During the same year California raised 1,993,325 bushels ; Colorado, 
455,968 ; Oregon, 126,862 ; Rhode Island, 372,967 ; Washington Ter- 
ritory, 39,182; Utah, 163,342; Nevada, 11,891, and District of 
Columbia, 29,750. Total number of bushels, 3,193,287. 

It will be seen that Monroe county produced more corn in 1880 
than eight States and Territories produced. Take the tobacco crop 
for the same year. Chariton, Callaway, Carroll, Howard, Macon, 
Randolph and Saline each raised more tobacco than Monroe. Chari- 
ton and Carroll averaged more pounds to the acre than Monroe ; the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 305 

averao^e number of pounds per acre for Monroe was 784, and the entire 
crop was 421,232 pounds. 

As a sheep county, Monroe leads all the counties in the State, the 
number for 1880 being 32,873 ; Linn county ranking second, with 
32,458. Being the banner sheep county, it would most naturally 
follow that the wool clipping was greater in pounds, which was a fact, 
the whole number of pounds of wool being 229,158 ; Linn county 
clipped 183,052. 

There were nine counties that raised more hogs than Monroe, the 
number in Monroe being a little less than 65,000. 

Fourteen counties produced more cattle than Monroe the number 
for Monroe for that year (1880) being a little less than 30,000. 

Twelve counties produced more butter than Monroe, the latter hav- 
ing upwards of 400,000 pounds. 

Only three counties contained a greater number of horses than 
Monroe. 

The fticts and figures which are briefly, but correctly, given above 
show the following facts : — 

That in 1880 only 12 counties in Missouri raised more corn than 
Monroe, and that Monroe raised more corn than was produced by 8 
States and Territories ; that 7 counties grew more tobacco than 
Monroe, but that Monroe averaged a greater number of pounds to the 
acre than 4 of these counties ; that Monroe county raised more sheep 
than any other county in the State and clipped a greater number of 
pounds of wool than any other county ; that 9 counties contained 
more hogs than Monroe ; 14 counties more cattle; 12 counties made 
more butter, and 3 counties contained more horses. 

Taxable wealth from 1874 to 1884 — \^lh, $4,965,290.00; 1876, 
$4,904,376.00; 1877, $5,369,522.00; 1878, $5,273,805.00; 1879, 
$4,234,400.00; 1880, $4,548,160.00; 1881, $4,573,920.00; 1882, 
$4,871,044.00; 1883, $4,523,170.00. 

FRUIT. 

Monroe county is one of the best fruit growing counties in the State, 
and will in a few years equal if not surpass any other county in the 
production of apples. The apple crop for the winters of 1882-83 
amounted to over 100,000 barrels that were shipped to Chicago and 
the Northern markets, saying nothing of the thousands of bushels that 
were sold to the local trade and used at home. The apple crop for 
1884 promises a greater yield than for any preceding year. The Ben 
Davis takes the lead; then comes the Genitan, Jonathan, Wine-sap, 



306 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



Baldwin, Willow Twig, Yellow and White Belle Flower, Parmain, 
Maiden's Blush, Milan, Newtown Pippin, the Northern Spy and a 
few other kinds. Small fruits, such as cherries, currants, gooseber- 
ries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries do well, and are not 
only raised by farmers, but these fruits are to be seen in the yards 
and o-ardens of those who live in the towns and villages throughout 
the county. 

Grapes, especially the Concord, thrive well, and could be produced 
in great abundance if there was any market or demand for them 
away from the county. Pears hit occasionally — once every two or 
three years; peaches do well when they are not injured by cold 
weather; an ordinary hard winter, however, will kill the trees. 




BIOGRAPHICAL. 



MOJ^ROE tow:n^ship. 



KICHARD ASBURY, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Monroe City) . 

Dr. Asbury was one of the first residents of Monroe City, having 
come here as early as the spring of 1866. But three families of those 
residing here at that time are still residents of the place. He built a 
neat two-story frame business house, the first one of any considerable 
size or importance erected here, A regular graduate of medicine and 
a physician of established reputation, he soon built up an excellent 
practice in the adjacent vicinities of Monroe, Ralls, Marion and Shelby 
counties, a practice which has steadily increased from the first. Dr. 
Asbury was also engaged in the drug business at this place with suc- 
cess for a number of years. A man of liberal, progressive ideas and 
wide general information, he has always taken an intelligent interest 
in the progress and prosperity of the community, and has contributed 
an important share toward building up Monroe City and surrounding 
country, and for the general interests of the people. Recognizing his 
concern for the welfare of the place, he has been called repeatedly to 
serve as city councilman and gave conclusive proof of his usefulness 
in that position by advocating with a due regard for economy and 
practicability all needed public improvements, such as the improve- 
ment of streets and making of sidewalks, etc. Dr. Asbury is a native 
Missourian, born in Lewis county, near the city of Monticello, May 
17, 1838. His parents were William F. and Elizabeth (Blair) Asbury, 
his father originally of Virginia, but his mother of Kentucky. They 
were married in Kentucky and came to Missouri in 1834, settling five 
miles west of Monticello. The}'^ subsequently removed to Scot and 
county, near Memphis, where the father died in 1853. The mother 
died some 13 years before, in 1840. Richard, the subject of this 
sketch, was only two years of age when his mother died, and his father 
afterwards married. Miss Mary A. Measner then becoming his wife. 
There were nine children by the father's first marriage and one by the 
second. The father was a farmer and also practiced medicine, being 
a man of wonderful natural aptitude for the medical profession. 
Richard Asbury received his education at the common schools, and 
when 20 years of age, during the Pike's Peak excitement, went to the 
South Park country in Colorado, where he spent nearly a year, en- 

(307) 



308 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

gaged in mining. On his return he entered school at Canton, under 
the instruction of Prof. Grant, who taught a private class at the 
college in that place. After this he entered upon the regular study 
of medicine, under Dr. R. S. Briscoe, and continued under him for 
about a year, teaching school, however, a part of the time. He subse- 
quently studied under Dr. Hubbard at Canton and taught for another 
year. For a while, also, he was engaged in mercantile business with 
J. B. Reddish. Entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons at 
Keokuk, Iowa, he took a regular course in that institution and gradu- 
ated in 1865. After his graduation he located in Saline county, uear 
Petre, where he practiced for about a year. He then came to Monroe 
City, in 1866, as stated above. In the meantime, however, in 1861, 
he joined the Southern army and was in the service for about a year, 
being a part of the time under Col. Green, and a part under Col. 
Porter. On May 12, 1864, Dr. Asbury was married to Miss Martha 
E. Plant of Monticello. There are three children living of this union : 
Sarah E. (" Bessie"), who is now attending Prof. Musgrove's sem- 
inary at Monticello; Massanello P. ("Ned"), now also attending 
the same institution, and Carrie V., at home, aged eight years. Two 
are deceased, Richard V. and Lillie C, who died at tender ages. In 
about 1874 Dr. Asbury's wife's health began to fail and it so con- 
tinued up to the time of her death, which occurred on March 17, 1883. 
Two years before, he went south, hoping that a change of climate 
would prove beneficial, but all to no avail. She had long been an 
earnest member of the Christian Church, and at last passed away 
peacefully in the full hope and faith of the blessed Redeemer. Dr. 
Asbury has had several partnershij)s in the practice of medicine, but 
has always commanded a good practice personally, for he has many 
old patients who would not be satisfied with any other physician while 
he could be had. He has always taken a warm interest in the cause 
of temperance and is an earnest believer in the effectiveness of pro- 
hibition laws. He has been a member of the school board for a num- 
ber of years, and, indeed, has ever shown a willingness to assist in 
any movement designed for the general good. 

WILLIAM A. BIRD 

(Photographer, Monroe City), 

In 1873 Mr. Bird commenced learning the art of photography and 
has since devoted his time and attention almost exclusively to his call- 
ing. The wants of society are varied, and in a well regulated com- 
munity, as in the ideal Republic of Plato, the pursuits of its members 
must be greatly diversified. The egotism of the less liberal and less 
broad-minded class of individuals is so great, however, that it is not 
an uncommon thing to see one in a given calling estimating with little 
appreciation the pursuit of another — looking upon it, in fact, as of 
little value, and unworthy the time and attention of a man of sterling 
intelligence, positive character, or personal force. In this light some 
are wont to look upon photography. Ignoring the great service the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 309 

art performs to humanity, they are not disposed to regard its adepts 
with that respect and consideration to which men faithfully devoted to 
a worthy calling are justly entitled. The art of photography preserves 
a singularly correct representation of the features and appear- 
ance of those nearest and dearest to us, after they have passed 
away. It presents to us the likeness of a loving and beloved mother 
when she is to be seen no more, or of a father, or of a husband 
or wife or children. The features of absent friends long separated 
from us are by it brought to view, telling us of the changes 
which the flight of years has made in those we esteem. In the realm 
of the gentler, blush-producing emotions of the heart, the value of 
its services is as inestimable as the stars that people space are innum- 
erable. Who of our day, in the opening bloom-time of life, has not 
had his soul thrilled, as if the music of the spheres were vibrating in 
his breast, at looking upon the fair features of some lovely maid,"the 
ideal of his heart, as presented by the heaven-invented art of photog- 
raphy? No one who has ever been young and loved can ever become 
so soured as to esteem to photographers' work less than a gift of heaven, 
a divine mission, appointed like the ministers of old to publish glad 
tidings to all the world. Then should not one who devotes himsehf to 
this hardly less than sacred office put forth every energy of head and 
heart and of personal exertion to prove himself worthy of it? In this 
light the true artist regards it, and it is in this light that the subject 
of the present sketch has ever viewed it. With an intuitive sense of 
the importance of, and due regard for, the conditions of invention, 
composition, design, chiaroscuro and coloring, including the princi- 
ples of light and shade, warm and cold expres'sions, perspective, etc., 
he has studied his art with that intelligence and assiduity and practiced 
himself in its work with that comprehensive appreciaton of what is 
necessary to be done, which could not fail of placing him in the front 
rank of artists in North Missouri. The gratifying result is shown in 
the superior excellence and enviable reputation which distinguish his 
work. It is not too much to say that no photographer in this part of 
the State has been more fortunate in mastering his art than the sub- 
ject of the present sketch. His work can compare favorably with that 
of the most eminent adept, were they hung side by side in any reput- 
able solan d'art photographique of a large city . Mr. Bird , whose name 
itself is not an unpleasant suggestion, is a native of the classic State of 
Illinois, born in Ogle county7May 19, 1850. His early life was spent 
on the farm and without any thrilling event indicative of a remarka- 
ble future. He early became identTfied, however, with a base ball 
club at Eockford, III., showing that he is possessed of that activity 
of mind and body and of that disposition to keep quite up with the 
times in Avhich he lives so necessary to success in life. He was for 
some time a professional base ball player, and his name as such became 
a familiar object to the public in the local prints, and in a way quite 
creditable to himself and the club with which he was identified. In 
short, he was a successful base ball player, as he is a successful pho- 



310 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

tographer. In 1872 he came to Missouri, locating at Shelbina, where 
he followed clerking for a year and at the same time studied and 
worked at photography. He came to Monroe City in 1880, and now 
has one of the handsomest suits of art parlors, in his line, including 
a studio and laboratory, to be found in this section of the State. His 
career, indeed, as indicated above, has been one of gratifying and un- 
usual success. August 24, 1880, he was married to Miss Frankie L., 
a refined and accomplished daughter of J, C. York, of Shelbina. Mr. 
Bird is also agent for the Kimball organ. Mrs. Bird is a member of 
the M. E. Church. 

JAMES H. BLINCOE 

(Contractor and Builder, and Dealer in Lumber, etc., Monroe City). 

Mr. Blincoe is the leading contractor and builder of this place, 
if indeed not also of the county, and does a business exceeded in 
extent and importance only by the excellence and popularity of his 
work. He has been engaged in business here for the past seven years 
and during this time has erected a number of the handsomest build- 
ings, both residence and otherwise, to be seen in the place, a town 
noted for the fine taste and display in its architecture. He is by 
natural taste an architect, a designer of superior ability, while he is a 
thoroughly experienced carpenter and he always gives his personal 
attention to the erection of the buildings which are contracted to him, 
doing a large part of the work himself. He works, however, a half 
a dozen or more first-class carpenters during the building season, and 
receives great commendation for the expedition as well as thorough- 
ness with which he does his work. Mr. Blincoe is one of the highly 
respected citizens of the place and is a member of the school board 
of which Dr. Jackson is president. He carries a large and excellent 
stock of lumber and all sorts of building materials, so that while he 
is enabled to sell to the general public at the lowest retail prices, he 
is at the same time able to give his patrons as a builder the benefit 
of wholesale prices in the erection of their houses. Mr. Blincoe is a 
Missourian by nativity and was born in Marion county, February 24, 
1844. His father was George T. Blincoe, in his younger days a con- 
tractor in Marion county, and his mother was a Miss Elizabeth Turner, 
both Virginians. James H. was brought up to his present business and 
has since worked at it at different points in Missouri up to the time 
of coming to Monroe City, in 1877. Here he soon came to the front 
in his present lines, a position he is likely to hold as long as good 
health is spared to him. On the 14th of June, 1865, he was married 
to Miss Anna Mitchell, of Marion county, a daughter of Burrill and 
Caroline (McCullough) Mitchell. Mr. and Mrs. Blincoe have four 
children: William E., Alice, James H. and an infant. He and wife 
are members of the M. E. Church South, and he is a member of the 
Masonic order. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 311 

BOULWARE & SULLIVAN 

(Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, etc., etc., Monroe City) 

Mr. Boulware, the senior member of the above-named firm, was 
brought up to merchandising, his father, William Boulware, having 
been an old merchant of this place. He entered his father's store 
after taking a course at Monroe Academy, and continued clerking for 
his father from the age of 15 up to 1872, when he formed a part- 
nership with his brother, Edward S., and the two engaged in his pres- 
ent line of business in this place. They continued in the business 
together with good success for two years, when Edward S. sold his 
interest in the firm to James M. Johnson, and about eighteen months 
afterwards the latter sold to Mr. Sullivan. Since then, in 1876, the 
firm has been doing business under the name of Boulware & Sullivan. 
The business was started on comparatively a small capital, but the firm 
now have one of the leading houses in their line in Monroe county, 
and, indeed, in all this section of country for miles around. Messrs. 
Boulware & Sullivan keep three clerks constantly employed, besides 
giving the business their own daily attention. They have a new brick 
business house, erected by themselves in 1883 at a large cost, a build- 
ing 28x100 feet, which they have literally packed witli every variety 
of goods to be found in a first-class store in their line. Their business 
is on a cash basis, both as buyers and sellers, and while it is thus on a 
sound basis, they are at the same time able to sell at prices which no 
credit house can compete with, for they get the benefit of important 
discounts by making cash purchases. Mr. Boulware is a native of 
Monroe county, born near this city March 22, 1852. His mother was 
Miss Anna McPike, related to the well-known McPike family of North 
Missouri. Aaron was the youngest of four children, the others being : 
Eachel Z., now Mrs. R. V. Sullivan ; Edward S., of Marion county, 
and James M., of Lewis county. September 21, 1876, Aaron Boul- 
ware, the subject of this sketch, was married to Miss jNIinnie Menden- 
hall, a daughter of Dr. Thomas J. Mendenhall, of Monroe, formerly of 
Wilmnigton, Del. ; he is now practicing in Philadelphia, Penn. 
Mr. and Mrs. Boulware have two children : Thomas Mendenhall 
and Anna McPike. He and wife are both members of the Episco- 
13al Church, and he is a member of the Masonic order. 

Randolph V. Sullivan, the junior member of the firm, was born 
in Mason county, Ky., November 4, 1834, and was a son of Austin 
and Catherine (Hiles) Sullivan, who came to Missouri in 1867, and 
settled in Marion county. In 1871, however, they went to Rising Sun, 
Ind., where their eldest son lives, and where the father died in 1882. 
The mother is still living there. Four of their family are living: 
Robert A., of Marion county: James H., of Monroe county; Jerome, 
of Vernon county; Randolph, the subject of this sketch, and William 
H., the eldest, a physician at Rising Sun, Ind. Randolph V. was 
reared in Kentucky and educated at the Dover Seminary in that State. 

15 



312 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

He spent two years there in a drug store, and came to Missouri in 1856. 
Here he engaged in farming, near Monroe City, which he followed until 
1876, being also engaged during the same time in grazing and feed- 
ing stock of all kinds. On the 29th of June, 1859, Mr. Sullivan was 
married to Miss Rachel Z. Boulware, only daughter of William Boul- 
ware, and a sister to Aaron Boulware, of the present firm. The Ijusi- 
ness of this firm has already been spoken of in the preceding sketch. 
Mr. Sullivan has been for some time acting President of the Monroe 
City Bank, since the ill health of the President, John B. Randol, and 
at the last election of officers he was elected President of the bank in 
which he is a prominent stockholder. He is one of the substantial 
property holders of the county, and a sober-minded, safe business 
man. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have three children : William A. and 
Charles M., both clerking in the store, and Anna K., who is at home. 
William was educated at Central College, and Charles and Anna were 
educated at the Monroe Academy. Mr. Sullivan is superintendent of 
the Sunday-school and he and all his family, except Charles, are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. 

ROBERT B. BRISTOW 

(Of Bristow & Lighter, Attorneys at Law, Monroe City). 

Maj. Bristow, one of the leading lawyers of this judicial circuit and 
a prominent, influential citizen of Monroe county, came to Missouri 
from Virginia in 1870, where he had been successfully engaged in the 
practice of his profession continuously since the close of the war. He 
is a native of Virginia and resided there until his removal to Missouri. 
Maj. Bristow was born in Middlesex county, January 21, 1840, and 
was a son of James S. and Leonora (Seward) Bristow, both of old 
Virginia families. His father was a farmer by occupation and Robert 
B. was brought up to hard work on the farm. However, he had good 
educational advantages and took a regular course at Alleghany Col- 
lege, Virginia, where he graduated in 1859. Intended for the law, 
he immediatel}' afterwards entered upon the study for that profession 
under the eminent jurist. Judge Brockenborough, of Lexington, Va. 
He also took a regular course at the Virginia Law School, but 
received no degree as that institution did not then confer degrees. 
After quitting the law school he engaged in teaching, but was not 
long permitted to preside over a school-room, for the cyclone of Civil 
War soon came sweeping over the country and drew every one capable 
of bearing arms into its terrible embrace. He went directly out of the 
school-room into the first battle of Manassas, and for more than four 
years he bravely bore himself in march and camp and on the bloody 
field as a worthy soldier of the cavalier South. He entered the army 
as a private and by his merits rose to the rank of major, which he 
held at the close of the war, and finally surrendered at Appomattox 
where the Southern standard v/ent down to rise no more. He was 
four times wounded during the progress of the war and was in many 
of the hardest battles fought during that long and terrible struggle. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 313 

But none of his injuries proved pernianent, and he came out of his 
four years' service fully capable of co[)ing with the duties and respon- 
sibilities of life, his severest wound being that of the heart by the 
defeat of the cause which he loved so well and fought for so long aud 
bravely. After the surrender he located for the practice of his profes- 
sion at Saluda, the county seat of his native county, where he prac- 
ticed with success until his removal to Missouri in 1870. From 
Virginia he came directly to Monroe City, and here formed a partnership 
in the practice of law with Rev. P. R. Ridgley, a prominent attorney 
as well as an able divine, now of Rocheport, Mo. This partnership 
continued until 1872, and they also condncted the Monroe City Appeal. 
Rev. Mr. Ridgley, however, went to Rocheport, and a few weeks 
later Maj. Bristow had the misfortune to lose the Appeal office by 
lire, which left him about $1,000 in debt. He then sold the good 
will of the Appeal for what he could get and devoted himself 
exclusively to the practice. He has been quite successful as a lawyer, 
both in the trial of cases and in the accumulation of the rewards of a 
good practice, being not only one of the leading lawyers of the circuit 
in reputation and business but also in easy circumstances. Maj. Bris- 
tow is a man of marked character and sterling natural ability, as well 
as thorough master of the science of the law and an able practitioner 
and speaker. As an advocate he is conceded to have few equals if any 
in the circuit, and the influence he has before juries is one of the prin- 
cipal secrets of his success. Always thoroughly posted in the law of 
the case and never failing to make himself perfectly fiimiliar with the 
facts, with this preparation when he comes to present his case to the 
jury in that terse aud forcible language of which he is master, as well 
as that eloquence which he commands at will, he is almost irresisti- 
ble. In 18 — he formed a partnership in the practice with his present 
partner, John T. Lighter, Jr., Esq. Mr. Lighter is an able and 
accomplished young lawyer, a graduate of the law department of the 
State University and a successful practitioner. On the 22d of Feb- 
ruary, 1866, Maj. Bristow was married to Miss Lucinda E. Cauthron, of 
Essex county, Va., and related to the prominent Audrain county 
family by that name of this State. Maj. and Mrs. Bristow are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church, and he is one of the leading members of 
the I. O. O. F. in this part of the State. 

BENEDICT BUELL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-oflSce, Monroe City) . 

One of the most increscent forces operating to the material devel- 
opment and general advancement in prosperity of Monroe county is 
the large number of men of means and enterprise, and of sterling 
business and industrial ability, who are constantly casting their for- 
tunes and identifying their lives and activity for this county. Promi- 
nent among these in the last year or two is the subject of the present 
sketch. Mr. Buell, a relative to the litterateur Buell, well known as 
the author of " Russian Nihilism," and numerous other works, resided 



314 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

in St. Louis county, where he was partly reared, until his removal 
to Monroe county in the fall of 1883. Already, by his industry and 
enterprise, he had achieved substantial success in the accumulation of 
property, and came here with ample means to buy a valuable tract of 
land and improve it in an excellent manner. He has built an unusu- 
ally good and tastefully constructed residence, commodious and con- 
veniently arranged, and in other respects is making his farm one of 
the desirable homesteads of the township. Mr. Buell is a native of 
St. Louis county, born October 19, 1834. His parents were Jacob 
O. and Rosanna (Carrico) Buell, his mother a sister to Benedict Car- 
rico, a sketch of whom appears in this volume, and for whom the 
present subject was named. Mr. Buell was quite young when his 
father died, leaving one other son, Walter, who is now on the farm 
with the subject of the present sketch, having only recently returned 
from California, where he made his home from the year 1850. In 
1836 Mrs. Buell, the widow, with her two sons, Beneclict and Walter, 
removed to Monroe county, but returned to St. Louis county four 
years afterward and was married there' to Mr. Van Meter. She 
resided in St. Louis county for 16 years, but came back to Monroe in 
1856. However, she returned to St. Louis county in 1877. Her 
second husband died while they resided in Monroe count3^ Benedict 
Buell was brought up to farming but also learned the stonemason's 
trade, at which he worked in St. Louis until 1854. He then spent 
three years mining and freighting in California. Returning to St. Louis 
county in 1857, two years later he was married there to Miss Mary 
Kieif, who was born and reared in St. Louis. In 1860 he began running 
a threshing machine in St. Louis county, and continued that, in addition 
to his other agricultural industries, up to the time of his removal to Mon- 
roe county. Until the application of steatn power to threshers became 
practicable he used horse power, but as soon as steam could be used 
he applied it as a motive power to his thresher, and is conceded to be 
the first man who ever threshed wheat in St. Louis county with a 
steam thresher. In 1879 Mr. Buell bought his present tract of land in 
Monroe county. This is a fine piece of land of 160 acres, the improve- 
ment of which he began in 1883. His identification with this county 
is a valuable acquisition to its agricultural interests and to its citizen- 
ship. Mr. and Mrs. Buell have four children : William B., Anna L., 
Lee and Wesley. His eldest son is married and resides in this town- 
ship. His eldest daughter is the wife of Mr. Hamilton Green, who 
resides on the farm with his father-in-law. The second son, a graduate 
of the Mound City Commercial College, is a successful teacher in the 
county. The youngest son, Wesley, is at home, Mr. and Mrs. Buell 
are members of the Catholic Church, and he is a member of the 
Knights of Honor. 

J. PORTER BUSH 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser aud Stock-dealer, Post-office, Monroe City). 

Mr. Bush, one of the most enterprising and intelligent agricultur- 
ists of Monroe township, is a Kentuckian by nativity, born in Clark, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



315 



county, November 2, 1837. His parents were Jeremiah and Nancy 
H. (Gentry) Bush, who lived in Clark county, Ky., being highly 
respected citizens, until their death, the father being a substantial and 
prominent farmer and stock-raiser of that county. J. Porter was 
reared on the farm, and completed his education at Central College 
of Danville, Ky. The two years following, 1854 and 1855, he 
spent in a store at Winchester, Ky. Following this he was in 
no particular line of business until 1860, when he became station 
agent of the Hanuibal and St. Joe Koad at Osborn, having previously 
learned telegraphy. The following fall, November 15, 1860, he was 
married to Miss Anna E. Gentry, daughter of Hon. Joshua Gentry, 
then president of the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad Company. He 
continued in the service of that company until 1866, having been 
agent at Palmyra from May 1, 1862, to April, 1866. Then he settled 
on his present larm three miles south of Monroe City, where he has a 
fine place of 320 acres, which has a tract of 80 acres of timber tribu- 
tary to it. Besides farming in a general way he makes a specialty of 
raising fine short-horn and Hereford cattle for the Western trade, and 
now has 40 head of fine cattle on hand. He also has superior grades of 
sheep and hogs. For a number of years he has been engaged in feed- 
ing and shipping stock, and handling them quite extensively, in which 
he has been entirely successful. During the war Mr. Bush was a 
Union man, and was a member of the enrolled militia while in the 
service of the railroad, being connected with the rail protective ser- 
vice, and was frequently called out from his regular office duties to 
protect the road. He was at Monroe City, July 10, 1861, when the 
depot was burned by Capt. John Owens' men of the Southern service, 
and was at Hunnewell at the time Porter and Green entered that place 
on their raid in North Missouri, being robbed there, and only escap- 
ing with his life by the citizens telling them that he had gone off on 
the previous train. He was ordered out for service at the time the 
Southrons burnt the Salt river bridge, and on several other occasions 
of great personal danger. Gen. Porter, of the Confederate army, 
made a raid on Palmyra in 1863 while he (Mr. Bush) was located 
there, and released all the Confederate prisoners in that place and 
carried oft' old man Allsman, for whom Gen. John McNeil had 10 
Confederate prisoners shot at that place. Mr. Bush was present at 
the shooting of the prisoners. Mr. and Mrs. Bush have a family of 
seven children, and have lost one, besides their eldest, in infancy. 
The others are James J., Charley C, Jesse J., Sarah G., Ambrose 
G., Catherine N., and Annetta. He and wife are members of the 
Monroe Christian Church, and he is a member of the A. O. U. W. 

BENEDICT CARRICO 

(Farmer, and Cattle-raiser, Post-office, Monroe City) . 

On his father's side, Mr. Carrico is of English descent, though the 
family was settled in Virginia for several generations, but on his 
mother's side he is of Irish ancestry, his grandfather, Ignatious 



316 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

O'Brien, having been a native of the Emerald Isle. His father was 
Walter Carrico and his mother, before her marriage, was a Miss 
Helena O'Brien. Three of the Carrico brothers came to Missouri — 
Vincent, the eldest, coming away back when St. Louis was a mere 
frontier trading post; Dennis came in 1810 and Walter in 1818; a 
sister also came, Theresa, back in 1810 ; she became the wife of Josias 
Miles, and Richard Miles, mentioned in this volume, was her son. They 
all first located in St. Louis county. Walter Carrico, the father of 
the subject of this sketch, came to Monroe county in 1836 and settled 
on Indian creek, near Swinkey, where he entered nearly 600 acres of 
land and lived until his death in 1840. His wife died in 1865. They 
had three sons and four daughters, namely: Ignatious, who died in 
Texas ; Benedict, the subject of this sketch; Joseph M., of St. Louis 
county ; Elizabeth, who died whilst the wife of Francis Miles ; Theresa, 
who died whilst the wife of James Murphy ; Rosanna, who died 
after her marriage to John Van Metre, and Nancy who died whilst the 
wife of D. D. St.Vrain. Benedict Carrico and Joseph M. Carrico are 
the only two of the family now living. The former was but twenty- 
two years of age when he came to Monroe county and on the 7th day 
of February, 1837, he was married to Miss Catherine L., a daughter 
of Edward Hardesty. She was born in Kentucky in 1818, and died 
in this county March 13, 1879, leaving her husband eio;ht children : 
Walter V., of Hannibal; Susan E., now the wife of V. B. Calhoun of 
Hannibal ; Edward D., who is at home ; Benedict F., who resides 
near his father; Theresa A., now the wife of A. W. Vaughn, of the 
same vicinity ; Francis I., now the wife of Nicholas Calhoun, of Marion 
county; Thomas M., who is still on the farm with his father, and 
Elizabeth, who died a young lady, about four years ago. Mr. Car- 
rico has followed farming and stock-raising ever since he came to the 
county. He lived in the north-eastern part of the county until 1849. 
He then settled on a part of his present place. At first he had but 
80 acres, but now he has 13 acres less than 300, and has given some 
land to his children. Whilst his life has been one of industry and 
good management, it is thus seen that his labors have not been with- 
out their reward. His main business has been raising cattle and 
mules at which, in his time, he has made a good deal of money. He 
also raised considerable tobacco years ago. Mr. Carrico and all of his 
children are members of the Catholic Church. Personally he is 
looked upon as one of the old and highly respected citizens of the 
township, and is much esteemed by all who know him. 

HARRISON CARY 

(Dealer iu Groceries, Monroe City) . 

Mr. Cary, one of the old citizens of Monroe county, was one of the 
first merchants to engage in business at this place. He began here in 
1862, when there were but two other business houses, those of J. M. 
Preston and H. A. Buchanan, both dealers in general merchandise. 
Mr. Cary has been in business from that time to this almost continu- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 317 

oiisly. On first coming to Monroe City he formed a partnership with 
John Gates, with whom he continued for two years. He was then alone 
for awhile, and his next partner was Heber Hough. They were in 
the business together up to 1870. Mr. Cary started his present bus- 
iness in the line of groceries, queen's-ware, glass-ware, etc., in 1875. 
His business has grown with the growth of the place and the sur- 
rounding country. He now carries an unusually large stock of goods 
and has erected a handsome two-story brick business house with a 
laroje cellar for his trade. This buildino; has three rooms, all of which 
are occupied by his stock, and for conveniently handling goods he has 
an elevator. He carries a stock of several thousand dollars and does 
an extensive and lucrative business. He also handles seeds and other 
farm products, except grain, stock and the like. Mr. Gary was born 
in Marion county. May 29, 1822. His parents were Edward and 
Elizabeth (Whaley) Cary, his mother a daughter of Capt. Whaley, 
formerly of Kentucky. They were married in Kentucky and came 
to Missouri in 1820. In 1846 young Cary enlisted for the Mexican 
War, becoming a soldier under Price, afterwards Gen. Price of the 
Civil War, and being in Col. Dave Willick's battalion. The principal 
scene of his service was in the Santa Fe country, and he was out for 
about 14 months. Mr. Cary underwent great hardships during his 
service, for soldiers were not as well cared for then as now, and 
besides, campaigning in a wild, almost provisionless country — there 
were no railroad means of transportation, but the dreary march most 
of the time without roads — and in all the changes of the weather was 
the lot of the soldier. Returning to Marion county after his service, 
he engaged in farming there, which he had previously followed, and 
on the 14th of June, 1849, was married to Miss E. C. Gash, of that 
county. He continued to farm in his native county until 1856, when 
he went to Texas, but returned the following year. He then came to 
Monroe county and improved what is now known as the J. M. Proctor 
farm, where he resided until he came to Monroe City in 1862. Mr. 
Cary took no part in the war, but was preyed upon by both sides and 
greatly annoyed and harassed by evil-disposed persons, without a fear 
of the Lord before their eyes or a decent regard for either the rights 
of person or property. Before the war Mr. Cary was a Whig, but 
has since been identified with the Democratic party, though only as a 
citizen, for he has never been an aspirant for office. However, he was 
a member of the first town council of Monroe City, and was also for 
a time mayor of the place. Mr. and Mrs. Cary have two children, 
Adolphus E., now connected with his father in business, and Mary L., 
the wife of Rev. Henry F. Davis, of the Christian Church. Adolphus 
E. is a graduate of the Christian University of Canton, Mo., having 
received his honors in the class of 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Cary are 
members of the Christian Church. 



318 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

DAVID G. DAVENPORT 

(Attorney at Law, Monroe City). 

Mr. Davenport, who has been engaged in the practice of law for 
over 30 years continuously, except during most of the war and 
for a short time afterwards, has been located at Monroe City since 
1873. As a lawyer, his career has been one of substantial success, 
and he is now one of the well-to-do citizens of this place as well as 
one of the prominent attorneys of the county. Mr. Davenport, 
although partly reared in Marion county, was born in Baltimore, 
Md., his natal day being the 20th of January, 1822. His father was 
David G. Davenport, and was originally from Lewistown, Del. He 
was reared, however, in West Virginia, but educated at Washington 
City, D. C. He early went to Baltimore, where Miss Susan Green 
became his wife, a young lady of Maryland birth and education. 
When David G., Jr., was some 15 years of age his parents removed 
to Missouri, settling near West Ely, in Marion county. Young 
Davenport received a good education and began the study of law in 
1848, under Judge Van Swearengen, who is well known to Missouri 
lawyers by his long and eminent service at the bar and hardly less by 
his being the subject of ex-Senator Waldo P. Johnson's famous poem, 
entitled "The Nestor of the Missouri Bar," which was read for the 
first time before the Bar Association of Vernon county some 10 or 12 
years ago. Mr. Davenport also read law under A. W. Lamm, a leading 
lawyer of Hannibal, and for whom Judge Van Swearengen' s son, A. 
W. Van Swearengen, a prominent lawyer of Montevallo, Mo., was 
named. Admitted to the bar in 1850, Mr. Davenport went at once 
thereafter to California, where he resided for about two years. He 
then returned to Missouri and engaged in the practice at Palmyra, 
where he continued with success until the second year of the war. 
By this time affairs had become so critical that it was no longer safe 
for a man of pronounced Southern convictions to remain at home, and 
he accordingly joined the Southern army, becoming first lieutenant of 
a company under Col. Porter, and taking charge of Porter's body- 
guard. Later along in the war he was wounded and taken prisoner. 
After his capture he was taken to Jefferson City and then to St. Louis, 
where he was court-martialed and thereupon committed to prison at 
Alton. He was finally transferred to Camp Chase, being kept in con- 
finement until the close of the war. After his return home he found 
that loyalty had not only been victorious but thrifty. Both Southern 
rights and Southern property had suffered, the latter perhaps even 
more than the former. Mr. Davenport found that his worldl}^ pos- 
sessions to the amount of about $20,000 had been swept away in com- 
mon with those of other " rebels." It is a poor thing that can't be 
made to pay, and in the late war " patriotism " was by no means an 
unprofitable enterprise, considering the l)ounties, the pickings from 
wicked "rebels," and the back pay and fat pensions that have fol- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 319 

lowed. After the war Mr. Davenport resumed the practice of law, 
not, however, for a few years, on account of the proscriptive clause 
of the Drake Constitution, which prohibited every one identified or 
sympathizing with the South in the remotest degree from practicing 
law, preaching, teaching school, or following almost any other occu- 
pation except manual labor, or business pursuits. After the removal 
of his political disabilities, however, he commenced the practice at 
Palmyra, but in 1873 came to Monroe City. On the 2d of October, 
1852, he was married to Miss Fannie C. Lair, daughter of William 
Lair of Marion county. They have had three children : David R., 
an attorney by profession, but at present, a general traveling agent 
of the Phoenix Insurance Comj)any of London, England, with head- 
quarters at Chicago; Fannie O., now Mrs. William E. Moss; and 
Palmyra M., now the wife of James ShaAV, of Hannibal. Mrs. Daven- 
port is a member of the M, E. Church, South. 

DURRANT & JACKSON 

(Dealers in Hardware, Stoves, Tin-ware, Agricultural Implements, Reapers, Mowers, 
Wagons, Buggies, Grass, Hay Seed, Etc., Monroe City). 

In youth Mr. Durrant learned the tinner's trade, at which he worked 
as a journeyman for a number of years, and in 1876 came to Mon- 
roe City as an employe of March & McCIure. They carried on busi- 
ness here, he W(n-king for them, until 1879, when they failed and made 
an assignment. He and Thomas J, Yates bought their stock and re- 
organized the business, which has since become the leading establish- 
ment in these lines in Monroe county, and one of the principal houses 
of the kind in North Missouri, outside of a large city. For this 
highly gratifying result more credit is due to the energy, enterprise, 
industry, and business abilit}^ of Mr. Durrant than to the exertions of 
any other man, for he has been longer and more intimately identified 
with the business than any one ar any time connected with it. In 
1881 Mr. Yates retired from the firm, Mr. Ely taking his place, and 
the hardware branch of the business was sold to Mr. William R. P. 
Jackson. On the 1st of January, 1882, the two houses were again 
consolidated under the firm name of B. M. Ely & Co., and a year 
later Mr. Ely retired, when the firm became Durrant & Jackson, as it 
has since continued. They carry large stocks of goods in all the lines 
mentioned above, and have the largest warehouse on the railroad from 
Hannibal to St. Joe. They are doing quite an extensive jobbing 
trade in the grass seed line, handling from five to eight car loads 
annually. Their yearly business in all the diflferent lines amounts to 
nearly $50,000. Such is the reward of close attention to business, 
enterprise and fair dealing. 

Geo. W. Durrant was born in Bradford county, Penn., and was one of 
nine children of George B. and Elizabeth (Smith) Durrant, formerly 
of England. Both parents died when George W. was quite a youth, 
and but three others of the family are living: William, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and Samuel and Fred., in Michigan. At the age of 14, 



320 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Geortre W. entered the general mercantile store of J. D. Humphrey, 
of Orwell, Penn., who was a first cousin to John Brown, of Harper's 
Ferry memory, in which young Durrant continued until he was 18 
years of age. He then learned the tinner's trade at Towanda, Penn., 
where he worked three vears. After attaiuino; his majority he worked 
for 12 years as a journeyman, working in Pennsylvania, Michigan and 
Wisconsin, and in 1876 he came to Monroe City, as stated above. 
October 4, 1869, Mr. Durrant was marl-ied at Pontiac, Mich., to 
Miss Katie J. Goodrich. Thev have two children, George R, and 
Willie M. 

Mr. Jackson, of the above named firm, although a comparatively 
young man, has long been prominent in business afl:airs in Monroe 
City. Coming of a well known and highly respected family of North 
Missouri, he received a good education and came to Monroe City in 
1872, and engaged in the clothing and boot and shoe trade, which he 
followed with success, having several partners from time to time, for 
about five years. Meanwhile, he organized the Monroe City bank, of 
which he became cashier, and in order to give his bank business his 
entire time and attention, he retired from merchandising in 1876. 
He continued cashier of the bank for about five years, and until it was 
well founded on a sound basis and doing a prosperous business. In 
1881 he bought the hardware branch of the business of B. M. Ely & 
Co., and later along he became a half and equal owner with Mr. Dur- 
rant in the entire business, under the firm name of Durrant & Jack- 
son, as already mentioned. At the time of engaging in the hardware 
business he retired from the bank, since which he has devoted himself 
exclusively to the large and varied business interests of Durrant & 
Jackson. Mr. Jackson is one of the most thorough-going, clear- 
headed and progressive business men of the county, and according to 
all appearances has a most promising business future. Mr. Jackson 
is a man of family, having married February 1, 1876. His wife was 
previously Miss Sallie B. Holmes, a daughter of Henry J. Holmes, 
of this county. The}' have four children : Nellie B., Harry W., Edith 
F. and Homer L. Mr. Jackson was a son of James W. Jackson, an 
early settler of Marion county, from Delaware. His mother was a 
Miss Sarah E. Sharp before her marriage, a daughter of Rev. Richard 
Sharp, the well known Southern Methodist minister of this section of 
the State. He died February 28, 1881. William R. P. was born on 
the farm in Marion county, December 2, 1850, and was one of a large 
family of children. He was educated at the Palmyra Seminary. 

JUDGE JAMES D. EVANS 

(Judge of the County Court and of J. D. & J. W. Evans, Grocers, Monroe City). 

A good name is the result of a lifetime of upright conduct and use- 
ful citizenship, and when it is said that one has a name without 
reproach among those with whom he has lived for years, and who know 
him well, no ordinary compliment is paid. In sketching the life of 
Judge Evans, this statement, in common justice and truth and with 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 321 

no tinge of flattery, requires to be made, for having lived in the county 
from childhood, his record from the beginning has been with- 
out a stain, and stands \out to-day without a blot. His life 
has been and is one not only of negative uprightness, but 
of positive and active benefit to the county. For many years he was 
one of its best farmers and most enterprising stockmen, contributing 
a great deal by his example and progressive ideas to the improvement 
of the methods of farming and the grades of stock raised in the county. 
His large farm of 340 acres was mainly devoted to the stock business 
and he kept on hand a fine herd of short-horn cattle for breeding pur- 
poses, from which went out into different localities some of the best 
stock in the county. 

The Evans family is one of the old and respected families of Monroe 
county. Matthew W. Evans and wife, nee Mary A. Sherwood, came 
from Kentucky as early as 1828, and indeed, Matthew Evans hadbeen 
to this State several times prior to that, coming the first time in 1818. 
On removing here with his family he stopped for four years in 
Boone county, and then came to Monroe county in 1832, entering a 
tract of 360 acres, near Paris, where he improved a large farm, and 
lived until his death. He died at the age of 72, in 1872. His first 
wife had preceded him to the grave by 16 years. His second wife, 
before her marriage to him, was a widow lady, a Mrs. Sidney A. 
Adkinson. He was a prominent farmer and quite a large stockman, 
and was well and favorably known throughout the county. By his 
first wife there was a family of six sons and three daughters, but three 
of whom are living: Judge Evans, Mrs. Mary E. (John) Edwards 
and Mrs. Hester E. (Janies H.) Crooks, the latter of Pueblo, Col. 
Judge Evans, born August 24, 1830, was reared in Monroe county, 
and at the age of 20 crossed the plains to California, 1850, as a mem- 
ber of a Boone county company of gold seekers. He was in California 
for three years. Returning in 1853, he resumed farming in this county, 
to which he had been brought up, and for that purpose improved a 
place of 200 acres, 12 miles north-west of Paris. December 14, 
1854, he was married to Miss Sarah C. Haydon, daughter of Jeremiah 
V. Haydon, a pioneer settler of the county, widely known here and 
highly respected, and from Jessamine county, Ky. The year 
that he was married Judge Evans' younger brother John, then 19 
years of age, also went to California, but has never returned, nor has 
any word come back from him since 1857. He has long since been 
given up as dead. 

After improving his farm, Judge Evans continued agricultural life, 
raising grain and handling stock, until March 1, 1883; he removing 
to Monroe City in May of the same year, being an incumbent of the 
office of county judge, which he had held for several years, and desir- 
ing to retire from tarm life. 

He was identified with mercantile business as far back as 1870, 
when he became interested in merchandising at Granville. For five 
years following he was interested in selling goods, the last two years 
as president of the Grange co-operative store at Granville. h\ Feb- 



322 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ruary, 1884, he and his son, James W., formed a partnership at 
Monroe City, and opened their present grocery store. They carry a 
complete stock of staple and fancy groceries, and their store is one 
of the flourishing grocery houses of the place. 

Although mainly self-educated, Judge Evans is a man of good bus- 
iness qualifications and much general information. But above and 
beyond either of these he is a man of sterling native good sense and 
marked natural strength of character. In any community where the 
advantages of the people are at all similar or not out of all comparison, 
he would inevitably be chosen as a representative citizen in matters 
of public concern, and otherwise. Clear-headed, intelligent and hon- 
est, he has the sagacity to see what is best to be done for the public 
and the weight of character to command consideration for his opinions. 
Hence, it is hardly less than as a matter of course that he should be 
called to fill some position where sound judgment, integrity of char- 
acter and good business qualifications are required. In 1880 he and 
two others were candidates for the office ot county judge, and he was 
nominated and elected to this office, receiving the majority of the 
votes cast. He was a successor to Judge Duley, one of the ablest of 
the former judges of the county court. In 1882 Judge Evans was 
again a candidate, was renominated and re-elected, the opinions of the 
people being confirmed by his record as a judge, as shown by his 
re-election without opposition. He is now vice-president of the court 
and adds not a little by his ability and efficiency as an officer to the 
high reputation the court has among the people. In the spring of 
1883, Judge Evans had the misfortune to lose his wife. She died at 
the age of forty-four, a bereavement hard to bear for him and their 
family of children. She was a true and affectionate wife, a gentle and 
devoted mother, and a neighbor and Christian lady whom all that 
knew her had learned to prize as a valued friend and generous, pious- 
hearted woman. She had borne him a worthy family often children, 
namely: Matthew H., Kosa E., Mary B. (the last two twins), James 
W., Nannie. L., Lula, John J. W., Fannie M., Lena, and Tebbs. The 
eldest, Matthew H., a young practicing physicain, died .Tuly 26, 1882. 
He had graduated at the St. Louis Medical College in 1880, and was 
in the practice two years before his death at Oxford, Kan. He was mar- 
ried in 1881 to Miss MoUie Eubanks, of Paris, whom he left a widow. 
He was a young man of superior mental endowments and bright promise, 
and his death was a heavy affliction to his parents and other loved ones, 
and particularly so to his mother, who Avas destined so soon to follow 
him to the mystic shore across the silent river. His young wife, whose 
hope in life seemed to go out with the spirit of her beloved husband, 
a young lady of the purest and gentlest qualities of mind and heart, 
now under the pall of her great bereavement, makes her home with 
her father, James Eubanks, of this county. 

Judge Evans has given all of his children who are old enough to go 
ofi* to school, or is giving them, good educations, principally at the 
State Normal School, at Kirksville. The Judge is a prominent mem- 
ber of the Masonic order, and holds membership in good standing in 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 323 

Granville Lodge No. 240, A. F. & A. M., Monroe Chapter No. 16, 
E. A. M., and Parsifal Comraandery, No. 44, Knights Templar, at 
Paris, Mo. He is a worthy communicant in the Christian Church. 

THOMAS D. FREEMAN 

(Farmer, Monroe City) . 

Mr. Freeman has led a life of industry and intelligence, and one 
without reproach as well as satisfactorily rewarded in the sober com- 
forts that come of honest exertion regulated by good management. 
But whilst he has a neat competence as the fruit of his well spent life, 
his heart has not been set maiuly on the accumulation of property, but 
his greatest desire has been to bring up his family of children in a 
worthy manner and give them such training of head and heart as 
would tend to make them respected and useful members of society. 
Favored in no ordinary degree are the young who have such a parent 
to lead them in their early years so wisely in the pathway of light. 
A year ago Mr. Freeman quit his farm and came to town to reside 
with no other purpose than to give his children the benefit of the 
excellent schools kept at this place. He has four children : Janie D., 
Frances W., Maggie E. and Thomas D. In view of the fiither's 
forethought and zeal in behalf of the training of his children, it is 
earnestly to be hoped that their future will fully justify the interest he 
shows for their welfare. Mr. Freeman came to Missouri from Ken- 
tucky with his parents, Lewis D. and Jane (Davis) Freeman, in 1851, 
when he was 21 years of age. The family settled in Marion county, 
near Monroe City, where the father made a farm and lived until his 
death, at the age of 82, in 1880. The mother died in 1868. There 
were but two children, Thomas D. and James, now of Ft. Scott, Kas. 
For a number of years prior to their father's death the sons ran the 
farm principally, a large stock farm of nearly 400 acres, and dealt in 
and handled stock. Thomas D. entered the Confederate service in 
1861, assisting Capt. Stacy to organize a company, of which he was 
first lieutenant, but was captured while attempting to cross the river 
and kept in confinement as a prisoner seven months in St. Louis and 
Alton, 111., then sent to Vicksburg, Miss., and exchanged, when he 
again entered the army and remained until the close of the war. Re- 
turning after the restoration of peace he resumed farming, and in 1870 
he was married to Miss Sarah H. Fagan, a daughter of Hon. Henry 
G. Fagan, a leading citizen of Marion county, who represented the 
county in the Legislature and was otherwise prominent in its affairs. 
He died in 1876. He came to Marion county in 1817 and lived on 
the homestead he settled, a fine place of nearly 500 acres, for over 50 
years continuously. He was one of the well-known and highly 
esteemed men of the county. 



324 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



MILTON B. GARNER 

(Of Garner's Wagon, Carriage, and General Repair Shop, Monroe City). 

On the far-off coast of the Pacific sea, where the sun sinks to rest 
at eventide, in the huicl of fruits and vines, and of golden sands, the 
subject of the present sketch, a Missourian by nativity, born and reared 
in Monroe county, learned the trade which he is now pursuing with 
industry and success in the county of his birth. In 1875 he crossed 
the phiins and passed beyond the cloud-capped heights of the Cordil- 
leras, making his destination at Winders, in Yaho county, Cal., where 
he spent two years. There he learned his trade and returned to Mis- 
souri, stopping at Palmyra, where he worked for five years. In the 
fall of 1882 he came to Monroe City and established his present shop. 
He now manufactures about 25 wagons annually, besides a number of 
spring wagons and other vehicles, and keeps four hands employed. 
His business is already established on a solid basis, and his wagons 
have an enviable reputation, the demand for them being greater than 
his means to supply. Mr. Garner was born in Moiu'oe county, Jan- 
uary 5, 1855, and was a son of John and Catherine (Terrill) Garner, 
well known and respected residents of the county. His youth was 
spent at home, and he remained in the county until he went to Cali- 
fornia in 1875, as stated above. May 2, 1883, he was married to Miss 
Minnie L., a daughter of John T. Christian, of Christian county. They 
are now established at housekeeping in Monroe City, and Mrs. Garner 
presides with becoming grace over her neat and tidy home. 

GENTRY & SNIDER 

(Dealers in Groceries, Provisions, Farm Produce and Cured and Fresh Meats, Monroe 

City). 

This firm was formed on a small capital in the spring of 1872, 
and has since been in business at this place continuously. By enter- 
prise, close attention to business and fair dealing, its house has risen 
to the position of one of the prominent business establishments of the 
place. Messrs. Gentry & Snider carry a large stock of groceries, 
queen's-ware, glass-ware, stone-ware, provisions, etc., etc., and besides 
have a meat market, where they keep cured and fresh meats in ample 
quantities for the trade constantly on hand. They have two separate 
establishments, one for the grocery business and the other for the 
meat market. In 1879 they erected a handsome grocery building at 
a cost of over $5,000, in which they carry everything to be found in 
a first-class grocery store. For the custom of their meat market they 
kill about three beeves weekly, and have the bulk of the trade in the 
fresh meat line. They also do a large business in handling farm pro- 
duce, such as vegetables, including potatoes, poultry, eggs, etc. They 
ship about 800 cases of eggs annually, and, indeed, handle more farm 
produce than all the other firms of the place combined. They make 
a specialty of cured meats, preparing them or curing them for their 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 325 

trade themselves. Both are thorough-going business men who have 
the conlidence of the community, and their personal popularity con- 
tributes materially to the marked success they have had. Overton H. 
Gentry was born in Monroe county, near Monroe City, October 18, 
1836. His father, Rev. Christy Gentry, was a well known minister of 
the Missionary Baptist Church of this county, and died here in 1866. 
He was actively engaged in the ministry up to the time of the enforcement 
of the provisions of the Drake Constitution, prohibiting ministers who 
had any sympathy whatever with the Southern people from preaching 
the Gospel, unless they took an oath of perjury declaring that they had 
no such sympathy. He declined to take the oath, but suffered so much 
from being prohibited to preach the word of God that that is believed 
to have had much to do with his taking off, for he died soon after- 
wards, and was greatl}^ depressed in spirit up to the time of his death, 
constantly saying to his friends that in a w^orld where the word of God 
could not be preached without debauching the conscience of the min- 
ister with odious prescriptive test oaths and purjury, there was nothing 
to live for. His widow, whose maiden name was Lucy Christ}^ died 
in 1869. Overton H. was the oldest of their family of 11 children, 
nine sons and two daughters, only four sons of whom are living: 
Richard, William T., of St. Francois county, Joshua H., of 
Vernon county, and Overton H. On the 18th of April, 1861, Over- 
ton H. Gentry was married to Miss Susan Elgin, a daughter of Sam- 
uel H. Elgin, of this county. He resided at the old homestead until 
1867, and then in the same vicinity until 1872, when he came to Mon- 
roe City and engaged in business with Mr. Snider. Mr. and Mrs. 
Gentry have one child, Addie, now a young lady, who was educated 
at the Monroe Institute. Mr. Gentry was a member of the city coun- 
cil for two years, and he and family are members of the Baptist 
Church. Mr. Gentry is a substantial property holder of Monroe City. 
Mr. Snider is from Ralls county, and his parents, Samuel and Sarah 
(Dennison) Snider, were from Pennsylvania. They came to Ralls 
county in an early day, and Samuel R. was born there September 12, 
1848. Both his parents are now deceased, the father dying in 1860, 
and the mother in 1861. Samuel R. was one of five children, four of 
whom are living : Mahala, now Mrs. Willow Newell ; Samuel R., Delia, 
now Mrs. John Henderson, and William, all in Monroe City. Samuel 
began work for himself at the age of 19, under William P. Bush, 
handling stock, and also learned the butcher business. He worked 
with Mr. Bush until 1872, when he became connected with Mr. Gen- 
try in their present business. They bought out Mr. Bush's neat 
market and have since conducted it, and also the grocery business. 
Mr. Snider is a thoroughly experienced butcher, and besides, a good 
business man and personally well thought of. He and Mr. Gentry 
employ from one to three hands all the time, and are steadily coming 
to the front as enterprising business men and substantial property 
holders. Mr. Snider is a member of the Baptist Church and of the I. 
O. O. F. 



326 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

GRIMM & LOSSON 

(Manufacturers of and Dealers in Boots and Shoes, Monroe City) . 

With an annual business of from $12,000 to $14,000, these gentle- 
men may well congratulate themselves upon having one of the leading 
and solid houses in their line throughout this entire section of 
country. Their success is the fruit of their own industry, fair dealing 
and business enterprise. Both are self-made men. In other words, 
they began without means, and have come up from the workman's 
bench to their present enviable positions in business life. Each 
learned his trade when young, and both followed it until they were 
able to begin in business with a respectable capital. .They now work 
several hands, and everything is done under their immediate personal 
supervision, so that they know that no work goes out from their house 
that will injure their reputation or ftiil to give satisfaction. The 
public have found this out, and hence the popularity and large trade 
of their house. Both gentlemen are natives of Germany, Mr. Grimm 
born in Wurtemburg, November 27, 1852, and Mr. Losson, in Lorraine, 
August 3, 1852. The former came to America with his parents in 
1870, locating at Hannibal, and the latter with his parents in 1866, lo- 
cating at Palmyra. Mr. Grimm learned his trade at Hannibal, and 
worked there until 1875, and Mr. Losson learned his trade under his 
uncle, Simeon Herndon, at Palmyra, where he worked until 1880. 
The senior member of the firm came direct to Monroe City on leaving 
Hannibal, as did the junior member on leaving Palmyra. They 
organized their present partnership in the fall of 1880, and have since 
had a most gratifyingly prosperous business career, as is proven by 
the large trade they have built up. Mr. Grimm was married Septem- 
ber 16, 1872, to Miss Anna Peuera. They have four children: Anna 
M., Katie, Theresa and Nicholas A. Both parents are members of 
the Catholic Church. Miss Minnie Diemer became the wife of Mr. 
Losson, August 26, 1872. They have three children : Mary, William 
and Frankie. He is a member of the Catholic Church and she of the 
Lutheran. Both of these o-entlemen are accounted amono; the best 
business men of Monroe City and are highly respected. 

HICKMAN, HAWKINS & CO. 

(Carpenters, Contractors and Builders, and Dealers in Lumber, Lath, Shingles, Sash, 
Doors, Blinds, Lime, Plaster, etc., Monroe City), 

The firm of Hickman & Hawkins in the above business was formed 
in 1878, and this they carried on with steadily increasing suc- 
cess and reputation, until the first of January, 1884, when Mr. Ogle 
was admitted into the firm, the business being continued under the 
name of Hickman, Hawkins & Co. This is one ©f the leadino; firms 
in the lines mentioned above in Monroe county, and besides carrying a 
large stock of lumber, sash, doors, blinds, laths, hair, lime, cement and 
other building material, etc., which brings them an extensive trade 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 327 

from the general public, as carpenters, contractors and builders, they 
have an important patronage in the erection of houses of diflerent 
kinds, residence, business and otherwise, and, indeed, all sorts of 
work in their line. They have erected a large number of buildings of 
a superior class in Monroe City and the surrounding country, some of 
them running up in cost from $1,000 to $5,000 and upwards. Their 
reputation is well established and no one contemplating building can 
have any reasonable cause to refuse them the contract when the terms 
are satisfactory, for they never fail to do first-class work, and acquit 
themselves of their contract with honor to themselves and satisfaction 
to their patrons. Mr. Hickman is a native of Harrison count}^ Ky., 
born September 28, 1834:. When 21 years of age he came to Mis- 
souri, having previously learned the carpenter's trade, and up to 1861 
worked at his trade in this State, respectively, in Ralls county, at 
Hannibal, LaGrange, and also in Warsaw, III., and again at La- 
Grange, Mo., as well as other points. At the outbreak of the war 
he entered the Confederate service under Price, and was out either in 
active service or in prison until in the spring of 1865. He was drum- 
major and participated in numerous sanguinary battles. He was cap- 
tured at the surrender of Vicksburg and again at Franklin, Tenn., 
being confined in prison the last time several months, at Camp Chase. 
After the war he followed his trade two years in Cincinnati, and then 
at Quincy, III., until 1870. The next two years he spent in Ralls 
county, and he came to Monroe City in 1872, where he has since been 
in business. Mr. Hickman was married in 1858, to Miss Sarah M. 
Mayer, a native of England, and of LaGrange, Mo. They have six 
children : Mollie A., now Mrs. George Schofield ; James T. S., Jesse 
A., Lucy E., Emma L. and Nannie F. He and wife are members of 
the Christian Church, and he is a worthy member of the A. O. U. W., 
the I. O. O. F., and the R. T. of T. He served five years as alder- 
man in Monroe City and five years as school director. He was a son 
of Hugh S. and Sarah A. Hickman, her maiden name being Holton, 
both now deceased. 

Mr. Hawkins is also a Kentuckian by nativity, but his parents were 
early settlers of Monroe county, his father, Fielding S., being a con- 
tractor and builder at this place when it was first laid out. He was 
also justice of the peace here for a number of years, and died at the age 
of 64, May 18, 1882. His wife, whose maiden name was Anna Hamil- 
ton, died in the fall of 1860. George A. Hawkins was the first of their 
family of four children, and was brought up to the carpenter's and con- 
tractor's trade by his father, which he has since worked at continuously. 
He was married June 27, 1871, to Miss Endora Hayden,from Marion 
county. They have four children : Eva, Leona, Endora and Maude. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins are members of the Christian Church, and he 
is a member of the I. O. O. F. and a Royal Templar of Temperance. 
He has served one term in the city council. Mr. Hawkins is now 36 
years of age, having been born July 4, 1848. 

Mr. Ogle, unlike his two partners in this particular, is a native Mis- 
sourian, born in Ralls county, December 2, 1852. His father was the 

16 



328 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

well known Jesse Ogle, proprietor of Ogle's mill in that county, but 
he has been deceased since 1870. Joseph E. began to learn the car- 
penter's trade in 1872, and workedfor about two years at both Salisbury 
and Paris. He helped to build Wayland's machine shop at Salisbury 
and also helped rebuild the college at College Mound. For a number 
of years past, however, he has been at Monroe City, and has become 
one of the prominent and successful men of the place. May 4, 1876, he 
was married to Miss Sarah J., a daughter of Jacob Paynter. Mr. and 
Mrs. O. have four children : Georgia, William, Ernest and Chauncy. 
He and wife are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. Ogle has held the 
office of town marshal for one term. 

By these facts it is seen that all three of these gentlemen are experi- 
enced and capable builders. Individually and in their business they 
are well respected by all who know them. They have contributed 
their full share to the growth and prosperity of Monroe City and are 
entitled to no ordinary credit for the good taste and judgment they 
have shown in the erection of the buildings put up by them. Their 
future in business seems to be one of gratifying promise. 

ISAIAH JONES 

(Farmer and General and Fine stock-raiser, Post-office Monroe City). 

Mr. Jones is a former merchant of long and successful experience, 
and came to Monroe county in the spring of 1883, to engage in farm- 
ing and stock-raising. He has 170 acres in his homestead, situated a 
mile and a half south-west of Monroe City, and besides this he has 
over 1,000 acres some eight miles south of his home place on Indian 
creek. Prior to coming to this county he had been living at Gilead 
for the previous fifteen years, where he carried on merchandising, and 
was also postmaster. In addition to his mercantile business Mr. 
Jones had a fine farm in Lewis county, where he was quite successful 
in raising stock, and he also followed buying stock and shipping them 
to the wholesale markets, shipping large quantities of cattle, hogs, 
etc., annually. He is a native of Maine, born in Kennebec county, 
October 17, 1829. He was reared in Maine, but in 1853 crossed the 
continent to California, where he engaged in mining, and with good 
success. While in California he was married on the 20th of April, 
1859, to Miss Mary Davis, of Sacramento City, but formerly of Mass- 
achusetts. Mr. Jones came to Missouri in 1868 and located at Gilead, 
in Lewis county, referred to above. He was quite successful there in 
merchandising and agricultural pursuits, but being able to sell out to 
advantage, he disposed of his interests in Lewis county and came to 
Monroe, where he has since resided. His farm near Monroe City is 
well improved. His residence is a particularly commodious and 
tastefully constructed building, and, indeed, all his buildings and im- 
provements are made with regard to appearance and good taste only 
less than to durability and convenience. Mr. Jones is engaged in 
raising fine short horn cattle and now has a herd of about fifty head 
of this class of stock. He is a man of large business experience and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 329 

stirring qualities, and is unquestionably a valuable acquisition to the 
agricultural class, and indeed, the citizenship of Monroe county. He 
is of that class of new-comers that every community most desires — a 
man of means, business ability and high character. He will undoubt- 
edly take an enviable position among the leading agriculturists of the 
county at an early day. Indeed, he is already recognized as one of 
our progressive and prominent farmers and stock-raisers. Mr. and 
Mrs. Jones have reared a fomily of three children : Albert M.,.a young 
man 23 years of age, now in Nebraska; Ada M., a young lady at home, 
a graduate of LaGrange College in the class of 1883 : and Percy D., a 
young man in his nineteenth year, also still at home. Mr. and Mrs. Jones 
are both members of the Baptist Church. Their family is cordially 
received in the best society of Monroe City and vicinity, and indeed, 
wherever they are known. Miss Ada, the daughter, is especially 
welcomed and prized by the young people of the vicinity. She is 
thoroughly accomplished and being a young lady of great vivacity and 
su^Derior mental endowments, as well as an exceptionally fine con- 
versationalist and always graceful and pleasant to those around her, 
she ornaments with, singular attractiveness the refined and cultured 
circle in which she moves. In form and feature nature has done all 
for her that could be desired, while the kindness of her parents in 
giving her everj'^ opportunity for mental improvement, worthily sec- 
onded by her own industry, have contributed to fit her for the most 
polite and accomplished society. 

JAMES L. LYON 

(Railroad Agent, Telegraph Operator and As;ent of the American Express Company, 

Monroe City). 

Mr. Lyon has been identified with the railroad business almost con- 
tinuously since he started out in life for himself, and has been in the 
office at Monroe City for the last 17 j^ears. This long service at one 
office speaks more for him as an efficient, upright and popular local 
officer of the road than mere words can express, however ingeniously 
or eloquently put together. He has not only done his duty faithfully, 
but has given unqualified satisfaction both to the general officers of 
the road and to the public. Nothing truer or more creditable could 
be said of his administration than that if his position were an elective 
one he would be chosen to it, probably, almost unanimously, if not 
• quite so. The business of the office since he entered it has more than 
quintupled, or increased fivefold. Mr. Lyon had the benefit of a good 
practical education as he grew up, and Avas born in Beaver, Pa., 
November 12, 1844, but principally reared in Missouri. In 1855 his 
parents, Thomas and Harriet (Pettigrew) Lyon, removed to Iron 
county. Mo., and six years later to Mooreville, near Chillicothe, but 
finally settled in Utica in 1855. The mother died there the same 
year, but the father survived until 1882, dying at Hannibal. There 
were three children: Samuel, James and Thomas, the first a printer 
at St. Joe and the last named connected with the railroad at that citv. 



o30 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

James L. commenced railroading in 1864. Subsequently he learned 
the operator's business and came to Monroe City in 1867. In 1866, 
however, he was in the drug business. He is also agent of a promi 
nent fire insurance company, and does some business in that line. 

S. MEGOWN 

(Of Megown & Keut's Merchant Mills, Monroe City). 

These are one of the leading mills in Monroe county, and were 
erected originally in 1869 by Josselyn & Cumniings, which firm dis- 
solved and the mills fell into the hands of William Booker, of Ralls 
county. Mo., from whom Wilson & Megown bought it. In one j'^ear 
and a half Wilson sold to Josselyn, and a year later Mr. Megown 
bought Josselyn' s interest and became sole proprietor of the mills, 
and on May 17, 1881, he sold H. J. Kent a third interest in the mills. 
A year ago they put in the roller process. They now have a capacity 
for sixty barrels of flour daily and do an exclusively merchant busi- 
ness, buying wheat for manufacture into flour and exchanging flour for 
grain. They have no corn buhrs in the mill, but manufacture flour 
altogether. Their machinery is all in first-class condition and their 
flour has obtained a wide reputation for superior excellence. In 1872 
Mr. Megown engaged in milling at the old Hornbuck mill, near Sid- 
ney, in Ralls county, where he continued until he bought into the 
present mill. Prior to that he had been engaged in farming and run- 
ning a repair shop. On the 26th of January, 1860, he was married to 
Miss Sarah J. Couch, a daughter of Henry Couch, of Ralls county. 
They have eight children : John W., Margaret J., Mary A., Etta E., 
Julia A., Henry E., Samuel and Ella. Mr. Megown is a native of 
Ralls county, born in Spencer township, near New London, January 
11, 1841. His father, Samuel Megown, and mother, whose maiden 
name was Julia McCread3^ were both from Pennsylvania. They 
came to Missouri as early as 1846. The father was a brick mason 
and a manufacturer of brick, and Samuel was brought up to that busi- 
ness. Early in the war he enlisted in the six months' service on the 
Union side, and afterwards in the Enrolled State Militia. He was in 
the artillery service a part of the time. In all he did about 18 months' 
military duty. He was first under J. F. Rice, of Henderson's divis- 
ion, and then under Capt. Johnson, of theE. M. S. M. Mr. Megown 
is one of the substantial, highly respected citizens of Monroe City. 

ROBERT K. MEGOWN, 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofRce, Monroe City). 

Mr. Megown, who has a place of nearly 200 acres situated in sec- 
tions 21 and 22, township 56, range 8, in Monroe county, and is one 
of the energetic farmers of Monroe township, is a native Missourian, 
born in Ralls county, four and a half miles west of New London, 
January 7, 1843. He was reared in that county and remained on the 
farm until he was 19 years of age, when he enlisted in the Missouri 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 331 

State militia, Union service, under Col. Lipscomb, under whom he 
served for about seven months, and participated in the pursuit of 
Porter and the fights at Cherry Grove and Kirksville. Being disabled, 
however, by an afiection of the lungs,' he was discharged on that 
account and returned home to the farni". His father, Samuel Megown, 
being a brickmason by trade as well as a practical farmer, Robe'i-t K. 
learned to lay brick whilst a youth, and also brick-making, at which 
his father was a master workman. He has therefore followed making 
and laying brick more or less ever since he attained his majority, up 
to the time when he engaged in farming, and he has since followed 
farming, principally, and handling stock. He is now engaged with J. 
H. McClintic in buying and shipping stock, and is considered an excel- 
lent judge of stock and a successful dealer. On the 6th of August, 
1867, Mr. Megown was married to Miss Nancy J, Shulse, a daughter 
of William A. Shulse. She died, however, on the 13th of June, 
1876, leaving him three children, Nora, Zoe and Lena. To his present 
wife Mr. Megown was married November 14, 1876. She was a sister 
to his first wife. Miss Martha E. Shulse. They have had four chil- 
dren : Samuel A., who died at the age of two years ; Myrtle E., 
Alberta, and Julia A. Mr. Megown resided in Ralls county until 1879, 
and settled on his present farm in 1881. He and wife are members of 
the Baptist Church. 

HON. PATRICK H. McLEOD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Monroe City). 

'Squire McLeod, for 32 years a resident of Monroe townshii), and 
long a magistrate in this township— one of its old, influential and 
highly-respected citizens, a man of superior education and natural 
ability, is thus spoken of by the biographer of the Twenty-eighth 
General Assembly of Missouri, of which body he was an able and hon- 
ored member: "This venerable silver-haired gentleman, one of the 
oldest members of the floor, having passed his allotted time of three- 
score years, was born in Derry county, Ireland, in 1814. Leaving the 
Green Isle in 1834, he emigrated to this county, coming to Washing- 
ton City, where an elder brother, Matthew McLeod, was'conducting^i 
classical high school, and another relative, John McLeod, was principal 
of the Columbia Academy, an institution well known to the old inhab- 
itants of Washington City. He remained in Washington Citv several 
years, attending school and assisting his relatives in teaching. An- 
drew Jackson was President at this^time, and from this indomitable 
old hero Mr. McLeod first imbibed his Democratic principles, and has 
adhered to them with strict fidelitv all his life. While residing in 
Montgomery county, Md., in 1839, "he was united in marriage to Miss 
M. C. Jones, daughter of J. J. W. Jones (one of the most distin- 
guished flimilies in the State), by whom he had 10 children, several r.f 
whom are still alive. In 1848 he traveled extensively in the West, 
and in 1849, in company with Gen. Craig and other irentlemen resid- 
ing in the 'Platte purchase,' he was allured to the Pacific Coast in 



332 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

search of the unbounded gold fields that report had located in Cali- 
fornia, After prospecting for several years with varied success, in 
1852 he removed to Missouri, locating on Indian creek, Monroe county, 
where he has since uninterruptedly resided. When the late war com- 
menced, in common with most of his neighbors, he was despoiled of 
most of his [)roperty by the Federal forces on account of his Southern 
sympathies, and sufi'ered many indignities at their hands. He has 
never taken an active part in politics, and, excepting a few township 
oflSces, his present position in the Legislature is the first position ever 
held by him. He was elected as a Democrat, l)eating his tadpole 
opponent, G. H. Hasman, nearly 800 votes. Mr. McLeod is a member 
of untarnished and unblemished reputation ; is well qualified for the 
position he holds, standing without a superior, as far as emphatic and 
practical duties pertaining to the duties of a representative are con- 
cerned. He is connected with several important committees, never 
evading his duties on any of them." In 1876 'Squire McLeod de- 
clined to be a candidate again for the Legislature, and has since led a 
retired life on his farm. He has held the office of justice of the peace, 
however, since 1854, except during the war, when he declined to take 
the Drake test oath, and also except while in the Legislature. On 
first coming to this county he taught a 12-month school, the first one 
ever taught in the township where he has since resided, and he has 
always been a zealous advocate of popular education. 'Squire and 
Mrs. McLeod have reared a family of seven children : James E., Anna 
M. C, now Mrs. James Hardesty ; William T., Sarah H., now Mrs. 
James Spalding; Josephene, now Mrs. William R. Yates; Maggie, 
now the widow of George Stanton, and Ellen still at home. Jose- 
phene and Sarah were students in Monroe Institute and taught school 
prior to their marriage. 'Squire McLeod and family are members of 
the Catholic Church. 

WILLIAM B. A. McNUTT, M. D. 

(Of McNutt & Norton, Physicians and Surgeons, Monroe City). 

It was a common remark with Sir William Jones, a man possessed 
with one of the greatest minds that illuminates the history of any 
country, that the great disparity between the positions men occupy 
in a given calling or profession results not so much from the difi'erence 
of their opportunities as of their capacities and natural aptitudes. 
One eminently suited for a particular occupation generally makes an 
eminent failure in some other pursuit, if he undertakes it. The 
touchstone of success is in the proper choosing of one's calling. A 
mistake made here and all the rest of one's life will be " bound in 
shallows and in miseries." Hence it is that in all the lines of 
trade, in the mechanic arts, and in the professions, we daily see ex- 
amples of those who have succeeded to a marked degree and of others 
who have made signal failures, — whereas, there was perhaps but 
little difference in their opportunities and advantages. Original adapt- 
ability to a line of duties will inevitably tell to advantage if one but 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 333 

apply himself with proper energy and resolution in the field for which 
he is by nature fitted. These preliminary remarks are suggested by 
contemplating the remarkable success the subject of the present 
sketch has had in the medical profession. He is still comparatively a 
young man, and his experience in the practice is not the experi- 
ence of a lifetime ; yet to-day he occupies a position in his profession 
above many whose heads have grown white in their long practice of 
medicine, a position second perhaps, if not indeed, to that occupied 
by no other physician in the county. Dr. McNutt has a large prac- 
tice, a practice unusually large, considering the necessarily sparse 
population of an essentially agricultural community and the natural 
healthfulness of the country. His practice is limited only by these 
circumstances and the distance that a physician can without great in- 
convenience or peril to the sick be called. To understand how it is 
that he should so early in life make so marked a success in his profes- 
sion, we have studied closely the man and his surroundings, and 
we have no hesitation in saying that we can attribute his success 
chiefly to no other causes than his striking natural adaptability for the 
healing art and his thorough devotion to it. When nature makes a 
physician, the man himself has little to do, but when he seconds the 
work of nature by his own industry, even greater than those less 
favored might hope to succeed by, the result can not but be a more than 
ordinary success. Let us then briefly sketch the outline of Dr. Mc- 
Nutt's life, a sketch which most appropriately finds a place in this 
volume. Necessarily it must be brief, too brief, indeed, to even ap- 
proach doing justice to the subject. Dr. McNutt was a son of Dr. 
John McNutt and wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth F. M. G. 
Steele, old and respected residents of Monroe county. The fiither is 
a retired physician of the county, located at Middle Grove. Dr. Mc- 
Nutt was born at Middle Grove, October 4, 1850. The taste and 
aptitude for the medical profession, which he inherited from his 
father, were greatly strengthened by his bringing up. From an early 
age it was seen that he was destined to becouie a physician, all his 
desires and inclinations manifesting themselves in that direction. He 
was accordingly educated with that object in view, and his father 
improved every opportunity to .strengthen his purpose and to instill 
into the youth's mind a correct and liberal knowledge of the science 
with which he was to deal. His preparatory general education was 
received at Middle Grove Academy, and then he entered upon a higher 
course of study at Westminster College, where he took a course of 
two years. After this he entered immediately upon the regular study 
of medicine under the daily instruction of his father. He made 
rapid progress in the curriculum of studies required preparatory to 
matriculation at medical college, and in due time, in 1873, entered 
the St. Louis Medical College, where he took a regular course of two 
terms, graduating amons; the first in his class, in 1875. In the mean- 
time he had practiced during the interim between his terms at medical 
college, and after his graduation, he came to Monroe City, where he 
established himself as a physician. Since then he has been continu- 



334 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ouslv in the practice at this place, and in this comparatively short 
period has risen to the first position in his profession in the county. 
He is a leading and influential member of the State, District and 
County Medical Societies. He and Dr. J. J. Norton have been in the 
practice together as partners for about six months past, July 9, 1876, 
Dr. McNutt was married to Miss Lillie, a daughter of Dr. E. Bailey, 
of this place. This union, one of singular happiness, was broken by 
the hand of death early in 1883. Two children were born, but one 
of whom is now living, Bailey, aged seven years. The Doctor is a 
prominent member of the Episcopal Church, and of the Commandery 
and Royal Arch Lodge of the A. F. and A. M. Socially, he is as 
popular and prominent as he is professionall3^ 

RICHARD MILES 

(Retired Farmer, Post-office, Indian Creek) . 

This venerable old citizen has been a resident of Missouri for over 
seventy-four years, having been brought to this State when in boy- 
hood by his parents, Josius and Theresa Miles, who came from Ken- 
tucky as early as 1810, and settled in St. Louis county. Richard 
Miles, our subject, was then six years of age, having been born in Nel- 
son county, Ky., February 14, 1804. At the age of twenty-one, or 
rather in his twenty-first year, on the I8th of October, 1825, he was 
married to Miss Yates, a daughter of Stephen Yates, and the follow- 
ing vear he removed to Callaway county, where his father-in-law's 
family had settled in 1820. He lived on Hancock's Prairie, in that 
county, near his father-in-law, until 1832, when he removed to Mon- 
roe county and at what is now known as Shrinkey, on Indian creek. 
Here he and his good wife have since resided, and have reared their 
family of children. They still occupy the same house wdiich he built 
in 1832, but to which additions have been made, and these notes 
were taken in a large comfortable room, twenty-two feet square and 
eio-ht feet to the ceiling, built fifty-two years ago, and characteristic 
of the architecture of those days. At the same time Mr. Miles came 
here Thomas Vincent and Raphael Yates also came, and Edward 
Hardesty, who married a Miss Yates, all settling in the same neigh- 
borhood. Mrs. Miles' parents, Stephen and Zella (Austin) Yates, 
came the year following. Thomas Yates is the only one of the set- 
tlers of 1832, except Uncle Dick Miles and wife, now living, and he 
was the only one who never married. The only settlers in this part 
of the county that preceded these were those who came in 1831, 
namely : John Thrusher, Robert Lewellin, John Dale, Leonard Green, 
William Sipple, Fanthroy Dye, Edward Goodnight and Alexander 
Winsatt, the first four settling above Shrinkey and the last four below 
Shrinkey. Those who came in 1832 also settled above Shrinkey. 
Mrs. Miles was born in Washington county, Ky., September 6, 1804, 
and came with her parents to Missouri in 1818, residing in St. Louis 
county two years and going thence to Callaway county. It was in 
St. Louis county that she met her then future husband and there in 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 335 

the wild and weird frontier of civilization, when only the canoe and 
flatl)oat plied the waters of the Mississippi, a lifetime before the 
whistle of a locomotive had sounded the bugle note of modern pro- 
gress, the short, sweet story of their love was told under the wide 
extending branches of primitive forest trees and there, — 

, "In the depths of the shaded dell, 

Where the leaves were broad and thicket hides, 
With its many stems and its tangled sides, 
From the eye of the hunter well," 

two loving hearts were plighted in bonds of enduring devotion that 
were to bind two lives together through the long journey of life and 
until the end shall come. They were married, and through the long 
vista of years that has been measured out since the happy union they 
are still seen together, each past the age of four-score years, and each 
crowned with the wreath of honored old age, hair as white as their 
lives have been spotless, symbolizing the purity and happiness of the 
home that awaits them beyond the grave. They reared a familv of 
five children : Josiah, Susanna, Permelia A., Thomas J., and Vincent. 
Permelia A., is the wife of Hiram Rally, of Ladonnia. Thomas J. 
lives on the farm, and a niece, Miss Isabelle Miles, a young lady eigh- 
teen years of age, of the most faultless embonpoint of person as well as 
of features, and extremely pleasant and entertaining in conversation, 
has charge of the household, the affairs of which she conducts 
with neatness and grace. All the family are members of the Catholic 
Church. The son, Thomas J., is married and has a worthy fomily of 
children. He was lieutenant in the Missouri State militia during the 
war, but was not called into active service, while in that commission, 
although he had previously seen service and was captured at the fall 
of Paris, and paroled. 

DR. ADOLPHUS NOLAND 

(Dental Surgeon, Monroe City). 

Dr. Noland, a former educator of superior education and established 
reputation and a man of marked general culture, has been actively 
engaged in the practice of the dental profession for the last 15 years, 
and has risen to a position of prominence in his profession quite in 
keeping with his high character as a man and his enviable social 
standing. He is one of the leading surgeons of dentistry in North 
Missouri, and has an established practice over a large district of 
country, including several counties, which exceeds in value several 
thousand dollars annually. A close student of the science of dentistry 
and having a remarkable natural aptitude for his profession as an art, 
as well as being a man of advanced, progressive ideas, he keeps fully 
up with the times and promptly avails himself of all new ideas, 
methods and improvements evolved in the progress and development 
of his calling. There are therefore no new processes with which he 
is not familiar, and he is prepared to do work as scientifically, expe- 



336 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ditiously and with as little discomfort and inconvenience to the patient 
as it can be done anywhere in the conntry. Such is his reputation 
and the importance of his practice, that he makes from 20 to 40 sets 
of teeth montlily, and while he works on as reasonable terms as any 
practitioner of established reputation, yet he is sometimes called to 
furnish patients with teeth in cases so difficult, and requiring so much 
care and skill, that $500 is considered, in the profession and by all 
capable of judging, quite a reasonable charge. Successful as a prac- 
titioner, Dr. Noland has been not less successful in the accumulation 
of those substantial evidences of skill and ability in any of the liberal 
pursuits of life, and is a man in quite easy circumstances, one of the 
well-to-do property holders, in fact, of Monroe City. He has a 
handsome home, comfortably and tastily furnished with all the 
conveniences and needs to be looked for in a family of culture and 
refinement. Much devoted to general literature as well as to the 
sciences and other branches of advanced learning, he has provided him- 
self with a handsome library, aggregating several hundred volumes, 
selected with great care and good judgment. He has several rare and 
valuable works on archaeology, the study of which he makes some- 
thing of a specialty, and also has a cabinet of curios in that depart- 
ment of investigation, including one or .more skeletons of the 
pre-historic mound-builders, taken from ancient mounds of Illinois. 
In his practice, Dr. Noland has a skillful assistant in the person of 
Dr. L. B. Brown, who is thoroughly proficient in his profession. Dr. 
Noland's dental rooms include a handsome suit of parlors, three in 
number, all elegantly furnished, adjacent to which is a large and well 
appointed laboratory. Personally, Dr. Noland is a man of prepossess- 
ing presence, having a fine form, striking, manly features and a most 
agreeable address. On the 22d of October, 1874, he was married to 
Miss Mary E. Ennis, a refined and accomplished daughter of Joshua 
M. Ennis, Esq., present sheriff of Shelby county. Mrs. Noland is a 
graduate of the Shelbyville High School, in charge of Prof. ALdkinson, 
and is a lady of superior suavity and grace of manners, as well as 
extremely pleasant and instructive in conversation. Dr. Noland was 
not less fortunate in the selection of a wife in respect of her personal 
appearance than of her qualities of mind and heart. Three children 
are the fruits of this singularly appropriate and happy union, Ennis 
Dixon, Clare Agee, and a baby boy. Another, little Rossie A., an 
infant of remarkable beauty and promise, is deceased. 

'* A tiny bud, unblossoraed yet, 
The Virgin Mother blessed ; 
It fell on earth. She picked it up 
And pinned it on her breast." 

The Doctor and Mrs. Noland are members of the M. E. Church 
South, and the Eastern Star, and he is a member of the A. O. U. W. 
Dr. Noland early in life recognized in Masonry an institution of the 
highest moral worth, saving the Christian religion, and at the first 
opportunity after his majority petitioned Durham Lodge, No. 329, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 337 

A. F. & A. M., Illinois grand jurisdiction, and was made a 
M. M., January 6, A. L. 5856. The R. A. degree was conferred 
upon him by Monroe City Chapter No. 104, Missouri grand juris- 
diction, April 5, 1883. He was knighted by Parsifal Command- 
ery, No. 44, Missouri grand jurisdiction, March 15, 1884. Dr. 
Noland is a native of Illinois, born in Hancock county, October 
22, 1842. His parents were Thomas L. and Nancy D. (Dixon) 
Noland, his father originally from Maryland, but his mother from 
Alabama. They were married in Illinois, and the father died there in 
1851. The mother is still living. Dr. Noland was educated at the 
Iowa Academy of Denmark and subsequently had charge of the graded 
school at Mt. Sterling, Ohio. He then taught in the Carthage 
Academy of Illinois and was afterwards principal of the Dallas City 
public schools of that State for two years. He taught two years 
additionally, and studied dentistry during the last two years' teach- 
ing. He came to Missouri in 1870, and practiced the profession at 
Shelby ville until his removal to Monroe City in 1877. 

JOHN L. NOLEN 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer). 

Mr. Nolen settled on his present place, or rather a part of his pres- 
ent tract of land, in 1857, having secured the year before a piece of 80 
acres. He was then a young man 27 years of age and had been mar- 
ried less than two years. Brought up a ftirmer, however, and having 
a good practical education as well as being a young man of sterling 
intelligence, he went to work with courage and resolution and as time 
circled by steadily prospered. He has become and has been regarded 
for years one of the substantial, successful farmers of the township, 
as well as one of its best citizens. He has a place of 320 acres now, 
which is nearly all run in blue grass for stock-raising purposes. He 
also has his father's old family homestead, about a half a mile from 
his own family homestead. That is an excellent farm of 160 acres. 
Mr. Nolen devotes his attention principally to stock-raising and deal- 
ing in stock. He and J. P. Bush were in partnership for some years 
in buying and shipping stock and did a large business in that line, but 
Mr. Nolen is not trading a great deal at present. He has an excel- 
lent class of stock on his place and is improving his grade of stock 
continually. Mr. Nolen's home farm is exceptionally well improved, 
his building, fences, etc., all being of a superior class. His dwelling, 
was erected at a cost of $1,700. Mr. Nolen is a native of Kentucky, 
born in Hardin county, September 9, 1830. His parents were John 
and Mary (Miller) Nolen, his father originally of Maryland, They 
came to Missouri in 1852 and settled in the same neighborhood where 
John L. now lives. The mother died here in 1867 and the father two 
years afterwards. Of their family of nine children, five only are living; 
Nancy, the wife of Judge Duley ; Mary, the wife of Richard Hayden, 
now of Illinois ; William, now' in Texas ; Frances, now of Kansas, 
and John L. He came to Missouri with his parents in 1852, but lived 



338 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

with them after they came until 1855, when, on the 2d of October, he 
was married to Miss Emma J. Yowell, a daughter of Ephriam 
Yowell, one of the early settlers of Monroe county from Virginia. 

JOHN J. NORTON, M.D. 

(Physician and Surgeon) . 

Every old citizen of the Salt river country knew well and favor- 
ably the family of which the subject of the present sketch was 
a representative, the family of Judge Thomas P. Norton. 
Judge Norton was from South Carolina and went to Kentucky in 
the early days of the State. He there married Miss Rachel Robin- 
son, and came to Missouri with his family as early as 1812, stopping 
first in St. Charles county, and then settling on Salt river in 
Ralls county, where he became a well known and highly esteemed 
citizen, and, considering those days, a wealthy man, having a 
large landed estate and a number of slaves, as well as an abundance 
of other property. When he came to Missouri, like nearly all the 
pioneers, he was quite poor, in fact Lazarus wouldn't have jumped at 
the chance to swap fortunes with him. All he had was a horse and a 
rifle, with what wearing apparel he and his wife wore and faithful horse 
could carry in addition to the weight of Mrs. Norton, for in those days 
a man would not have been thought much of a man who cared to walk 
from Kentucky to Missouri. Dr. Norton was born in Ralls county. 
May 20, 1830, in the first brick house ever built in the county, where 
his father erected the pioneer brick building in the Salt river country. 
Jas. J. was reared on the farm in Ralls county, and early deciding to 
devote himself to the medical profession, he was educated with that 
object in view. When 19 years of age he began the study of medicine 
under Dr. McElroy, and after Dr. McElroy's death continued the 
study under G. E. Frazier, taking a regular course at medical college 
while still under Dr. Frazier. He was graduated from the Missouri 
Medical College of St. Louis in 1852, when but 22 years of age. He 
then located in Salem township, Ralls county, and engaged in the 
practice of his profession, and having a number of slaves, which feel- 
ings of humanity prevented him from selling like stock in the market, 
he also opened a farm in order to keep them employed and make them 
at least self-sustaining. He continued on his farm practicing medicine 
in that vicinity until the fall of 1883, when he removed to Monroe 
City, and engaged in the practice, where he has since resided. 
During all this time he has lost no time from the active practice, 
refusing to leave home during the war, although threatened with all 
sorts of cross-bone punishments. However, he attended medical 
college at Philadelphia in 1865, where he graduated in medicine, thus 
receiving a second diploma as an M. D. Dr. Norton has been twice 
married ; his first wife was formerly Miss Alice W. McElroy, a sister to 
Dr. McElroy, mentioned above. A few years after her death he was 
married to Miss Julia Alexander, his present wife. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 339 



JOHN C. PEIRSOL 

(Attorney at Law, Monroe City.) 

Mr. Peirsol, a successful and prominent lawyer of Monroe county, is 
one of those vigorous, active-minded men, of strong convictions and 
the courage to act upon them, aggressive in his notions of right and 
with no patience for temporizers ©r half-way measures when the right 
is to be upheld, who, by their positive character and absolute freedom 
from all dissimulation inevitably make some enemies, but always more 
friends, and the latter of the fearless, active kind. Such men not 
only invariably make a marked impression on the community and 
events with which they are identified, but they generally become suc- 
cessful leaders of men, and usually prosperous in the material affairs 
of life. The enmity that they incur frequently subjects them to severe 
criticism and reprobation by a few, who refuse to give them credit for 
the purit}'' of their motives. But on the other hand those who are not 
prejudiced only admire them the more for the openness, frankness and 
courageousness of their character. A strikingly representative char- 
acter of his class, Mr. Peirsol, although he has been a resident of the 
county for but comparatively a few years, has made his presence felt 
here to a marked degree, and to the great advantage to the commu- 
nity in which he lives, being not only one of the best known citizens 
of the county, but one of its most active and useful ones. He has 
contributed ver}^ materially to the upbuilding and prosperity of Monroe 
City, and has held with ability the office of prosecuting attorney of 
the county and for six years the position of mayor of the city, as well 
as taking a prominent part in other affairs, material and polftical, 
affecting the interests of the public. 

Mr. Peirsol comes of an old and highly creditable family of the 
country, tracing his lineage back through a line of ancestors who have 
brought no reproach on the name he bears, but have always held 
worthy positions in the communities in which they lived. The family 
has been settled in this country for nearly 200 years. His father's 
great-great-grandfather Peirsol was one of three brothers who came 
from England to America in 1683 and settled in Pennsylvania, whence 
the name has radiated into different States. Mr. Peirsol's great-grand- 
father, Peter Peirsol, was killed at Ft. Duquesne in 1753, when under 
the command of Washington, attthe time the English or Americans 
w^ere driven from that fort by the French and Indians. Peter Peirsol, 
Jr., was born after his father's death, and he became the father of Mr. 
Peirsol's father, Joel Peirsol. Joel Peirsol was bora in Berks county, 
Pennsylvania,. and after he grew up came West to Wayne county, 
Ohio, where he married Miss Catherine Emery. In 1836 they came 
to Fulton county, Illinois, where both parents lived until their deaths. 
The father became a leading and wealthy farmer of that county, and 
John C. was born there May 16, 1846. John C. Peirsol was one of a 
family of thirteen children, of whom seven, three sisters and four 



340 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

brothers are living. At tlie age of 15 John C. was sent to college at 
Washington, Iowa, and after attending one year he taught school one 
term. In 1864 he, with his elder brothers, Peter and Joel, went to 
California, where he spent three years. Returning in 1867, he sold 
some land which his father had given him and used a part of the pro- 
ceeds to attend college at Lewiston, 111. After a term there he came 
to Monroe City, where his brother Jacob had preceded him in 1866. 
It was his purpose to go on to Nebraska, but, his horses dying, he 
gave over the idea and concluded to attend Ann Arbor University. 
He spent a year at that famous institution and then bought land near 
Osborne, in Clinton county. Mo., where he was engaged in the stock 
business for about two years, living much of the time, however, at 
Plattsburg. He continued at Plattsburg until 1874 and while there 
he completed his course of law reading, and was admitted to the bar 
by Judge Lucas. He then came to Monroe City and having been 
ruined financially by troubles, and the panic of 1873, poor and broken 
in health, he had to teach a term of school here before he could get 
books necessary to engage in the practice of his profession, which 
practice he has since continued. He has been in partnership with 
different attornej^s at this place, but is now alone in the practice. In 
1876 Mr. Peirsol made the race for prosecuting attorney of the county, 
his opponent for that office being Hon. A. M. Alexander. This was 
one of the most animated and exciting political contests ever witnessed 
in the county. The two candidates held no less than 32 joint 
discussions, and the race was not less close than it was spirited. Out 
of a total vote of 4,100 Mr. Peirsol was elected by six majority. At 
the next election, however, he was defeated by Mr. Alexander by a 
smalT majority. Mr. Peirsol has also held the office of mayor for six 
years, and is still mayor of Monroe City. He and his brother, Jacob, 
have been dealing quite extensively in real estate for some years, and 
in 1882 they laid outPeirsol's addition to Monroe City, in which they 
have sold about 80 lots. They have about 60 acres in the addition, 
and over 1,000 acres of land besides in this and Ralls county. Mr. 
Peirsol has been twice married, first, August 19, 1870, and the second 
time, January 13, 1879. His present wife was previously Miss Lue 
H. Loomis, formerly of Emporia, Kan. Mr. Peirsol has one son, 
Robert C, now eleven years of age. Mrs. P. is a member of the 
Baptist Church, and he is a member of the Commaadery in the Masonic 
order. , 

JACOB A. PEIRSOL 

(Manager of the Monroe City Creamery). 

The superior excellence of properly made creamery butter is now 
conceded by all who from experience are capable of judging, and it 
is therefore rapidly coming into demand for general, not to say uni- 
versal use. In the East it has long had the ascendency in popularity 
over all other products of the dairy, and in the North it is in general 
use. In the last few years it has made steady inroads of popularity 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 341 

into Missouri, and will doubtless soon be demanded for general use 
fiere. But even ignoring the want of home consumption, the demands 
for it in the East are such that its manufacture cannot but be a profi- 
table branch of industry here. There, on account of the high prices 
of land and the heavy cost of stock feed, it cannot be made for much 
less than a third more than it can be produced here for. With our 
preseut system of rapid and comparatively cheap transportation, we 
of Missouri, by virtue of the cheapness of our land and the lightness 
of the cost of stock feed, can compete in the Eastern markets with 
the dairymen of that section, if we can not entirely drive them out of 
the market, as many of the best posted Eastern dairymen fear and be- 
lieve. We can make butter here for twenty-five cents a pound, an 
article which costs them thirty per cent more than that to produce in 
New York or the North Atlantic States. Hence we can command and 
get a better price for our butter than the one indicated above, thus 
making it a business of excellent profit. That it is so is shown by the 
rapidity with which creameries are springing up all over Missouri. 
The present creamery was established in the spring of 1883, with a 
capital of $6,500 and capacity of 2,000 pounds daily. This requires 
the milk yield of 2,000 cows. The building is 30x44 in dimensions, 
and has a ten-horse power engine with all other necessary machinery 
and conveniences on the most appproved plan, including an excllent 
ice-house. Mr. J. M. Procter is the president of the company and 
Mr. Peirsol its manager. The enterprise has made a gratifying start 
in business and has every promise of success even in excess of the 
hopes of those who established it. Mr. Peirsol, the manager, is thor- 
oughly qualified for his position, understanding the business well and 
being a man of good business qualifications and enterprise. He was 
born in Fulton county, 111., March 14, 1838, and was educated at the 
Burlington University of Iowa. He subsequently taught school for 
year or two and since then has been actively engaged in farming and 
raising and handling stock, in which he has achieved a marked degree 
of success. He came to Missouri in 1866 and resided in Ralls county 
until the winter of 1881-82. He has a fine farm of 300 acres, well 
stocked with farm animals, etc. He is also a pnmiinent property 
holder in other lands and town property. He is a brother to J. C. 
Peirsol, whose sketch precedes this, wherein a brief outline of the 
father's family has been given. December 5, 1861, he was married to 
Miss Elizabeth Clark, formerly of Jefferson county, N. Y. She was 
a daughter of Lucius and Debora (Guernsey; Clark. Mr. and Mrs. 
Peirsol have two children, Eva E. and Minnie L., two interesting and 
charming young ladies. Mr. Peirsol, personally, is a most afl"able and 
pleasant gentleman, and stands high in the esteem of all who know 
him. 

THOMAS PROCTOR, M.D. 

(Cashier of the Mouroe City Bank) . 

Dr. Proctor, a regular graduate of medicine and a physician of 15 
years' successful experience in the practice, has been identified with 



342 HISTORY or monroe county. 

the Monroe City Bank since 1881, at which time he became one of its 
prominent stockholders, and has since acted as its cashier. Dr. 
Proctor is also prominently identified with other important business 
enterprises, which will be spoken of hereafter. His father, Columbus 
Proctor, was one of the early settlers in Marion county. He came to 
that county when a young man, in about 1832, and was from Jessa- 
mine county, Ky. He was subsequently married, in Marion county, 
to Miss Eleanor G. Wood, a daughter of Hazzard Wood, an old 
pioneer of the county. He was a farmer by occupation, and became 
one of the well-to-do and highly respected citizens of the county. He 
died there, July 4, 1865, but his wife survived until the 14th of April, 
1876. There were five children, of whom Thomas was the third, the 
others being James M., Mattie, now Mrs. James Scott; David and 
George. Thomas Proctor was educated in the higher branches at St. 
Paul's College, in Palmyra, and at the State University, the former 
of which he attended three terms and the latter one term. He studied 
medicine under Dr. Tipton, of Marion county, and took his medical 
course in the Iowa University, at Keokuk, from which he graduated 
in 1864. He then began the practice at Monroe City, but in 1866 
returned to Marion county, and located about five miles west of 
Hannibal, where he practiced medicine for the succeeding 12 years, 
and also ran a grain and stock farm. Dr. Proctor was quite success- 
ful in the practice and secured a large clientele throughout the country 
around his place of practice. In 1879 he returned to Monroe City, 
and was occupied for a time in settling up his aifairs near Hannibal 
and preparing to engage in business at this place, for he had already 
formed a purpose to interest himself in Texas cattle raising and in 
other lines of business. In 1881 he became connected with the 
Monroe City Bank, of which he became cashier. Later along he 
became a large stockholder in and secretary and treasurer of the 
Monroe Cattle Company of Texas, which was organized with a capital 
stock of $500,000, since increased to $750,000, divided into shares of 
$100 each, three-fourths of which are owned by Dr. Proctor and five 
other citizens of Monroe county. The company owns 150,000 acres 
of land, all in one pasture in Shackleford county, Tex., which is 
stocked with Texas cattle. It is needless to say, for every one of 
general information knows, that this business is profitable, paying a 
better dividend than Standard Oil Company stock, whilst there is 
no smack of monopoly and rascality about it as there is in the famous 
oil enterprise. Dr. Proctor, being a man of superior education, 
genial manners and business enterprise, makes an efficient and popular 
bank cashier, and adds very materially to the patronage and success 
of the bank with which he is connected by the confidence and high 
esteem in which he is held as a citizen and business man. The 
Monroe City Bank is one of the conservative, safe and solid banking 
institutions of North Missouri, and is rated Al in banking circles, as it 
is in the estimation of the public at large doing business with it. The 
following is a statement of its resources and liabilities ©n the 1st of 
January, 1884: Resources — Cash on hand, $15,110.53; loans and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 343 

discounts, $51,651.48; due from banks, $42,301.18; real estate, 
11,500.00; furniture and fixtures, $1,300.00; total, $111,863.19. 
Liabilities —Csi^\ti\\ stock, $20,000.00; deposits, $91,048.75; un- 
divided earnings, $814.44; total, $111,863.19. These figures make 
a gratifying exhibit of the condition of the bank, showing that it is 
conducted on sound business principles. It also has large deposits on 
hand, both time and call, which steadily increase from year to year. 
Dr. Proctor is a man of family, having married April 4', 1865. His 
wife was formerly Miss Mary T. (" Lutie") Bailey, eldest daughter 
of Dr. E. Bailey, of Marion county. Dr. and Mrs. Proctor have 
three children : Bailey, Frank and Thomas. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. During the war he served six months in 
the State Guard, Southern service, participating during the time in 
the battle at Lexington. 

JAMES M. PROCTOR 

(Fanner, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-offlce, Monroe City). 

An outline of the fjimily antecedents of Mr. Proctor has been given 
in the sketch of his brother, Dr. Thomas Proctor, which precedesthis. 
The father, as there remarked, became one of the well-to-do farmers 
of Marion county. In early life he was a tanner by trade, and 
commenced quite poor, but by industry and superior business manage- 
ment became a large property holder. He raised stock quite exten- 
sively and also grew tobacco in large quantities. He owned at his 
death over 1,400 acres of land. James M. was born near Phila- 
delphia, in Marion county, March 3, 1837, and was educated at the 
Baptist College at Palmyra. He subsequently taught school two 
terms and then resumed farming on the old family homestead, where 
he continued until 1866. Meanwhile he had married, and from the 
old Proctor homestead he came to Monroe. county and settled on his 
present farm, or rather a part of his present farm. He first had 360 
acres, but has since added until he now has 1,160 acres, 480 of which 
are in his home tract, and the balance only a half a mile distant. 
Although farming in a general way all the time, for a number of years 
he has made a specialty of raising and handling stock. His lands 
are largely run in blue grass for that purpose, having about 1,000 
acres in pasturage. He usually keeps from 100 to 150 head of cattle 
on hand on his home farm, quite or nearly all of high grade and 
thoroughbred stock. He now has 110 head of fine short-horn cows 
that he is crossing with Hereford stock for the Western trade. Mr. 
Proctor is also a leading stockholder in the Monroe City Bank, and 
in the Monroe Texas Cattle Company, in the former of which he is a 
director, and is vice-president of the latter. Mr. Proctor has one of 
the finest stock farms in Monroe county. His place is handsomely 
improved, including buildings, fences, pastures, water facilities, etc. 
His residence alone, a fine two-story brick, with a stone basement, 
containing eleven rooms and three largo halls, besides a commodious 
basement, all handsomelv constructed and elegantly furnished, cost 

17 



344 HISTOEY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

over $5,000. It is built on a beautiful coUado or eminence gradually 
rising from the public road about a quarter of a mile distant, and is 
approached by a handsome carriage-way. The site commands a fine 
view, not only of his own large pastures and fields, undulating and 
stretching away in the distance, but also of the surrounding country 
for miles. On the 7th of June, 1860, Mr. Proctor was married to 
Miss Ellen K. McPike, a daughter of Hon. James McPike, now 
deceased, of Marion county. Her father came to Pike county, Mo., 
from Henry county, Ky., in 1840, and was a brother to Aaron 
McPike, of Audrain county. Her mother was a Miss Mary Clinton. 
They removed to Marion county in about 1841. He was a leading 
farmer and stock man of Marion county and died there in the fall of 
1878. He represented that county in the Legislature, and was one of 
its most intelligent, progressive and public-spirited citizens. He was 
quite wealthy, and was said to be the finest judge of stock in the 
State. He was a man of the most generous impulses. He was never 
able to say no when applied to for help, although he was often imposed 
upon by those who were unworthy of assistance. His wife died in 
1873. His first wife died before his removal to Missouri. Mrs. Proc- 
tor has two brothers, Benjamin and Jefferson, the former of Marion 
and the latter of Knox county. She also has two half-brothers and 
a half-sister, Edward and William and Mary, the wife of E. D. Gul- 
lien, all of Marion county. Mr. and Mrs. Proctor are blessed with a 
family of eight children : Ellen M., now Mrs. James Randol ; Thomas 
J., Zack C, assistant cashier of the Monroe City Bank; Anna B., 
James M., Alma C, Mattie and David M. They had the misfortune 
to lose a little girl, Jennie Lee, at the age of four months. Both 
parents are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and he is a 
member of the A. F. and A. M., Chapter degree. Mr. Proctor is a 
man of marked natural intelligence and culture, and an agreeable, 
pleasant gentleman in bearing and conversation. 

JAMES S. RANDOL 

(Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Groceries, Provisions, Etc., Monroe City). 

Mr. Randol, one of the most enterprising young business men in 
Monroe county, carrying a stock of about $30,000 and doing a large 
retail and jobbing trade, the latter with dealers in small towns tribu- 
tary to Monroe City, is still three years less than thirty years of age, 
and began in mercantile business as a clerk at Clarence in 1877. 
Subsequently he attended school, taking a course at Monroe Institute, 
and in 1879 he came to Monroe City, where he formed a partnership 
with J. M. Johnson in the grocery and in the boot and shoe lines of 
trade. In June of the same year, however, they removed t© Cleora, 
Col., and conducted the same lines of business there for nearly 
two years. In the fall of 1882 they returned to Monroe City and 
resumed business at this place, which they carried on until the follow- 
ing August when Mr. Johnson retired from the firm, engaging in 
farming, where he still resides. Mr. Randol continued the business, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 345 

discontinuing later along, however, the boot and shoe line. Youno- 
enterprising and energetic, he has pushed his business with all the 
vigor that he possesses, and having superior business qualifications, as 
well as a marked natural taste and aptitude for business life, he has 
made it a most gratifying success. He does business on a cash prin- 
ciple, and although enterprising and always ready to stake his judo-ment 
on the future of supply and demand, he is still conservative and cautious, 
never making any risky adventures in trade. Besides his large business 
he owns the large business house he now occupies, and indeed, he has 
all his afiairs on a sound basis and in a safe, prosperous condition. On 
the 2d of May, 1883, Mr. Randol was married to Miss Ellen M. Proc- 
tor, a daughter of J. M. Proctor, of this place. They have a son, J A 
Randol, Jr., born March 26, 1884. She is a member of the Baptist 
Church, but Mr. E., himself, is a member of the M. E. Church 
South. He is also a member of the Triple Alliance. Mr. Randol 
is a son of John B. and Mary A. (Sharp) Randol, now of Colorado, 
and was born in Shelby county, near Clarence, October 28, 1857. 
Of the family but three are now in Missouri : James S., Ellen S., now 
Mrs. O. C. Perry, and John H. The father removed to Colorado for 
his health, where he and the balance of the family are now makino- 
their home. ° 

JOHN J. ROGERS 

(Dealer in Dry Goods, Clothing, Furnishing Goods, Eancy Goods, Hats and Caps, 
Boots and Shoes, etc.; also. Warehouseman and Dealer in Grain, Monroe City). 

In 1876 Mr. Rogers was engaged in clerking in a business house at 
this place, which he had followed for the two years previous. To-day 
he has one of the leading establishments in the lines mentioned above 
in Monroe county, and is also one of the principle grain merchants of 
the county, being not only one of the most prominent and successful 
business men of this place, but a man of ample means to carry on 
without embarassment his large business in the different branches in 
which he is engaged. During this time he has neither inherited nor 
married a fortune, but on the contrary has made every dollar he has 
by his own business acumen, enterprise and energy, and all by fair 
and honorable dealing. Such a record is not only creditable to the 
man himself, but to the community, and such a man is fairly entitled 
to be considered one of the best and most valuable citizens of the 
county in which he resides. It is to self-made men, men of character, 
intelligence and enterprise, those who have the ability and industry to 
achieve success whatever may be the circumstances in which they 
begin, that every community owes, to a very large measure, its pros- 
perity. Mr. Rogers is a native of Virginia," born in Fauquier county. 
Whilst he was yet in infancy his parents, Stephen and Cornelia F. 
( Jett) Rogers, came to Missouri, and settled in Marion county. Here 
the father engaged in farming and stock-raising and dealt largely in 
real estate for a number of years, and, indeed", until his retirement 
from all active business a few years ago. He now resides at Warren, 



346 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

in Marion county. John J. was brought up on the farm. At the age 
of 18 he went to Louisiana, Mo., where he was employed by 
an insurance firm for about a year. He then became a traveling 
agent for a Commercial Agency at Columbus, Ohio, and traveled prin- 
cipally in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky for about two years. In 1875 
he returned to Missouri and clerked in a business house at Monroe 
City until becoming a member of the firm of Sutton & Rogers. Mr. 
Sutton was succeeded by Mr. Purnell, and the firm became Rogers & 
Purnell. Mr. Purnell was a traveling man and Mr. Rogers had full 
charge of the business. Afterwards Mr. Rogers bought out Mr. Pur- 
nell's interest, and since that time he has been carrying on the busi- 
ness alone. In the meantime Rogers & Purnell had bought out the 
firm of Goetze & Byrd, merchant tailors and dealers in clothing and 
gents' furnishing: g-oods. All have since been combined in one store. 
Mr. Rogers has also had branch houses at Hunnewell and Warren. 
He has a large warehouse at this place, the only one in this part of the 
county, and he deals quite extensively in grain, seeds, wool, etc., 
shipping the principal part of the grain shipped from this point. He 
keeps from two to four hands employed. His store has an extensive 
trade and is one of the most popular houses at Monroe City. On the 
12th of September, 1878, he was married to Miss Lily Jones, a 
daughter of Mr. G. C. Jones, formerly of Wilmington, Del. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rogers are members of the Episcopal Church, and he is a 
member of the A. O. U. W. and of the Triple Alliance. 

A. K. RUTLEDGE 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, etc., Monroe City, Mo). 

Mr. Rutledge, the proprietor of this popular and successful busi- 
ness firm, was reared a farmer, which he followed up to 1879, when 
he removed to Monroe City. But he also learned the plasterer's 
trade when a young man and worked at tliat when not occupied with 
his farm duties until he quit the farm, since which he has continued in 
the plasterer's trade, but for some years past principally as contractor. 
Mr. H. K. Anderson is his partner in the contracting business and 
they control the principal part of the plastering work done at this 
place and throughout the adjacent territory. Both being experienced 
plasterers and men of upright business principles, they see that no 
work is done under their firm that is not thoroughly and well done, 
and to the entire satisfaction of their patrons. This house of A. K. 
Rutledge was formed in 1878. Mr. Robinson had charge of the busi- 
ness up to a short time ago, since which A. K. Rutledge has taken 
charge of the entire business. He carries a full line of drugs and has 
a profitable and increasing trade. Mr. Rutledge was born in Giles 
county. West Va., October 28, 1843. His father, Trevis Rutledge, 
died when A. K. was about 11 years of age. Five years after- 
wards the mother, a Miss Charlotte Wingo before her marriage, 
came to Missouri with her family and finally settled near Clarence in 
Shelby county. There were originally nine children in the family, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 347 

and seven are still livino^. A. K. Rutledije continued with his mother 
in Shelby county until his marriage, which was in 1868, Miss Mary S. 
Smith becoming his wife on the 5th of February, 1868. She was a 
daughter of Samuel C. and Elizabeth Smith, who settled in Shelby 
county in 1836. Her father died there in 1848, but her mother died 
at Mrs. Eutledge's home, in Monroe City, July 18, 1882. Mr. Rut- 
ledge lived on what is known as the Smith farm after his marriage up 
to 1879, when he came to Monroe City. Mr. and Mrs. R. have three 
children : William T., Etha Edna, and Shelby. Mrs. R. is a member 
of the Baptist Church. Her father was a blacksmith and started the 
first shop opened in Shelby county. She lost three brothers during 
the war who were identified with the South. 

John E. Robinson, a former partner of Mr. Rutledge, was born in Dor- 
cester county, Md., December 30, 1827. He learned the carpenter's 
trade as he grew up and came to Missouri in 1851, locating in Shelby 
county. He married in Shelby county Febiuarj' 22, 1857, Miss Sarem 
E. Smith then becoming his wife. She was a daughter of Samuel and 
Elizabeth Smith of the same county from which he came. He followed 
carpentering in Knox and Shelby counties for a number of years. He 
then engaged in the drug business at Newark, in Knox county. He was 
subsequently in the same business in Utica and California, Mo. , and then 
in the dry goods trade in Shelbina for about ten years. From Shelbina 
he came to Monroe City. Since that time he has been in the drug busi- 
ness for Mr. Rutledge. April 11, 1881, Mr. Robinson had the mis- 
fortune to lose his wife. She left him two daughters, both now 
young ladies, Miss Bessie and Miss Etha. The former presides over 
her father's pleasant home, and the latter is an accomplished and 
popular teacher of the county. Both are young ladies of superior 
refinement and culture, and of rare attractiveness of presence. Mr. 
Robinson is singularly fortunate in having two daughters so well cal- 
culated to make his home attractive and pleasant, both by their grace 
of manners and charm of conversation, as well as the faultlessness of 
their form and features and their singular gentleness, yet cheerfulness 
and brightness of dispositions. They not only ornament the society 
in which they move, but challenge admiration from all, admiration 
which it is a pleasure to feel. 

WILLIAM SCHOFIELD 

(Steamboat Master and Farmer, Monroe City). 

For 30 years continuously Capt. Schofield has been running the 
river, and now holds his twenty-ninth certificate as a first-class pilot 
and master. He was with the St. Louis and Keokuk Packet Company 
for 16 years, and since that time has run the river between St. Louis 
and St. Paul. He is still with the company. During last season he 
was pilot of the steamboat Keokuk. It is a gratifying fact that 
during all of Capt. Schofield' s long experience on the river he has 
never met with an accident of any serious consequence. In 1846 
he made a trip to the City of Mexico, and was there when peace was 



348 HISTORY OF MONRO:^ COUNTY. 

established between Mexico and the United States. In 1849 he went 
to Californit\.. But these are the only journeys he ever made off of 
the river of any considerable distance. For a number of years prior 
to 1870 he lived on West Ely prairie, in Marion county, where he 
owned a farm, and where he spent his time when not on the river. 
In 1870, however, he came to Monroe City, where he has since 
resided. Here he has a neat home in the suburbs of town and has 
an excellent farm of 160 acres adjoining town. Capt. Schofield is 
an Englishman by nativity, but was reared in this country. He 
was born in Yorkshire November 25, 1825, and when six years of 
age was brought to America by his parents, who first located at Pitts- 
burg, Pa. His father, James Schofield, died there, and his mother 
subsequently married John Cook, a carpenter by trade. In 1836 the 
family came to Missouri and settled at Marion City, which was then 
hardly more than laid out. There young Schofield learned the coop- 
er's trade and worked at it until he went on the river, in about 1854. 
Since then he has continued on the river, as stated above. Capt. Scho- 
field has been three times married. His first wife was a Miss Char- 
lotte Boyd. She lived seven years after her marriage, dying in 1859. 
In 1861 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Metcalfe. She survived 
her marriage but a short time. May 29, 1863, Capt. Schofield was 
married to his present wife. She was a Miss Martha Jones, of Lewis 
county. Of this union there are three children living: Harry, Fan- 
nie and Millie. One, James, is deceased. There were no children 
by his second marriage, but by his first wife there are four, namely: 
Rufus, now in Denver, Col.; Harriet E., now Mrs. Horace Kent; 
George W., of this [)lace ; and Miivy Laura, who was adopted by Mrs. R. 
F. Bartlett, of Keokuk, la., and by her christened Charlotte L. She is 
now the wife of Charles Pond, of Keokuk. Mrs. S. is a member of 
the Christian Church and the Royal Templars of Temperance, and the 
Captain is also a member of the Royal Templars of Temperance. 

CAPT. WILLIAM STYLES 

CFai'mer, Post-offlce, Hunnewell) . 

Capt. Styles was born in Kenawha county, W. Va., September 21, 
1816, and was a son of William F. and Margaret (Gibbs) Styles, his 
father from Albemarle count}', Va., hut his mother from Scotland. 
Capt. Styles was reared in Virginia and came to Missouri in 1843, set- 
tling in Monroe county. In the meantime his mother had died, and 
two of his sisters, Mary and Margaret G., made their homes with him 
in this county, they keeping house for him whilst he improved a farm. 
His brother, Samuel G.,had come out in 1840 and engaged in milling 
by water power at Clinton, now Somerset, but failed about the time 
Capt. William Styles came out to this State, so that Samuel G. joined 
him in his farming operations. The latter died here, however, in 
1845, at about the age of 32. Margaret G. married Hill Shaw, and 
both afterwards died in Franklin county. Mary died unmarried in 
1852.. Capt. Styles' father, having married the second time, also 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 349 

came to Missouri in 1843, coming a sliort time before the Captain, 
and settled near where the latter located. He and his second wife 
both died here, the latter preceding him a number of years. The 
father made his home with Capt. Styles some seven years after his 
second wife's death. Capt. Styles improved a good farm, and on the 
29th of November, 1849, he was married to Miss Nancy E. Kirkland, 
a daughter of Jacob Kirkland, of Clinton, formerly of Boonville, Mo. 
The Captain, besides being interested in farming, began milling as 
early as 1844, bringing his mill out from Cincinnati, which he ran for 
about eight years, it being a horse grist and saw mill. He also ran a 
blacksmith shop some eight years, and before and during the war had 
a two-horse power thresher and did threshing in this county and 
neighboring vicinities for some eight or ten years. He has a good 
farm of 160 acres and is comfortably situated on his place. Capt. 
and Mrs. Styles have three children, namely: Joshua F., now farm- 
ing in the county; Samuel G., who has charge of the home farm, 
an'tl Mary S., the wife of Daniel K. Yowell, of Monroe City. Captain 
and Mrs. Styles are members of the M. E. Church South. Capt. 
Styles is a practical and experienced surveyor who, in his time, was 
one of the best surveyors of North Missouri. Capt. Styles, himself, 
hos done a great deal of surveying in the county and kept it up until 
his eye failed, being a sufferer from weak eyes for a number of years 
past, which is believed to have been caused originally from a severe 
spell of measles, which he had back in 1852. Capt. Styles was com- 
missioned captain of militia by Gov. Price in 1846 or 1847 to drill the 
militia of this county in military tactics, of which he had made a study, 
and was considered an expert drill master. 

GEORGE W. TOMPKINS 

(Of Geo. W. Tompkins & Co., Dealers iu Dru^s, Medicines, etc., Monroe City). 

Mr. Tompkins is a professional druggist, as well as a thoroughly 
capable business man, having begun to learn the drug business when 
he was 17 years of age, in which he has since been continuously 
engaged, either as clerk or on his own account. When a youth he 
received a good education in the schools of Hunnewell, where he was 
principally reared, and in 1876 came to Monroe City and commenced 
as a clerk in the drug store of J. H. Grady. Subsequently he 
clerked for P. E. Crisp for over four years, and in 1882 he and Dr. 
George L. Turner, who is the other member of the firm, formed the 
partnership under which they are still doing business. They have a 
first-class stock of drugs, fresh and well selected, and Mr. Tompkins 
being a practical and experienced druggist, while his partner is a 
physician, it goes without saying that they form one of the safest and 
most capable drug firms in the county. Mr. Tompkins compounds 
prescriptions with special care, and both members of the firm use 
their best judgment in the selection of pure drugs and medicines of 
established re^putation for their trade. By doing a strictly first-class 
business, their house has secured an enviable reputation at Monroe 



350 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

City Jincl throughout the surrounding country, so that, as would be 
expected, it is more than ordinarily popular with the people, and 
commands a large trade. On the 19th of June, 1859, Mr. Tompkins 
was born at his father's homestead in Lewis county. While he was 
quite a youth the family removed to Hunnewell, where they still 
reside. His father, William Tompkins, was originally from Tennes- 
see, but his mother, whose maiden name was Eliza Clow, was from 
Kentucky. George W. remained at Hunnewell, as stated above, 
until he was 17 years of age, and then came to Monroe City. 
October 1, 1882, he was married to Miss Elizabeth F. Simpson, a 
daughter of J. H. Simpson, of this place. Mr. Tompkins is con- 
nected with the Triple Alliance. 

NATHAN S. TOPPING 

(Proprietor of the Gem Hotel and Monroe City Livery Stables . 

Mr. Topping is a hotel landlord of long experience, and has been 
conducting the Gem Hotel since the spring of 1881. He is a suc- 
cessor to R. M, Brown, who erected the hotel building in 1866, 
since which it has been run as a hotel. It contains 25 rooms and 
accommodates conveniently from 30 to 40 guests. Mr. Topping is 
the owner of the house, and also of the livery stable, and is doing a 
good business in both lines. He came to Monroe City from Shel- 
bina, where he had been running the Topping House for about nine 
years. Mr. Topping is originally from the old Empire State, called 
into life in Sullivan county, July 20, 1818. His parents, Abraham 
and Mary (Cook) Topping, Avere from Long Island, :ind removed to 
Sullivan county in 1812. Nathan S. was married in Sullivan county, 
September 23, 1847, to Miss Sarah Kinkendall. He followed farm- 
ing there until 1868, when he came to Missouri, and improved a farm 
near Hunnewell. From the farm he went to Shelbina in 1872. Mr. 
and Mrs. Topping have had four children: Emery A., who died at 
the age of 21, soon after coming to Missouri; Estella D., the wife 
of L. W. Arnold, of Monroe City, and two others, who died in 
New York. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. 
Topping is a man of intelligence and general information, and in New 
York held numerous local official positions. He is well respected 
here. 

BENJAMIN H. H. TUCKER 

(Postmaster and Agent of tlie Pacific Express Company, Monroe City). 

Mr. Tucker was born June 17, 1818, in the city of New York, and 
became identified with North-east Missouri away back in the spring of 
1836, when he was a youth about 17 years of age, by having a scholar- 
ship presented to him in Marion College, of Marion county. Mo., by 
Gov. Haynes of New Jersey. That college was then one of the most 
eminent institutions of learning throughout the entire country, and 
was resorted to by young men of promise from nearly all the States. 
Mr. Tucker was a son of Benjamin Tucker, a leading young lawyer of 



HISTOKl OF MONROE COUNTY. 351 

New York City and of a promiueiit family of that State, but who iin- 
fortiuuitely died at the early age of 36. He was intimate with 
Hamilton and Burr, who greatly encouraged him to hope for a prom- 
ising future at the bar, and by whom he was regarded as a young man 
of the highest promise. At college he was a classmate with Martin 
Van Buren, afterwards President of the United States, and between 
them there was ever a warm friendship. He was also a friend and 
associate with most of the leading men of New York State. Mr. 
Tucker's mother (Benjamin H. H.'s) was a Miss Elizabeth Cutter, of 
the well known New Jersey family of that name, one of the best fam- 
ilies in the State, a history of which has heretofore been published by 
Dr. Cutter, of Connecticut. He is conceded to be one of the finest sur- 
geons in the State, and is also a representative of this family. Young 
Tucker came to Marion College, which he attended for about 18 
months, and until the college became disorganized on account of finan- 
cial and other troubles. He then located at Marion City, Marion 
county, and was engaged in the hotel business, Marion City at that 
time being a thriving town on the Mississippi 10 miles above Hanni- 
bal, and the shipping point for North-east Missouri. In February, 
1841, the hotel was burned. In the spring, by the solicitation of 
friends, he came to Monroe county and engaged in teaching school 
for some months on the farm of Joshua Gentry, boarding in the fam- 
ily of Aaron B. Combs during that time. Returning to Marion City 
in 1842, he taught for a time that year and soon engaged in clerking 
in a general store and commission business until the spring of 1843. 
The 6th day of April witnessed the crossing on the ice over the Mis- 
sissippi river of one yoke of oxen hitched to an ox-cart. The post- 
master at Marion City at that time failing to comply with all the 
requirements of the post-office department, Dr. Bower, of Paris, 
being member of congress from this district, was called upon to rec- 
ommend one to fill the position of jjostmaster in place of the incum- 
bent. Dr. Bower recommended Mr. Tucker who was duly 
commissioned under President Tyler, holding the office three years, 
when on account of poor health he was induced by his friends to try 
farming. On the 5th of February, 1846, he was married to Miss 
Martha H. McCormick, of Marion City. In 1849 he began farming nea. 
West Ely, and subsequently farmed in Marion, Ralls and Lewis 
counties up to 1865, when he came to Monroe City, and engaged in 
clerking one year, returning to his farm in Lewis county in the spring 
of 1866. There he stayed until October 1869, when he again returned 
to Monroe City. On the 16th of April, 1869, he took charge of the 
post-office at this place, and has since discharged the duties of this 
office, having been re-commissioned a few months ago for a term of 
four years. In 1871 he was appointed U. S. Express agent and in 
1881, Pacific Express agent. Up to 1874 he was also engaged in the 
grocery business. Mr. Tucker makes an efficient and popular post- 
master, and his official record, as is the case with his private life, is 
without a shadow of reproach. Mr. and Mrs. Tucker have five chil- 
dren : Elizabeth, now Mrs. Thomas L. Courtne3' ; Benjamin Franklin 



352 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Green , Charles Edward , George Washington and Carrie Esther. 
Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are members of the M. E. Church South. He 
is also prominently identified with the temperance cause.. In April, 
1881, Mr. Tucker had the misfortune to break his left hip bone, which 
prostrated him for nearly three months. However, he has recovered 
the full use of his leg, although it is a little shorter than his right 
leg. During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Tucker, not fit for military 
duty, remained on his farm in Lewis county, doing whatever was in his 
power for the cause of the government, ever faithful to the flag of his 
country. 

GEORGE L. TURNER, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Monroe City, Mo.). 

The parents of Rev. Able Turner, the father of Dr. George L., 
were earl}^ settlers of North-east Missouri, settling near Hannibal, in 
Marion county. There Rev. Able Turner was reared, and in young 
manhood was married to Miss Mary E. Wilson, formerly of Loudoun 
county, Va., who came to Shelby county. North-east Mo., with her 
parents before reaching womanhood. Later along Dr. Turner's father 
removed to Shelby county, where he was married and where the Doc- 
tor was born on the 26th of March, 1854. His father was a minister 
of the regular Baptist Church, and continued pulpit work until his 
death, which occurred April 24, 1882. Dr. George L. Turner was the 
fifth of the nine children of his parents now living, the others being 
Charles C. of Carthage, Enoch T., John M., Frank S., Frances A. 
now Mrs. F. M. Farr ; Belle, now Mrs. Arthur Carmichael ; Martha 
G., now Mrs. Edward Carmichael, and Ida M., who is still at home, 
all except Charles C. and George L, being residents of Shelby county. 
George L. (the doctor) completed his education at the State Univer- 
sity, where he studied two years. He then taught school two years 
and during the same time studied medicine under Dr. Chenvrout, of 
Bethel, in Shelby county. He then entered the Rush Medical College 
at Chicago, where he took a regular course of two terms, graduating 
in 1880. Dr. Turner at once located at Monroe City, in the practice 
of his profession, where he has since resided. He formed a partner- 
ship with Dr. Asbury which continued up to a short time ago. Dr. 
Turner is a partner with Mr. George W. Tompkins in the drug busi- 
ness, and is still a member of the firm of George W. Tompkins & 
Co. Dr. Turner was married in Shelby county, September 7, 1880, 
to Miss Charlotte Pickette, daughter of Hiram Pickette. They have 
two children : Myrtie G., and an infant son,Lytle Rush. Mrs. Tur- 
ner is a member of theM.E. Church and the Farmers' and Mechanics' 
Mutual Aid Association, and the Doctor is a member of the I. O. O. 
F. and the Triple Alliance, and the Farmers' and Mechanics' Mutual 
Aid Association. He is also a member of the Monroe County Medi- 
cal Society. Dr. Turner has shown by his success in the practice as 
well as by his popularity as a physician, that he is a practitioner of 
thorough qualifications and superior skill. He has a marked natural 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 353 

aptitude as well as special taste for surgery, and has performed some 
very difficult and bighly successful and creditable operations in that 
department of the practice. Still, he very much likes ail branches of 
the practice and is a more than ordinarily capable physician in the 
treatment of the general curriculum of cases usually met with in this 
part of the country. 

JUDGE ALFRED WARNER 

(Deceased) . 

In the " History of Monroe County " there is no one mentioned the 
events of whose life reflect greater credit upon the subject himself and 
upon all connected with him, as well as upon the county, than does the 
career of the subject of the present sketch. A man of great force and 
purity of character, he acquitted himself without reproach of his duties 
in every relation in which he was placed — in his family, in the church, 
in business affiiirs and to the public. Possessed of a high order of in- 
telligence, and energetic and enterprising almost to a fault, his activ- 
ities in business aff'airs were eminently successful, and he died the 
possessor of a comfortable fortune, an estate he accumulated himself 
and enjoyed for many years. He was a man of retiring and modest 
disposition, wonderfully attached to home and family, and with no 
desire, whatever, for public life or for cutting a conspicuous figure in 
the world. With his talents and great personal worth, if he had been 
ambitious of political promotion or other official advancement, there 
are no offices in the gift of the people to which he might not have 
reasonably aspired and probably have obtained. But his greatest 
happiness was found in the private walks of life, making himself use- 
ful to those around him and enjoying the society of his loved ones at 
home and of his friends. There, it is gratifying to remember, most 
of his days were spent, and while it was more congenial to his own 
tastes that it was so, if, when the end came, his loss was not as widely 
deplored because he was not as widely known as some, it is but the 
expression of a plain and simple truth to say that it was more deeply 
and sincerely mourned than is the loss of many. As a business man, 
merchant and manufacturer, he was early and eminently successful ; 
as an agriculturist later, farmer and stockman, his career was not less 
creditable ; and as a friend of popular education, an active worker in, 
and liberal supporter of the church, as a public-spirited citizen and a 
representative in official life — in every position and sphere of activity, 
he was an ornament and of great value. When such a man dies not 
only is a loss sustained by his family and those to whom he is imme- 
diately near and dear, but by the community in all its interests, a loss 
which is fittingly evidenced by the general bereavement shown by the 
people, as in the case of the imposing performance of the last sad rites 
attending the deceased. Alfred Warner was a native of Massa- 
chusetts, born near Pittsfield, April 2, 1798. When he was about 12 
years of age, he was taken by his parents to the Western Reserve of 
Ohio, where the familv settled in 1810. There, in that then wilder- 



354 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

iiess, he grew up amid the pioneer scenes and incidents of frontier life. 
Possessed of a natural taste for mental culture, notwithstanding his 
unfavorable surroundings, he succeeded in acquiring, by application 
to his books at home, a good practical education. When a young 
man, 24 years of age, he went to Lexington, Ky., where a brother, 
Elijah, had preceded him and was in business. He also engaged in 
merchandising there and soon became, in addition, largely interested 
in manufacturers, both at Lexington and at Havensville. He owned 
extensive bagging and rope factories, and also large jeans and woolen 
mills. Besides these he conducted a heavy pork packing business, 
and altogether accumulated a handsome fortune for those days. He 
owned quite a number of slaves. Li 1848, however, he sold out in 
Kentucky and came to Missouri, stopping for a short time on the way 
at Alton, 111., then one of the leading points of the West, where he 
owned valuable city property. Arriving in this State, he settled in 
Marion county, where he bought a tract of 600 acres of laud, and im- 
proved a fine farm. Desiring to increase his facilities for stock-rais- 
ing, he bought an additional tract of 600 acres in Monroe county about 
1855, to which he removed about 1856 or 1857, and soon took rank 
as one of the principal stockmen of North Missouri. He was one of 
the first, if not the very first, to introduce the breeding and raising 
of fine short-horn cattle. He raised fine stock of different kinds, and, 
indeed, was never content to handle low grade animals of any kind. 
His cattle and horses were especially remarked for their superior 
quality and value. In this way he did a great service to the county 
by encouraging and assisting in the improvement of its stock.. He 
was a leading and active member of the Masonic order, and his inter- 
ment with the honors of that order is said to have been the most 
impressive and considerable funeral of the kind ever witnessed in the 
county. He was also a prominent and time-honored member of the 
Episcopal Church, and was for years a Lay Delegate for this Diocese 
to the General Convention of that Church. He took an active 
part in organizing the parish in Monroe City and building its 
house of worship ; and was also highly influential in establish- 
ing the Monroe City Institute, giving both the church and the 
institute the benefit of his active exertions of liberal donations. 
His public spirit manifested itself in assisting materially in the 
upbuilding of Monroe City. He bought numerous lots there and 
erected several valuable business houses and dwellings, and at all times 
showed a disposition to aid in any movement designed for the general 
good of the place. During the war Judge Warner, although an ex- 
tremely liberal-minded and conservative man, was decidedly Union in his 
sentiments, notwithstanding he was a slave-holder and much attached 
to the Southern people, both in interest and sympathy. He took no 
active part in the struggle, however, and remained quietly at home, 
except while engaged in the discharge of official duties, to the per- 
formance of which he was called by the general voice of the people. 
He was presiding member of the county court of Monroe county, 
which court had probate jurisdiction, a position he held for two terms 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 355 

of four years each. This office was accepted with great reluctance on 
his part, and at last only from a sense of public duty. He acquitted 
himself in it as was to have been expected, with great credit and to the 
universal satisfaction of the public. He was one of the few Union men 
of Monroe county who, though always loyal to the government, so 
conducted himself that he was without an enemy at the close of the 
war among the Southern people, being respected and esteemed for his 
honesty and sincerity by those opposed to him, as his loyalty was 
honored and unquestioned on the Union side. He died at his home 
in this county on the 24th of September, 1867, and his remains were 
interred with every manifestation of public sorrow and of individual 
grief among his personal friends and acquaintances, as well as in his 
own family, in the cemetery at Monroe City, where they now sleep 
peacefully awaiting the dawn of the resurrection morn. He was a 
man of striking personal appearance, full six feet in height, with an 
excellent form and a manly countenance, always lighted up by a 
genial and pleasant expression. He was eminently social and affable 
in his intercourse with those around him, and the farthest from an 
opinionated man, being unassuming and respectfully considerate of 
thoughts and the feelings of others. Judge Warner was twice mar- 
ried. To his first wife, whose maiden name was Miss Jane Shekleford, 
he was married April 24, 1832. She survived her marriage, however, 
but a short time. On the 29th of September, 1846, he was married 
to the partner of the subsequent years of his long and useful life, and 
who still survives him, one of the most highly respected and beloved 
ladies in the community where she has so long lived. The widow of 
Judge Warner was, before her marriage to him, a Mrs. Harriett L. 
McLean, relict of Prof. McLean, an accomplished artist, who, although 
dying at the early age of 36, had already attained considerable fame 
as a talented and gifted portrait painter. She had been a widow nearly 
three years at the time of her marriage to Judge Warner. She was 
a Miss Patterson originally, of Camden, Maine, but was reared at 
Cambridge, Mass. She is now in her seventy-first year, but is still a 
lady of fine personal appearance, remarkably well preserved in body 
and mind. Judge and Mrs. Warner reared but one child, a sou, 
Alfred B., born January 4, 1852, and still unmarried. He has charge 
of all the property of the family, and is a leading agriculturist and 
business man. He was educated at Monroe Institute, and Racine 
College, Wis., taking, besides a general course, a thorough course in 
Latin, Greek and German. He is a young man of bright promise, 
and occupies an enviable position in the community. 

WESTHOFF BROTHERS 

(General Blacksmiths, and Manufacturers of Road Wagons, Spring Wagons, Buggies, 

etc., Monroe City). 

These gentlemen, who have about $3,000 invested in their present 
business, and work constantly from eight to twelve hands besides them- 
selves, manufacturing annually a large number of road wagons and spring 



356 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

wagons, and a number of carriages, buggies, etc., beigan in business 
together at Monroe City in 1876, and have since conducted it as part- 
ners with gratifying success. They build from 16 to 18 road wagons 
a year and more than half as many spring wagons, as well as numer- 
ous other vehicles, besides doing a large blacksmithing business and 
attending to an extensive custom in the repair line. They are ener- 
getic, thorough-going mechanics and business men, and are fully 
worthy of the gratifying success they have achieved. 

The senior member of the firm, Francis Westhoff, was born in 
Hancock county. 111., October 4, 1839, and learned his trade under 
his fiither in Schuyler county. Mo. Subsequently he worked for about 
seven years near Bloomfield, Iowa, and then came to Monroe City in 
1872, and engaged in his present business. Meanwhile he had mar- 
ried, March 20, 1866, when Miss Martena Riney became his wife. 
She Avas a daughter of William Riney, of Scotland county, Mo. Mr. 
and Mrs. Westhoff have three children : William F., Elizabeth A. and 
James Leo. Both parents are members of the Catholic Church. Dur- 
ing the war Mr. Westhoff served for a time in the Schuyler county 
militia. 

Adolphus Westhoff Avas born in Schuyler county. Mo., March 1, 
1848, and is therefore nine years younger than his brother. He learned 
his trade under his father and worked in Davis county, Iowa, and for 
a time ran the shop with his brother. In 1872 he began work with 
his father and came to Monroe City in 1876, where he has since been 
a partner with his brother Francis. He has charge of the wood work 
department of the business. In the winter of 1877-78 he was married 
to Miss Maggie Ryan. They have four children : Johnnie, Frank, 
Anna and Angle, the last two twins. He and wife are also members 
of the Catholic Church. 

Francis and Adolphus Westhoff were the sons of John and Elizabeth 
(Campbell) Westloff, formerly of Illinois, but who came to Schuyler 
county, Mo., as early as 1844. The father was a farmer and black- 
smith and wagon-maker, and followed these callings until his death, 
which occurred in the summer of 1883. He worked here with his sons 
the summer preceding his death, or rather in the summer of 1882. He 
returned home the succeeding fall and soon died, as stated above. 

F. M. WILSON 

(Dealer in Furniture and Undertaker, Monroe City) . 

Mr. Wilson, born and reared in Ralls county, continued to reside 
there after he grew up and was married, engaged principally in 
farming, but a part of the time in milling, until 1877, when he 
came to Monroe City and bought an interest with Samuel Megown 
in the mill at this place, with whom he was connected in the 
milling business for about 18 months. Selling out then, he bought 
an interest, with Virgil Evans, in the furniture and undertaking 
business, and soon afterwards bought Mr. Evans' interest, becoming 
sole proprietor of the business. Meeting with good success, in 1880 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 357 

he erected a new business house and appreciably increased his stock. 
He has recently sold the building he erected in 1883, however, and 
has just completed a handsome, commodious, two-story brick busi- 
ness house, which he now occupies. On the 15th of October, 1857, 
Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Gubriella Shulse, a daughter of 
Marcus Shulse, of Ralls county. The fruits of this union are two 
children, both now grown to maturity, namely: Annie M. and Will- 
iam H., the former the widow of Norton F. Spalding, late deputy 
county clerk of Ralls county, and the latter in the business house of 
Durrant & Jackson. Annie M., the daughter, was married to young 
Spalding in 1881. But with less than two years of happy married 
life the angel of death came and bore the spirit of her beloved and 
devoted husband to his home bej^ond the skies. His remains now 
sleep peacefully in the cemetery on the old Norton place, where the 
flowers shall bloom above all that is mortal of him, the cherished 
memory of whom is nearer and dearer to her than all else on earth, 
until the morn of the resurrection shall dawn : — 

" Only a shadow that falls at eve 
Darkening the face of the sun ; 
Only a beautiful light gone out 
From a fair young life that is done. 
• 

*' Sorrow is ours, but the darkened life 
Gleams on the farther shore, 
And the ra,diant soul like a guiding star 
Shineth — forevermore. 

"Broken in twain, is the precious chain, 
Sundered so far and wide ; 
But, the Father hath love that will make it whole, 
On the beautiful other side." 

One little flower, the fruit of this happy union, destined to be sun- 
dered so soon, is left to cheer the mother's heart under the shadow 
of her sad widowhood: Robert Marion, a bright little boy now one 
year of age. Mr, Wilson, the subject of this sketch, is a representa- 
tive of an old Missouri family, his father, Hedgman Wilson, having 
come to this State away back in 1827. Mr. Wilson's mother was a 
Miss Levina Fuqua. They came from Kentucky and the father, a 
miller by occupation and a farmer, lived in Ralls county until his 
death, which occurred in 1869. 

BENJAMIN O. WOOD 

(Dealer iu Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Scliool Books, etc., Monroe City). 

Mr. Wood is a representative of the old Pennsylvania Quaker fam- 
ily whose name he bears, the most prominent member of which, in 
recent years, was the Hon. Fernando Wood, of New York, three 
times mayor of that city and who commenced his service in Congress 
as far back as 1841, dying two years ago, while still representing New 
York City in the National Legislature. Mr. Wood's father. Dr. 
Adolphus E. Wood, and the late ex-Mayor Wood were brothers, the 



358 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

latter born in Philadelphia, but the former in Baltimore. There were 
two other brother, Henry and Benjamin, both of wliom reside in New 
York. Dr. Wood was a man of fine education and culture, and grad- 
uated in medicine with eminent distinction. He was married in 
Havana, Cuba, to Mrs. Caroline Clunette, of Spanish parentage, 
being then a widow lady, her first husband of French nationality. 
She had two children by her first husband. Dr. Wood was largely 
interested in the tobacco trade of Cuba at that time. Deciding, how- 
ever, to come West, as early as 1831 he removed to Missouri, locating in 
Shelby county, then on the very frontier of civilization. He lived in that 
county until his death. He was a leading citizen of the county and 
the foremost physician of North Missouri. He served as county 
judge for some years, and was a man of great force of character, 
sterling virtue and eminently influential. His wife (Benjamin O.'s 
mother) is still living, a lady of rare dignity of manners and fine 
accomplishments, having received an advanced education early in life 
and always been a student of the best literature. She has reared a 
large family of children, and those living all occupy enviable posi- 
tions in the communities where they reside. Benjamin O. Wood was 
born at Oakdale, in Shelby county, December 29, 1836, and was 
reared at that place. He was principally educated by his parents, 
who took great care for the mental culture of their children. As 
early as 1863 he began as a clerk in a drug store in Quincy, III., and 
from that time to the present, with no appreciable intermission, he 
has been continuously in the drug business — a period now of over 20 
years. He came to Monroe City in 1868 and has since been in busi- 
ness at this place. He carries one of the best stocks of drugs, as it is 
one of the largest and most complete, in the county, and keeps con- 
stantly employed two gentlemanly, eificient salesmen, Messrs. R. E. 
Lear and John M. Riley, gentlemen whose good looks are only exceeded 
by their pleasant manners and fine business qualifications. Mr. Wood 
also gives his undivided attention to his business. His house has an 
enviable reputation for reliability and efficiency in the preparation of 
prescriptions, of which it makes a specialty. On the 12th of Decem- 
ber, 1872, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Allie B. Smith, a daughter 
of Mr. A. Smith, of Ralls county. They have one child, Myrtle I. 
They have lost their child, a boy of 14 months, of great promise. Mr. 
Wood is a member of the Masonic order, the A. O. U. W., and he 
has also served in the city council for several terms. 

THOMAS J. YATES 

(Of T. J. Yates & Brother, Proprietors of the Monroe City Livery, Feed and Sale 
Stables; also, Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer). 

Mr. Yates was born on his father's homestead in this county, 
August 18, 1845, and was reared to the occupation of a farmer. In 
1864, then in his nineteenth year, he enlisted in the Confederate 
service under Col. McDaniel, and joined Gen. Price's army on the 
retreat from Missouri. He was with Price for a short time, then 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 359 

became a member of Gen. Joe Shelby's command, under whom he 
served until the close of the war, surrendering at Slireveport, La., ia 
June, 1865. Returning home, he then went to work again on the 
farm and followed farming continuously and raising and handling 
stock from that time up to about 1875. He then came to Monroe 
City and engaged in the livery business ; later along he was also in the 
hardware business at this place, being in partnership with G. W. Dur- 
rant, under the firm name of T. J. Yates & Co., for about two years. 
Excepting this and about 18 months spent on his farm, he has been 
in the livery business continuously since 1875. Some two years 
ago his brother, William R., joined him in the livery business, since 
which they have carried it on under the name of T. J. Yates & 
Brother. This is one of the leading livery establishments in Monroe 
county, if not the leading one. They have about $10,000 invested ia 
their business, and have a large and commodious building, well 
arranged for caring for stock, vehicles and feed, such as are required 
in their business. They keep from 20 to 30 head of horses, a 
large number of bug-o-ies, two hearses and various other kinds of 
vehicles needed to accommodate their custom. They also run busses 
to all the trains on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Road at this point. 
Their stables are justly popular in the livery line and liberally patron- 
ized by the traveling and local public, and particularly the commercial 
men, who have found by experience that they can get better accommo- 
dations for the prices charged than at any other livery establishment 
in the surrounding countr3^ They also do a general stock business 
in the line of horses and mules, and buy and sell quite extensively. 
Mr. Yates has a good farm near Monroe City, of 320 acres, which is 
devoted mainly to stock, and there he raises and feeds cattle for the 
wholesale markets. He now has on hand about 50 head of good cattle. 
He has been handling stock, principally cattle and mules, since 1875, 
and with excellent success. On the 6th of April, 1869, he was married 
to Miss Maggie Beck, formerly of Ohio. They have had six children : 
Eddie, Wilfred, Victor, Belmer, Lee, James A. Mr. and Mrs. Yates 
are members of the Catholic Church. His parents were Thomas and 
Eliza (Pearceal) Yates, early settlers of this county, coming here as 
early as 1832. His father is still living, but the mother died in 
August. 1882. 



SOUTH FORK TOWN^SHIP. 



WASHINGTON C. BATES. 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office Santa Fe) . 

Mr. Bates is one of those sterling old Virginians, so many of whom 
we are favored with in this State, who possess the qualities of industry 
and clear, vigorous intelligence that make them successful men almost 

18 



360 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

without exception wlierever their lots are cast, and who contribute an 
important measure to the building up and developing of the respective 
communities in which they reside. Mr. Bates was born near Marion, 
Va., in 1818. His parents, Thomas and Nancy (McCarty) Bates, 
had nine children, of whom he was the fifth. His father died in 1835 
whilst Washington C. was a youth 17 years of age, and two years 
later the mother with her family, including Washington C, came to 
Missouri and settled in Platte county. They were among the early 
settlers of that county and opened one of the pioneer farms in its 
wilderness. The mother died, however, in 1838, and Washington C. 
then went to Buchanan county where he bought a quarter of a section 
of land and improved a farm. There he lived for nearly 30 years 
and in the meantime was twice man-ied. He came to Monroe county 
in 1866 and bought a part of the land on which he now resides. Here 
he has since been engaged in farmino- and hand lino- stock, which he 
had previously followed in Buchanan county. His career has been one 
of continued success and he now has a fine place of nearl}'^ a section of 
land, all substantially and comfortably improved. He started in the 
world for himself with but little or nothing to begin on and he is, 
therefore, what may be fairly termed a self-made man. He has made 
most of what he has in the stock business, dealing in cattle, mules, 
etc., and has been a very successful stock shipper, a business he still 
follows to some extent. He was absent for several years during the 
war, a part of the time in the Southern service and the balance 
engaged in freighting on the plains. He was in the fights at Blue 
Mill and Lexington and several other less eno-ao-ements. While on the 
plains he ran several teams from Nebraska City to Denver, and made 
some money in that business. Mr. Bates was married the first time 
in 1841 to Miss Caroline Blue, of Audrain county, who survived her 
marriage only two years. There is only one child by this union, 
Almira, now the wife of Charles McCarty. To his present wife he 
was married in 1844. She was a Miss Nancy Kerr, a daughter of 
John and Susan (Hannah) Kerr, formerly of Virginia. The}^ have 
nine children: Susan S., John W., Thomas M., Emma, Eleanor, 
Robert A., James B., Jefferson Davis and Katie A. He and wife are 
members of the M. E. Church South and he has been a member of the 
I. O. O. F. for 30 years. He has been a school director for a number 
of years and still holds that position. 

THOMAS M. BATES 

(Dealer in Drugs and Groceries, Santa Fe). 

Mr. Bates is the third son of Washington C. Bates, the worthy old 
citizen of Monroe county whose sketch precedes this. Thomas M. 
was born in Platte county in 1848 but was reared in Buchanan 
county, where his father resided up to 1866. He received a good 
common school education, and remained with his father on the farm 
after the latter's removal to this county, until 1871. He then 
ngaged in the saw mill business, which he followed with great success 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 361 

for about 12 years. Selling out his small interests, be now came to 
Santa Fe and began as a druggist and grocer, lines of trade he has 
since followed. He has a neat stock of both these lines, and by his 
well-known integrity and his accommodating spirit has won a o-ood 
patronage for his house. His trade is gradually increasing, and^'it is 
his intention to increase his stock as rapidly as his business justifies. 
In 1872, Mr. Bates was married to Miss OUie Hagar, a daughter of 
Dr. Hager, of Monroe county. Mr. and Mrs. B. have two children 
Nannie B. and Fulton D. Mrs. Bates is a member of the Presbyl 
terian Church, and he is a member of the I. O. O. F. He has a 
handsome property in Santa Fe, and a good start in life. His future 
as a business man seems one of promise. 

FRANCIS M. BRASHEARS 

(Farmer and Blacksmith, Post-offlce, Santa Fe). 
Mr. Brashears was one of a family of 15 sons of Solomon and 
Jemima (Pittit) Brashears, of South Carolina, and subsequently pio- 
neer settlers of Ralls county. Mo., removing to that county from the 
Palmetto State as early as 1831. Francis M., the subject of this 
sketch, was four years of age when the family came to Missouri, hav- 
ing been born in Spartanburgh district, S. C., May 28, 1827 ' His 
mother died in Ralls county, and in 1854 his father removed to Adair 
county, where he died two years later. He was reared in Ralls county 
and was brought up to be a farmer and blacksmith, both of which 
occupations his father followed. He remained with his father until he 
was 27 years of age, and, indeed, went to Adair county with him, 
where he was married on the 30th of December, 1858, to Miss Sarah 
J. McCoy, formerly of Indiana. Suljsequently he removed to Monroe 
county, and in 1879 settled on the place where he now resides. He 
has a place of 200 acres, all improved except a small piece of timber, 
and he still follows blacksmithing, to which he was brought up, as well 
as forming. A man of unflagging industry and of strong intelligence, 
ills life has been one of success, and now he can contemplate approach- 
ing old age with the easy assurance that the later years of his life are 
well provided for, so far as necessities and comforts are concerned. 
He and his good wife have had 11 children: Edward T., Fannie 
D., Francis M., Robert L., Benjamin H., Lewis A., Nina J., Alva H., 
and Myra E. The other two are deceased, Amos and Mary Elizabeth,' 
both having died in infancy. He and wife are members of the Bap- 
tist Church, but one of his sons is a member of the Christian Church. 

JAMES BLEDSOE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe ) . 

One of the most influential and public spirited citizens of the town- 
ship IS he whose name heads this sketch. Owning a mao-nificent farm 
of 400 acres, all under fence and with every improvenVent and con- 
venience, Mr. Bledsoe conducts his business according to the most 



o62 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

enterprising and enlightened method. He is one of the most intelli- 
gent farmers in the county, and deals also extensively in stock. He 
is raising mules for the market as well as hogs and cattle. He keeps 
only the highest grade of short-horn cattle. Mr. Bledsoe takes a lively 
interest in public affairs, and is one of the strongest advocates of pub- 
lic schools. He is the son of Willis and Jane Bledsoe, both natives 
of Kentucky, and was born January 17, 1839, in the Blue Grass State. 
His father came to Missouri April 6, 1846, and settled on the farm 
where James now lives, and where his own days drew to a peaceful 
close on the 21st of October, 1881, his wife having died 12 years 
before. He was a farmer and stock-raiser, and will further be remem- 
bered as a man of the highest moral character. He was never heard 
to use an oath in his life, and was ever a consistent and pure Christ- 
ian. In his early life he was a member of the Baptist Church, but 
after coming to Missouri adopted the faith of the Universalists. 
James was educated in the common schools, and, coming of age, began 
working for himself. He, however, still remained on the old home- 
stead, and in 1873 bought the place, affording a comfortable home for 
his parents until their demise. November 28, 1878, James married 
Miss Ella Powell, a native of Kentucky, by whom he has two beauti- 
ful and attractive children, John and Bertie. Mr. Bledsoe is a charter 
member of the Masonic Lodge at Santa Fe. 

CHARLES F. BROWNING 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Long Branch). 

Mr. Browning's parents, Charles W. and Catherine A, (Hines) 
Browning, were early settlers in Monroe county, where they bought 
the Maddox farm, on which they resided for over 20 years. In 1864, 
after Charles F. had grown up, the family removed to Audrain 
county, where they made their home. The father died there in 1870 ; 
the mother is still living, an old lady of advanced years, but still in 
comparatively good health and active considering her age. When 
they came to Monroe county they had to rely on deer and turkeys 
for meat and corn meal for bread, which was ground at the old- 
fashioned horse-mill. Preachins; was held at the house of neio-hbors : 
schools were something of a novelty. Their trading point was Hanni- 
bal. They were blessed with a family, however, of 13 children, most 
of whom have grown up and become parents themselves and some of 
them grandparents. Mrs. Browning, the good old mother, has had, 
as already said, 13 children. She also has 13 grandchildren, and 13 
great-grandchildren, the odd number seeming, as usual, to be a lucky 
one. Charles F. Browning, the subject of this sketch, was born in 
Culpeper county, Va., on the 26th day of July, 1841, and was reared 
on a farm after the family came to Missouri, in Monroe county. In 
1862 he, in company with John Wood and William Wilson, started to 
join Price's army, but were captured on the way, and confined in 
prison at St. Louis for about four months. On taking the double, 
back action, iron-clad oath of loyalty, he was released, and remained 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 363 

at home until 1864, when, being drafted into the Union service, he 
quietly drafted himself out of it by crossing the draft of the Missis- 
sippi into Illinois, where he laid low until the close of the war. After 
a sojourn in Illinois for some 18 months, he went to Texas, and then 
visited several other Southern States, finally locating in the Indian 
Territory in 1876, from which he shipped cattle, mainly, to Tennessee. 
Some 12 months afterwards he cjime back to Missouri, and in 1882 
bought the Baker farm, a half mile ofi" the place where he was reared 
in Monroe county, where he now resides. He has continued to deal 
in stock and has had satisfactory success. October 3, 1882, he was 
married to Miss Hattie Rayl, of Pulaski county, this State, but 
formerly of Tennessee. Mr. Browning is one of the well respected 
citizens of his community, and is a thorough-going, enterprisino- 
farmer and stock-raiser. 

JOHN F. BUCKLES. 

(Farmer, Section 6). 

Mr. Buckles is the son of George and Betty (Wakley) Buckles, of 
Ohio, and was born December 27, 1852. His father came to Missouri 
in 1859 and settled in Shelbyville, Shelby county. When the war 
came on he joined the Federal forces and after a year's service, he'mo- 
wounded, was honorably discharged. He was then for some time in 
the militia, and has ever since been working at his trade of miller, 
both in this county and Montgomery. He had a family of 13 children, 
of whom six are living. John grew up on the farm and attended the 
common schools of the county. He worked for a year on the Hanni- 
bal Courier, then losing his heart to Miss Betty A.", daughter of Simon 
and Emily (Rudder) Finks, formerly of Vermont, he married her in 
1873, and settling down became a farmer. He is an honest and 
industrious citizen and bids fair, though now quite a young man, to 
become one of the leading men of the township. Mr. and Mrs. 
Buckles have four children, bright and charming as fresh roses in the 
morning sun. Their names are respectively: Netta A., Stella S., 
John R. and Charles T. 

GEORGE W. BYBEE 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Section 7). 

Mr. Bybee was born May 19, 1838, of John S. and Jennetta 
(Creed) By bee. His parents came to Missouri among the earliest 
settlers, and so few facilities were there at that time for housekeep- 
ing that they were compelled to do their marketing in Hannibal. Mr. 
B. improved a farm one and one-half miles north-west of Santa Fe, 
and raised principally hemp and corn. George attended school, help- 
ing his fother meanwhile with the farm until he was 17. He then 
worked for a year with an uncle in Fulton county. 111., two years with 
his brother in Audrain county, and the war coming on, he went into 
the Confederate army with "Capt. Murry. After six months' service 



364 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

he was discharo:ecl at Pea Rido-e and worked on a farm in the Indian 
Nation. Returning to Illinois, he married January 25, 1864, Miss 
Mary J. Powell, a native of Missouri, and farmed there until 1865, 
when he again took up his residence in Monroe. The following year 
he bought the home farm where he still lives. He is an energetic and 
capable farmer and stock-raiser. He deals in cattle, hogs and sheep. 
Mr. Bybee owns 223 acres of land, upon which he has just erected a 
new residence, barn, etc., causing it to present a very tidy and attrac- 
tive appearance. He has a family of eight children, Isadore, Anna, 
Celia, Harris, Emma, Wallace, Leon and Charles. Mrs. Bybee is a 
member of the Christian Church. 

JAMES CAMPLIN 

(Farmer, Section 18). 

The parents of James Camplin were natives of Kentucky, and there 
his father, James Camplin, died. His mother, Jane Penn Camplin, 
then moved with her children to Missouri and located in Monroe 
county. Her sons carried on the farm for her until 1845, when she 
accepted as a second husband Benjamin McCarty, a Virginia gentle- 
man, who had emigrated to the count3^ She died in 1869. James 
Camplin finding himself, on account of his father's death, called on to 
assume much of the responsibility of the family support, naturally 
was deprived of many advantages in education which had otherwise 
been his. He made the most, however, of his limited opportunities, 
and if his acquirements were not so extensive as those of most young 
men, he had the satisfaction of knowing that they were sacrificed in a 
holy cause, and that he had been a good son to a widowed mother. 
At the ao-e of 24 he married Miss Marinda Cri2:ler, daughter of Lovel 
and Mary (Oats) Crigler, and one of a family of 14 children. Her 
father moved from Virginia to Missouri in 1836. By this marriage 
there were six children: Mary J., wife of J. Fleming; William R., 
a farmer ; Susan G., Allie E., wife of F. Vaughn ; James, and Cyn- 
thia, who died at the most interesting age of four years, just as the 
aff"ections of her parents had become so closely twined about her that 
to tear them away was almost to destroy the root of life. Mr. Camp- 
lin, a progressive and energetic farmer, owns 105 acres of land all 
under fence, and well improved. He devotes much attention to the 
raising of stock for sale, and it may be said without exaggeration, 
that those wishing to purchase can nowhere receive more value for 
their money. Mr. C.'s stock are of the best grades, and will com- 
pare favorably with any in the county. His courteous and obliging 
manners make it a pleasure to deal with him. Mr. and Mrs. Camplin 
are members of the Christian Church in Santa Fe. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 365 

BENJAMIN E. COWHERD 

(Farmer aad Stock-raiser, Post-office, Florida). 

Mr. Cowherd's fiither, William Cowherd, was one of those sterling, 
enterprising farmers of the early days of the country who had the 
industry and intelligence to make a success of agriculture, and who, 
as a neighbor and citizen, was highly thought of for his high character 
and neighborly disposition. He was a large land owner and owned 
quite a number of slaves. He died in this county in 1853. He and 
his family were from Kentucky, and his wife, before her marriage was 
a Miss Celia Estes. She died here in 1867. They had seven chil- 
dren, namely: Mary, Emily, Elmira, Sarah A., David, Susan and 
Benjamin E., the subject of this sketch. Benjamin E. was born in 
Shelby county Ky., in 1817, and was well advanced in youth 
when the family came to Missouri. He remained with his father on 
the farm, however, until 1842. He then began farming for himself on 
a farm of 200 acres which his father gave him, or rather he beo^an the 
improvement of a farm on the raw land given him by his father. Two 
years later, like the early birds in the springtime, though not as 
quickly of course, he had succeeded in making himself a comfortable 
home, and then — he was married. Miss Elizabeth McNutt became 
his wife on happy Christmas Eve, Anno Domini 1844. Bringing his 
young wife to their new home, he went to work with renewed indus- 
try and resolution, as a ftirmer of the county. He also soon turned 
his attention to raising stock and has steadily accumulated the sub- 
stantial evidences of prosperity as the years have rolled awav, even up 
to the present time. During the war he sustained some heavy losses, 
both in slaves and other property, having nine negroes taken from 
him by a single stroke of Mr. Lincoln's pen, and some valuable horses 
and other goods and chattels by several strokes of the militia. How- 
ever, he is still in comfortable circumstances and has in his home- 
stead tract of land 440 acres, his place being one of the choice stock 
farms of the township. Mr. Cowherd raises and deals in all sorts of 
farm stock, and is one of the successful, enterprising stock men of the 
community. Mr. and Mrs. C. have two children: John M. and Will- 
iam. John M. is working on the farm in partnership with his father, 
but William is married and farming in the vicinity. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cowherd are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

JACOB COX 

(Farmer, section 1). 

Mr. Cox deserves more than most residents of the county a place in 
these pages, for without his public spirit and generosity the county 
would not now have cause to glow with pride in the possession of the 
Prairie High School, one of the finest institutions of learning in the 
land, whose existence is due almost entirely to the noble efforts of the 
subject of this sketch. He and Mr. John Forsythe were the first to 



366 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

advance the project and Mr. Cox was one of eleven who organized 
the school and of their private means erected the first building, cost- 
ing about $300. In order to induce children to attend the school, thej 
boarded them for the nominal sum of seventy-five cents a week. It 
may be remarked that the Prairie High School has showered upon the 
world, from the inexhaustible fountain of its learning, a larger number 
of professional men than any similar institution in the country. Mr. 
Cox was born in 1810, in Franklin county, Ky. His father, Thomas 
Cox, was a farmer and miller by occupation, and was a native of Ken- 
tucky. He married Miss Jane Smith of the same State, and died in 
1825, his wife having one year before crossed to the dark Plutonian 
shore. Jacob, one of a family of nine children, received a good edu- 
cation and worked on the farm until he was of age; then, after a trip 
by river to New Orleans, and a sunmier's work on the turnpike in 
Ohio, he returned to Kentucky, and learned the stone mason's trade. 
He worked at this, farming at the same time, until 1836, when he 
moved to Monroe county and settled near Florida. In a few years 
he changed his residence to his present farm. He first bought 80 acres 
of land upon which was only a little log cabin. His grinding was 
done with horse mills and in order to sell his wheat and produce and 
purchase supplies he went to Hannibal. The country abounded in 
game and though in those days living was simple, it is a question 
whether the world was not better off then than in this progressive 
and artificial age. Mr. Cox married January 14, 1834, Miss Cassan- 
der Talbott. There were born nine children: Francis J., Elizabeth, 
Martha A., John T., James, Emeline, Cassy, Nellie, and one who, start- 
led by one glimpse of this sin-sick world, fled in affi'ighted haste back to 
its native heaven. The eldest son, John T. , a young man of whom any 
parent might justly be proud, is a graduate of the Marion Medical 
College, at Cincinnati, and is now a practicing physician at Moberly. 
Mr. Cox's farm now consists of 160 acres where he and his worthy 
wife, faithful sharer of his early struggles and later success, bask in the 
sunshine of prosperity, after weathering triumphantly the fitful gales 
attending the voyage of life. They are among the most highly 
esteemed residents of the township. All the family belong to the 
Christian Church in Santa Fe. 

LOCKHART A. CREIGH 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-Offlce Santa Fe). 

Mr. Creigh is^a native of the Old Dominion, West Virginia, born in 
Greenbrier county, September 15, 1855. He was a son of David S. 
and Emily (Arbuckle) Creigh, of old and respected families of Green- 
brier county. The father in early life was a merchant, but later along 
engaged in farming near Lewisburg, W. Va. He was successfully fol- 
lowing that business when the war broke out, and although his sym- 
pathies were naturally with the South, he took no part whatever in the 
struggle. During the progress of the war, however, his house was 
visited by a ruffian Union soldier, and Mr. Creigh on going into his 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 367 

own house found the plunderer just about to enter the room of an 
invalid daughter when he told hira not to go in the room, upon which 
the robber placed his revolver in Mr. Creigh's face and demanded all 
of his keys. At this junction Mr. Creigh drew a small derringer pistol, 
which failed to fire, and then he grasped the robber's pistol and in the 
struggle killed hira with his own weapon. Afterwards, in retaliation 
for this, he was taken out by a party of soldiers and hung without 
judge or jury, or semblence of trial or defense. This was one of the 
many sad and unhappy events of that most unfortunate and unnatural 
war. His family remained in Virginia until 1871, when his wife, still 
a widow, removed to Missouri with her family of children and settled, 
on a place in this township. Here they improved a farm and lived on 
the place they improved until 18 — , when they sold their place to 
advantage and bought their present place, on which they have since 
resided. Mrs. Creigh, the mother, has been blessed with 11 children, 
and three of her sons, including the subject of the present sketch, 
Lockhart A., are engaged in running the farm. Their place contains 
480 acres and is one of the choice farms of the township. They are 
quite extensively engaged in raising stock and also deal in stock to a 
considerable extent, in all of which they have been very successful. 
One of Mr. Creigh's brothers, C. A. Creigh, is a prominent citizen of 
Paris, Mo., and the present circuit clerk of Monroe county. Mr. C. 
is a member of the Masonic order at Santa Fe. 

JAMES B. DAVIS 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser aud Stock-dealer, Post-office, Santa Fe). 

Among the prominent men and better class of citizens of the south- 
eastern part of the county Mr. Davis occupies a concededly and 
deservedly leading position. His farm is recognized as one of the best 
and the finest improved in South Fork township, and on account of 
his success as a farmer and stock man and of .his sterling intelligence 
and generous public spirit, he wields a marked influence in the aflairs 
of this part of the county, though he is a plain, unassuming man, 
without any pretensions whatever, but this perhaps is an additional 
reason why he is esteemed so highly. Mr. Davis has been repeatedly 
requested to become a candidate for county judge, and his consent to 
a candidacy would inevitably result in his election, but he has persist- 
ently declined, desiring no public office and preferring to remain at 
home in his own family and among his neighbors and acquaintances. 
Mr. Davis was born on his father's homestead in this county, in 
August, 1841, and was the eldest in the family of children of which he 
was a member. He received a good practical, common school educa- 
tion, all that is necessary if properly used, and he was of course 
brought up to a farm life, which he has always preferred to follow. 
In 1861 he joined Co. B, First Missouri State Guard, Southern 
service, under Capt. Murray, and served for six months, participating 
in the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge, etc. He then came home on 
a visit with the intention of rejoining the army, but was captured by 



368 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

the Federals and taken to Mexico as a prisoner, where he was kept in 
confinement for a short while. He was then paroled and came home, 
where he has since been farming and handling stock, that is since 1863. 
On the 15th of November, 1863, he was married to Miss Lon Stnart, 
a daughter of William Stuart, president of the Savings Bank at Mexico. 
As has been intimated, Mr. Davis' career as an agriculturist has been 
one of abundant success. His farm, known as Evergreen Lodge 
Farm, contains 640 acres, and is one of exceptional beauty and value. 
The residence is the finest one in the township, a handsome two-story 
building, substantially and tastily constructed, containing 10 rooms, 
not including the halls, and is a remarkably conveniently arranged 
dwelling. Mr. Davis is entitled to the principal credit for the archi- 
tectural skill and taste displayed in its arrangement, plan, trimming 
and finish, for his house was built mainly from his own design. His 
large farm is fenced on the outside with fine hedge fencing almost 
exclusively, and it is literally check-worked with cross fencing, the same 
excellent judgment being shown in the arrangement of his fields and 
pastures, and meadows, etc., that is shown in the plan of his dwelling. 
He also has handsome and commodious barns and other buildings and 
improvements to correspond in utility and style with those mentioned. 
Mr. Davis has had his principal success in handling and raising stock, 
of which he has on hand constantly large numbers. He sells a num- 
ber of cattle and hogs every year, which bring him in a substantial 
income. He was one of the three citizens of this vicinity who took the 
personal responsibility to keep a school going for the education of the 
children of the neighborhood before the public schools had reached 
their present state of efficiency. They kept the school going for two 
years, and paid the teacher out of their private means. He has always 
been actively identified with the public schools since their revival. He 
gave the land for the school house site and also contributed $100 to its 
erection. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have three children: Elizabeth E., a 
graduate of Hardin College, now at home; Franklin S., now taking 
his educational course, and James F., who has entered school. Mr. 
and Mrs. Davis are members of the Christian Church, and he has been 
a member of the Masonic order for nearly twenty years. 

CHARLES C. DAVIS 

(Fai'mer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). 

Mr. Davis was born April 1, 1849, in Monroe county, of Benja- 
min and Eleanor (McCarty) Davis, both of Virginia. Charles was 
given every educational advantage, and in his leisure moments 
assisted on the farm, thus familiarizing himself with the routine of a 
life which he expected to embrace., September 15, 1870, at the age 
of twenty-one, he married Miss Mary E., daughter of John Heiger, 
and settled on the farm where he lives. It is a fine place of 400 
acres, all prairie land, and under cultivation. His improvements will 
compare favorably with any in the county, and his stock, the raising 
of which is his principal occupation, are as fine as can be found any- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 369 

where in the country around. He does much for the advancement 
of this branch of farming, and has met with the most flattering suc- 
cess in his ventures. He raises catttle and hogs. Mr. Davis is a man 
respected in every rank of life, and both in his family and in the rela- 
tions he sustains towards the public richly deserves the regard mani- 
fested towards him. He has a charming family of five children: 
Mamie B., Jos.eph C, Jesse L., John H. and Nannie E. Mr. D. is 
a member of the Christian Church, while his wife belongs to the 
Presbyterian Church at South Fork. He is senior warden of the 
Masonic order at Santa Fe. 

JOHN M. DAVIS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 27). 

Mr. Davis is a son of one of the first settlers of the county. His 
parents, Benjamin and Eleanor (McCarty) Davis, came from Virgin ia" 
to Missouri in 1836, settling near Santa Fe. The first residence ^a 
which Mr. Davis went to housekeeping on his arrival was a pen used 
originally for sheep, and the first bedstead upon which he rested his 
wearied limbs after the day's honest toil, was made with his own indus- 
trious hands, of rails. His marketing was done in Hannibal, whither he 
drove his hogs, dressed them and sold at two and a half cents a pound. 
Mr. D. purchased a farm of 160 acres, upon which he lived for seventeen 
years, then moved to the one his son now owns, where a useful life 
drew to a peaceful close in 1877. John M. was born in the golden- 
clad October, in the year 1853. His youth was passed in the health- 
ful interests and sturdy sports of a farm, to whose cultivation his 
vigorous arm materially contributed. He obtained, meanwhile, a 
good education. At the age of seventeen he went for two years to 
the Christian University for the completion of his studies. Upon his 
return he was married almost immediately to Miss Sudie Judy, a 
native of Kentucky, but resident of Audrain county. Mo. Mr. Davis 
then settled down on the old iiomestead, where he is now largely 
engaged in stock dealing. He makes a specialty of raising short- 
horn cattle, and owns twenty-two thoroughbred, and twenty graded 
cattle. He raises hogs, chiefly of the Poland-China breed, and also 
handles horses. His farm consists of 400 acres in Monroe county, 
and he owns, besides, 115 acres in Audrain county, all well improved 
and under fence. Mr. D. is one of the most active business men in the 
community, and is successful in everything he undertakes. Intelli- 
gent, industrious, and of fine executive capacity, there is no man in 
the county who commands more respect. He has two interesting 
children, David C. and Bessie B. Mr. Davis and his wife belong to 
the Christian Church. 

JOHN S. DRAKE, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Santa Fe) . 

Dr. Drake, a leading physician of the south-eastern part of th 
county, though born in Shelby county, Ky., February 1, 1841, wa^^ 



370 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

reared in Monroe county, Mo., his father, Hon. Samuel Drake, having 
removed to this county in an early day. Samuel Drake was one of the 
leading men of this part of North Missouri in the early days of the 
country, and represented this district in the State Senate for some 
years. He was a prominent Whig, and ran against Col. Horse Allen, 
of Palmyra, the Democratic candidate for the senate, beating him by 
an overwhelming majority, although the district then was very close 
between the two parties. He received every vote in Santa Fe town- 
ship except two. In 1852 he was elected representative of Monroe 
county in the Legislature. He was a man of moderate means, high 
character, superior education and fine intelligence, and was eminently 
public-spirited in all affjiirs affecting the interests of the people. He 
was especially active and influential in politics, and was one of the 
leading men of the county. He died early in 1867, in the sixty-seventh 
year of his age. His wife died in June, 1880. She was a Miss Mar- 
garet South before her marriage, and of one of the best families of 
Kentucky, a daughter of Col. John South, for many years State 
treasurer of the Blue Grass State. Dr. Drake, reared in this county, 
received a good English education as he grew up. He was 20 years 
of age when the war broke out, and coming of a Southern ftimily, and 
being himself of Southern principles and sympathies, he promptly 
identified himself with the struo-gle for the maintenance of Southern 
rights and institutions. He joined Col. Porter's command, and was 
with that officer until captured by the Federals. He was then taken 
to Alton 111., where he was confined for some time, and afterwards 
banished to remain out of Missouri until the close of the war and take 
no further part for the South in the struggle. Returning to Monroe 
county after the war, he soon began the study of medicine, and in 
1868 entered the Miami Medical College of Cincinnati, O., in which 
he continued until his graduation in the spring of 1871. He then 
located at Santa Fe, in this county, where he has since been engaged 
in the practice. Dr. Drake is a thoroughly capable and skillful 
physician, and has built up a large practice in this vicinity. Highly 
esteemed as a man, his personal popularity contributes only less than 
his professional success to his reputation as a physician. On the 6th 
of May, 1874, Dr. Drake was married to Miss Pattie Capps, formerly 
of Clark county, Ky. They have had three children, one of whom 
died in infancy. The other two are Effie Bowen and Ewell Travis. 
Dr. Drake is Master of Santa Fe lodge No. 462, A. F. and A. 
M., and also a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. He and wife 
are both church members, he of the South Fork Presbyterian, of 
which he is an elder, and she of the Missionary Baptist. Mrs. Drake 
is a lady of superior mental endowments and fine culture. She is at 
the same time companionable and gentle of heart and manners, a 
veritable good ang-el in her own home, and indeed wherever her gentle 
presence is met with. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 371 

BENJAMIN C. DRAKE 

(Deceased, late Farmer, Section 28) . 

Surrounded by a loving wife and dutiful children, possessed of a 
delio-htful home and with every personal qualification necessary to 
o-ive happiness to himself and those around him, in the flush and vigor 
of a more than ordinarily useful manhood, Benjamin C. Drake was 
transfixed by the swift and pitiless arrow of Death. As the stateliest 
forest tree is chosen by the woodsman, thus was he a shining mark for 
the insatiate Archer. But conscious of the purity and blamelessness 
of his life, he felt no fears. A Christian's armor enveloped him so 
closely that the dangers of the dread journey were powerless to terrify 
him, and from the bosom of his God, his sainted spirit still watches 
over his loved ones on earth. Born November 25, 1829, near Frank- 
fort, Ky., the son of Samuel and Adelia Drake, Benjamin C. came to 
Missouri when a child. He grew up on his father's farm, and at the 
age when most young men are just beginning to leave their boyish 
follies behind them, he was filled with the steady resolves and un- 
flinching purpose of a man. At the age of 21 he took to himself a 
Avife, Miss Louesa J. Davis, daughter of Benjamin F. Davis, being the 
happy bride. The knot was tied in August, 1850. Eleven times 

Time put his siclsle in among tlie days, 
Tlie rose burned out, red autumn lit the woods. 
The last snows, melting, changed to snowy clouds, 
And spring once more with incantations came 
To wake the buried year. 

Then this dream of bliss was over and with a grief 

Too deep for tears, too constant for complaint, 

the bereaved widow found herself left to untangle alone for herself 
and her fatherless little ones the snarled thread of Fate. Developing 
that hitherto dormant energy and self-reliance which so often is born 
of sudden trial to a timid and dependant woman, Mrs. Drake has 
nobly guided herself. She has purchased 80 acres of land, erected 
upon them a comfortable residence, and other improvements, and has 
as cosy and attractive a home as heart could wish. Her womanly 
strength and independence, and the heroic fortitude and bravery 
which she has brought to bear upon life's manifold knocks and blows, 
have forced from an admiring community the most enthusiastic ex- 
pressions of commendation. Mrs. Drake has five living children: 
Adelia, wife of James Carter; Alice A., wife of John Cowherd; 
Mary, Walter D., now carrying on the farm, and Benjamin. Emma, 
wife of J. Stevenson, died in 1872, leaving two daughters, and Lilian, 
pure as her name, was taken at the age of six years, to join that 
celestial throng, eternally chanting seraphic songs around the throne. 
Mrs. Drake is a consistent member of the Christian Church at 
Santa Fe. 



372 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

' LEWIS FLEMING 

(Supervisor of Koads, Santa Fe) . 

It was on the 16th of January, 1842, and in the State of West Vir- 
ginia, that the subject of this sketch was born. He was the third son 
in a family of seven children of Weightnian and Mary (Lough) 
Fleming, both also natives of Virginia. The others of the children 
were David, Nathan, Joseph, Andrew and Bettie. When Lewis was 
twelve years of age, in 1854, the family removed to Missouri, and 
settled in Monroe county, where the father engaged in farming which 
he had previously followed in West Virginia. Lewis was brought up 
to farm life and remained at home on the farm until the outbreak of 
the war, in 1861. He and his father and several of his brothers 
joined the Southern army, becoming members of Co. C, of the 
Ninth Missouri. Their first eno-aofement was at Elk Fork, in Monroe 
county, where the father paid the tribute of his life to the Southern 
cause, being killed during the progress of the fight. Lewis continued 
true to the cause consecrated by the blood of his father and by the 
lives of thousands of brave men all over the South, and bravely did 
his duty in many a hard fought field until near the close of the war 
when he was taken prisoner. Among other engagements he was in 
those at Moore's Mill, Kirksville, Cane Hill, Cypress Bend and others. 
While participating in the Arkansas campaign he was captured by the 
Federals, and taken to Springfield, Mo., and thence to St. Louis, 
where he languished in duress vile until he was paroled in the spring 
of 1864. He then returned home, greatly broken in health from the 
hardships he endured during active service and from long and close 
confinement in prison. As soon as he was able for work he resumed 
farming and on the 14th of January, 1869, he was married to Miss 
Eliza Farebaien, a daughter of John B. and Catherine (Hoover) Fare- 
baien, formerly of Virginia. Mr. Fleming has a handsome homestead 
property in Santa Fe and is one of the well respected citizens of the 
place. He is now serving his eighth year as supervisor of roads, and 
so well and faithfull}' has he performed his duties that the excellence 
of the roads around Santa Fe are the boast of all the county and the 
especial delight of the people of this vicinity. He and wife are worthy 
members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is an active and useful 
member of the I. O. O. F. 

WILLIAM H. FOREE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). 

The Force family, as all old Kentuckians know, is one of the influ- 
ential and highly respected families of that State. Dr. Force, of 
Louisville, now deceased, who was a distant relative of the subject of 
the present sketch, was one of the really great physicians of the coun- 
try. He was employed far and wide in all important surgical opera- 
tions of special difficulty or danger, where his services could be had. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 373 

Others of the family are equally as well known. Mr. Foree is, himself, 
a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Henry county, December 
22, 1838. However, when he was 10 years of age, in 1848, his 
parents, Joseph and Caroline (Shrader) Foree, removed to Missouri 
and settled in Monroe county, where William H. was reared. He 
remained with his parents until he was 23 years old, assisting on the 
farm, but in January, 1861, was married to Miss Elizabeth Jackson, 
a daughter of James and Anna M. (Mathis) Jackson, who came here 
from North Carolina in 1832. Both her parents are now deceased. 
Mr. Force's parents had a family of 15 children, and his wife was one 
of 13 children. One of her brothers, Rev. William Jackson, is the 
well known Methodist minister at Pueblo, Col. After his marriage 
young Mr. Foree continued farming, to which he had been brought 
up, and in the spring of 1875 was able to buy a tract of land. He 
bought 150 acres where he now resides, to which he has since added, 
until he now has nearly 200 acres. His place he has mainly improved 
himself, and it is one of the best improved farm» of the township. 
He has a handsome new residence and a commodious, tastily built 
barn with other improvements to correspond. He and wife have five 
children, Mary L., Emmett, Anna, Eva and Susan. The two eldest 
are members of the M. E. Church South, and he and wife are also 
both members of that denomination. Mr. Foree is what may be fairly 
termed a farmer in the broad and better sense of that word, for he is 
industrious, energetic, and a good manager, and understands the prac- 
tical work of farming thoroughly. 

WILLIAM S. FORSYTH 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Strother). 

Mr. Forsyth is well known as one of the prominent agriculturisti 
and leading, influential citizens of the county. He has a fine stock 
farm of 610 acres in South Fork township, well improved and stocked 
with good grades of cattle, hogs, horses, etc. In 1876 his friends 
ran him for the nomination for county judge, but he took little or no 
personal interest in the contest and was defeated by Judge Dooley for 
the nomination. Nevertheless, it is generally conceded that if he had 
made the efi'orts usually put forth in a canvass, he would have been 
successful, notwithstanding Judge Dooley is regarded as one of the 
most popular men of the county. Mr. Forsyth, like many and per- 
haps most of the substantial citizens of Monroe county, is a native of 
Kentucky and was born in Mercer county, October 20, 1837. He was 
the third in a family of eight children, being a twin with a brother 
who still lives in Mercer county, Ky. — the children of Andrew and 
Narcissa (McAfee) Forsyth. His mother died in April, 1875. The 
father is still living on his farm in Mercer county, Ky., hale and 
hearty, at the advanced age of 87 years. William was adopted into 
the family of his uncle, John Forsj'th, and was brought to Missouri 
by them when about 10 years of age. His uncle settled in Monroe 
county, where he became a prominent and well-to-do farmer, and died 



374 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

here in 1870. He was a man of much public spirit and took a deep 
interest particularly in education. In 1855 he, with his neighbors, 
Jacob Cox, William Bridgeford and Joseph Sproul, determined to 
have a public school carried on regularly in their neighborhood, and, 
if the public funds were not sufficient, to supply the deficiency out of 
their own means. This school was kept open regularly for a number 
of years and until it was merged into Prof. French Strother's present 
popular and successful private academy. Mr. Forsyth (the uncle) 
contributed regularly from $50 to $75 annually for the support 
of the school and threw open his house for pupils at a distance 
to board at a merely nominal cost while attending the school. A 
first-class teacher was secured and the school soon obtained a wide 
and enviable reputation for efficiency and thoroughness. After his 
uncle's death, which occurred August 22, 1870, Mr. Stockwell For- 
syth, the subject of this sketch, took the former's place in the sup- 
port and directory of the school, and has continued to fill it in a 
manner entirely creditable to the record his uncle made. His uncle 
had previously been school director, and Mr. Forsyth has been con- 
tinuously elected, except two years, to the same position, in which he 
is still serving. In 1877 Mr. Forsyth, and the neighbors associated 
with him in the support and management of the school, secured the 
services of Prof. French Strother, an accomplished and successful 
teacher, and he was continued in the charge of it for about five years, 
when he resigned in order to build up his present private academy. 
Mr. Forsyth, with characteristic liberality and zeal for the educa- 
tional interests of the community, kindly told Prof. French Strother 
to draw on him for all the funds necessary, which was done with 
becoming modesty and appreciation by the latter, only to the amount 
actually needed. This is now conceded to be one of the best private 
schools in the State, for which Mr. Forsyth is entitled to the credit, 
second only to Prof. French Strother himself. On May 18, 1871, 
Mr. Forsyth was married to Miss Anna M. Fulton, a daughter of 
John M. Fulton, who came to Missouri from South Carolina in 1868 
and settled in Monroe county, where he and fiimily still reside. Mr. 
and Mrs. F. have two children, James Fulton and Mary J. Two 
others died in infancy. For a short time Mr. Forsyth was in the 
Confederate army during the war, but on being taken prisoner and 
sworn not to take up arms again, took no further part in the war. He 
is one of the most highly respected citizens of the county. For the 
last three years he has been county correspondent to the Commissioner 
of Agriculture, having- been recommended by the Hon. A. H. Buck- 
ner, M. C. For a number of years he has been a ruling elder in the 
O. S. Presbyterian Church and has repeatedly been sent as delegate 
to her judicatories. Four years ago he was a delegate to the General 
Assembly which met at Charleston, S. C. Mr. F. has paid but little 
attention to politics, but has used with commendable liberality his 
money, time and talent to everything that has tended to the mental 
and moral elevation of his community. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 375 

DR. WILLIAM M. HOUSTON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). 

There was once a party in this country known as the "Barn- 
burners," which, however, has long since passed away. But there 
is and has always been since the colony of Pennsylvania was founded 
a distinctive and pre-eminent class of ham builders, and these 
are the Pennsylvanians themselves. No less a personage than 
Horace Greeley once said that he could always tell a Pennsyl- 
vanian by the size, comfort, convenience and finish of the barn 
on his farm, whether in the East, West, North or South. And 
so it is that wherever you find a Pennsylvanian, one of the better 
class, at least, engaged in farming, you find him with a big barn, 
whatever his other improvements may be, and generally they are 
good, substantial and comfortable. Dr. Houston is of Pennsylvania 
parentage and a farmer, thrifty, well educated and energetic, and his 
farm forms no exception to those of the generality of Pennsylva- 
nians. He has a place of 540 acres, all under fence except 60 
acres of timber, and his place has substantial, durable and com- 
fortable improvements on it, from the dwelling down to the pig-sty 
in the barn yard. He has an exceptionally large and well built 
barn, one of the best in the entire community, adequate for all 
stock-farm purposes, and comfortably and conveniently arranged 
for sheltering and caring for stock, for storing grain, and for 
protecting farm machinery and implements from the weather. Dr. 
Houston is a man of sterling character, possessing strong con- 
victions, ready at all times to stand by them, but at the same 
time a kind-hearted man, generous and liberal in all his impulses, 
a good neighbor and a worthy, valuable citizen. Dr. Houston was a 
son of David and Margaret (Cowden) Houston, both born and reared 
in Pennsylvania. His father was the second son of William Houston, 
of Lancaster county, Pa., a soldier of the Revolutionary War and in 
after years an intrepid and exemplary soldier of the Cross. His 
father being a man of great pith and enterprise, accumulated a hand- 
some estate, represented his county in the Legislature of Ohio, par- 
ticipated in the War of 1812, and was all his life a Democrat. His 
mother was a daughter of Joseph and Mary Cowden, an old and 
respected family of that State. Both parents were Presbyterians, 
born and reared in the faith and of uncommon faith and piety. 
There were 11 children in the family of Dr. Houston's father, 
namely : WiUiam M., Joseph C, Amy J., Esther C, Mary Ann, John 
P., Martha S., Andrew D., Jemima, Margaret and Lillie. His grand- 
father and family removed to Ohio and settled in Mahoning county, 
where his father married and where William M. (the Doctor) was 
born (in Poland), July 6, 1819. His father was in comparatively 
easy circumstances, and after passing through the schools of Mahon- 
ing county, William M., at the age of 17, was sent to Pennsylvania 

19 



376 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

to complete his education. He matriculated at the Jefferson College of 
Pennsylvania, and continued in that ancient and famous institution of 
learning until his graduation in 1843. He then began the study of 
medicine, which he prosecuted for two years. In 1845, having com- 
pleted his studies in the medical profession, young Dr. Houston came 
to Missouri and located at Santa Fe, where he entered upon the prac- 
tice and pursued it with success for some 16 years, or until the outbreak 
of the war. A Northern man by birth and ancestry, his family having 
lived for generations almost within the sound of Liberty Bell, in Phil- 
adel})hia, that pealed forth for the first time the glad tidings of the 
Declaration of Independence, in 1776, he of course sympathized with 
the Union cause in the struggle of the Civil War, and, indeed, was a 
stalwart, out-spoken Union man. Soon after the beginning of the 
war he was appointed Provost-Marshal of Monroe county, and later 
along he enrolled the county under the enrollment law of the State. 
Since then he has held numerous other positions, of a local nature, 
however, and has been clerk and director of the school board for a 
number of years. He has always taken a commendable interest in 
the schools and has contributed a great deal to their success in his 
vicinity. In Maj^, 1849, Dr. Houston was married to Miss Maria F. 
Davis, daughter of Capt. Benjamin F. Davis, both born in Wythe 
county, Va., but emigrating to Missouri, when the former was a little 
girl. The Captain was a man of tireless energy, unswerving religious 
faith (long an elder in the Christian Church), the builder of an 
ample fortune, a legacy to his family when he died in 1877. His 
wife, Eleanor B. Davis, survives him, a lady of the old Virginia pat- 
tern, the kind and affectionate mother of a numerous family, a 
woman unshaken in the faith and hope of a better life, but of serene 
contentment in this. The Doctor and wife have had 11 children, 
namely: William, who died in infancy; Algernon Sidney, now in the 
lumber trade at Mexico; Louisa E., wife of Douglas Mcllhaney ; 
Frederick, who died at the age of five years ; May, who died at the 
age of four years; Mary V., who is now a public school teacher; Amy, 
who died in infancy ; Katie W., at home ; Mariana E., also at home ; 
Decima, who died at the age of four years, and Tiny Coralie, now at 
home. On the 19th of October, 1882, Dr. Houston had the misfor- 
tune to lose his wife. She passed quietly away, sustained in the last 
hour by the grace of Christian faith, with which she had been 
blessed from early life. For 33 years she had stood by her husband's 
side, the faithful and devoted sharer of his joys and sorrows, and 
throughout she was a wife and mother whose single object seemed to 
be to nlake home happy to her loved ones. Her death left a void in 
her home and in the community which is sadly felt, for she was loved 
in her own family and by her neighbors and acquaintances with the 
depth and sincerity rarely shown for any one. Dr. Houston and all 
his children, save the youngest, are members of the Christian Church. 
He himself has, for many years, been a zealous and efficient officer and 
teacher in the church and Sunday-school. Not only in the church, 
but by his walk in the world, as well as by the religious training of his 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 377 

family, he endeavors to show forth the life of a humble and watchful 
follower of him who died on Calvary. In politics, he is now and always 
was a Democrat and empatically " anti-protection." While distinctly a 
farmer and stock-grower, yet by taste and predilection, he is much 
given to fruit raising, to agriculture, and especially to forestry. Tree 
culture may be called his hobby, but is his chief delight. 

WILFKED HAYS (deceased) 

(Late Farmer, Section 7). 

Though always an essentially peaceable and law abiding citizen, and 
taking no part in the late Civil War, by which the country was so 
recently distracted, Mr. Hays died a victim to the terrible state of 
affairs inseparable from such a war. In 1862, going to Florida to 
mill, information which he could not give was demanded of him by 
the advance guard of Col. Smart's regiment. Incensed by his per- 
sistent refusal to tell what he really did not know, they jSrst subjected 
him to many abuses, and then with the most cowardly malignity shot 
him four times. He lived until the next day and then expired, an 
ujiright, conscientious citizen, as foully and cruelly murdered as any 
whose dark fate stains the annals of history. Imagine the poor grief- 
stricken woman who was left thus suddenly a helpless widow, with 
eight children dependent on her. She has remained always faithful 
to his memory, and has devoted her life to those little ones who alone 
remain of their love, raising six of them to man and womanhood. 
Mr. Hays was the son of William and Susan (Hayden) Hays, and 
came to Missouri in 1855, settling in Marion county. In 1860 he 
moved to Monroe and bought a farm near Elizabethtown, where he 
lived until his death. Mrs. Hays was formerly Miss Ann C. Janes, 
daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Gibbs) Janes, natives of Kentucky. 
There were eight children: John H., Charles T., Eliza C, William, 
Martha T., Robert, and two, Benjamin and Susan, deceased. 

JOSEPH HEIZER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office Santa Fe) . 

This venerable and highly esteemed old post-octogenarian citizen of 
South Fork township, still vigorous minded and quite active consider- 
ing his advanced age, is a native of the Old Dominion, born only a few 
weeks after the beginning of the present century, away back in 1801, 
on the 6th of February. He was a son of John and Nancy (Wright) 
Heizer, of Augusta county, and his father was a distiller. About his 
earliest recollections are of taking corn to the distillery on horseback, 
when he was so small that his legs weren't long enough to hold him on 
the sack, that is, to balance him and weigh him down properly in obed- 
ience to the law of the line of direction familiar to all adepts in natural 
philosophy. His parents were both members of the Presbyterian 
Church and he was brought up in that faith, of which he has ever been 
a worthy exponent. He was elected an elder in the church away back 



378 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

in 1838. Mr. Heizer was reared in Augusta county and remained 
there on the homestead farm until after his father's death, which 
occurred in 1821. On the 2d of September, 1824, he was married to 
Miss Nancy Hannah, and then removed to Augusta county, Va., where 
he resided for about 12 years, or until his immigration to Missouri. 
He came to this State in 1836, making the trip by wagon teams and 
being eight weeks on the road. He bought 80 acres of land, a part of 
the place where he now resides, which had a cabin on it and a sort of 
a cleared place where corn had made an amateur effort to grow a year 
or two before. The cabin had an apology for a board, roof on it, held 
on with weight poles, that is the alleged roof was, but it was so 
tesselated with embrasures through which the light and air could enter 
that when it snowed it required a natural measurement to determine 
whether the snow was deeper on the outside of the house than in it. 
However, Mr. Heizer was young and hardy then, and he went to work, 
nothing daunted by the outlook, to fix himself and family comfortably 
in life. As the years rolled away, he succeeded in making a good 
home, and was soon as comfortable as one of sober tastes and desires 
would wish to be. His farm grew into a fine place of over 300 acres 
of land, and a large, comfortable house was built and other conven- 
ient improvements were made. Providence kindly prospered him in 
his family and blessed him with worthy children, namely : John, who, 
after he grew up, married Miss Nancy Carter, and now has a family of 
children of his own ; he resides on the homestead and has charge of the 
farm, making a specialty of stock-raising, in which he is quite success- 
ful ; Nancy v., who married Jackson Hickman, but died in 1873, leav- 
ing a family of children, and Margaret married Daliel Kerr. Mr. 
Heizer has 17 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. 

JOHN A. HICKMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, ^anta Fe). 

Mr. Hickman was thirteen years of age when his parents, Hugh A. 
and Barbara (McNutt) Hickman, came to Monroe county from Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Hickman's father was a miller and trader by occupation, 
and when he came here he bought the Peter Stites mill, near Santa 
Fe, which he ran for about two years. He then settled on what is 
now known as the Hickman farm, where he made his permanent 
home. He continued to run the mill, however, for many years after- 
wards. In 1831 Mr. Hickman's father. Major Penn and Dr. Kenyon 
laid out the town of Florida and John A., then a boy 14 years of age, 
carried the stakes for them whilst at the work, for which he received 
as compensation a set of store marbles, then a great rarety among the 
boys of this new country, and worth readily a sow and pigs or a good 
calf. Young Hickman grew up on his father's farm and received a 
good common school education in the schools of the period. At the 
age of 25, on the 15th of March, 1842, he was married to Miss Susan 
Cowherd, formerly of Kentucky. He then settled on the farm where 
he now resides. Here at first he had 160 acres, which he improved 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 379 

from the condition of raw land. Since then he has added to his farm 
until he now has 330 acres of well improved land. He has made 
farmin^^ and stock-raising his only industries and has had good suc- 
cess, as the above facts show. During the war he took no part in the 
struggle, but his brother, vEsculapius, was one of the first who joined 
the Southern forces in Missouri, and is believed to have been the first 
one to fire a hostile shot on the side of the Confederacy, in this part 
of the State, at least he bears that reputation, and it has never been 
questioned. On the 3d of September, 1881, Mr. Hickman had the 
misfortune to lose his wife. She had borne him 12 children, namely : 
Samanthy, Rebecca, Philander, Mary, Julia, Benjamin, Elizabeth, 
Emma, Ella, Lillie, Gallatin and Hugh. The mother was an earnest 
member of the Baptist Church and died in the full faith and hope of 
the Redeemer, our Lord and. Savior, Jesus Christ. Mr. Hickman 
remembers very distinctly the time that the so-called prophet, Joseph 
Smith, of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, the second in the 
line of Prophetic succession in that church, camped on the prairie in 
this vicinity, and drilled his men every day as an army is drilled for 
action. 

CLAY WEBSTER JUDY 

(Dealer iu Drugs, Medicines, etc., Santa Fe). 

Mr. Judy comes of several well known and highly respected fami- 
lies of both this State and Kentucky. A sketch of his ancestry is 
given on pages (307 and G08 of the " History of Audrain County," 
of which county his father is a prominent citizen and stock man, so 
that it is hardly necessary to take the space here to repeat what is 
stated there. The Judys came to Kentucky in an early day, and 
there Mr. Judy's grandfather, John Judy, was born in 1787. He 
married a Miss Susan Burroughs, of a leading Clark county family in 
Kentucky. His son, John A. Judy, was born in Clark county, in 
1820, and married Miss Elizabeth J. Richart. She was a daughter of 
Duncan O. and Martha (Sharp) Richart. Her father was for many 
years sheriff of Bourbon county, and her grandfather Sharp was the 
founder of Sharpsburg, Ky. John A. Judy and family came to 
Audrain county, Mo., in 1864. He bought 1,000 acres of land of R. 
W. Sinclair, a leading and wealthy man of that county (for many 
years a noted negro trader and stock dealer). Mr. Judy himself had 
a large number of negroes. Clay W. Judy, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Clark county, Ky., December 30, 1851, and received a 
common-school education as he grew up. On the 12th of December, 
1871, he was married to Miss Anna Sinclair, a daughter of R. W. 
Sinchiir, mentioned above. Mr. Judy engaged in farming after his 
marriage and continued it for five years. He then came to Santa 
Fe and built the business house he now occupies, in which he engaged 
in the drug business. Later, however, lie bought out the old Powell 
store and went to Mexico, Mo., and ran the 'bus line. Subsequently 
he sold that and went South, where he engaged in the mule trade, 



380 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and continued to deal in mules up to the present year, when he 
bought the drug store at Santa Fe which he had previously sold, and 
resumed business at this place. He carries a first-class stock of 
drugs for a place of this size, and commands a good trade. Mr. and 
Mrs. Judy have one child, Philip B., born March 18, 1883. Mrs. 
Judy is a member of the Christian Church, and he is a member of 
the I. O. O. F. at Santa Fe, and has filled all the chairs in the lodge. 

GEOEGE W. KERR 

(Dealer in Hardware, Tinware, etc., etc., Santa Fe). 

Mr. Kerr, who is what may be fairly termed a self-made man, hav- 
ing made all he has by his own industry and enterprise, is a native 
Missourian, born in Monroe county, February 20, 1851. He was a 
son of John Kerr and wife, nee Esther Anderson. His father, an 
early settler in this part of the State, was in early life a wheelwright 
and cooper, and was a man of great personal worth of character. 
For many 3'ears he was an active member of the Presbyterian Church, 
one of the pillars in that denomination, in fact, in his vicinity. He 
was twice married, and, in all, had 16 children. He died in about 
1846, universally mourned by all who knew him. George W. Kerr 
was born of his father's second marriage, and was one of four 
children, the other three being Thomas A., Kate and Martlia. Their 
mother died October 12, 1880. George W. received a good common 
school education in Monroe county, where he was reared, and on the 
20th of October, 1870, was married to Miss Mary F. Marshall, of 
Audrain county, but formerly of Boone county, Ky. In 1873 he 
went to work at the blacksmith's trade, which he followed with 
perseverance and industry until 1884, when he engaged in his 
present business. He brought on an entire new stock of hardware, 
tinware, etc., and is rapidly building up a large trade. Possessed of 
good business qualifications, strictly upright in his dealings, and 
accommodating to all, it seems evident that he is destined to- have a 
successful business career. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr have five children : 
Lida N., Osceola L., Charles W., Bessie A. and Wretta, the third of 
whom died in infancy, August 29, 1880, in her second year. Mrs. 
Kerr is a member of the Christian Church, and Mr. Kerr is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. at Santa Fe. 

THOMAS F. LIPP 

(Farmer and Stocli- raiser, Post-offlce, Long Branch). 

Mr. Lipp might without impropriety claim the=^ motto ad astra per 
aspere as quite as expressive of the history of his career as it is of 
the career of the State by which it has been adopted. Commencing 
in the affairs of life a young man without a dollar, he went to work 
with energy and resolution to succeed, and his industry has not been 
unfruitful of substantial results. But misfortunes fell upon him, 
sickness, bad crops, etc., and twice his hard-earned accumniulations 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 381 

were swept siway, leaving him to begin again at the foot of the ladder. 
Since 1874 he has steadily advanced toward the front as a substantial 
farmer of the township. Since then he has paid for his farm — from 
the first $80, which he had paid in cash on purchasing it. This is an 
excellent place of 280 acres worth over $8,000, and besides this he 
has fully stocked his farm with cattle, horses, hogs, etc., etc. Having 
succeeded in getting a good start sooner by tar than is common, now 
that he has obtained it he will doubtless go forward in situating him- 
self comfortably in life with more than ordinary celerity. As every- 
one knows the first $1,000 is harder to make than the next $10,000. 
Mr. Lipp is a native of Virginia, born in Madison county on the 13th 
day of September, 1830. His parents, Thomas, Sr., and Sarah 
(Hoffman) Lipp, removed to Missouri when he was six years of age, 
and located in Ralls county, where they resided 10 years. They after- 
wards made one or two other removals, and finally settled permanently 
in Putman county, where the father died in 1871. Thomas, Jr., was 
reared partly in Ralls county, and up to the age of 21 had had but a 
four months' term at school. He afterwards attended school another 
four months' term, and on the 23d of March, 1854, was married to 
Miss Elizabeth J., a daughter of Elijah and Elizabeth J. (Harrison) 
Peck, formerly of Kentucky. He then rented a farm and engaged in 
farming, with little or nothing to go upon but his own muscle and 
energy, for he had only one horse to plow with. In a couple of years 
he had saved from his earnings $500, but moving to Florida Mills, 
sickness fell upon his family, and this was all spent besides $100 of 
indebtedness he was compelled to incur. After the health of his 
family was restored he engaged again in farming, this time in Ralls 
county, and in a few years he had gathered about him considerable 
stock and had gotten a respectable start, but the Federal soldiers came 
along and stripped him of his horses, etc., and the hog choleni 
destroj'ed all his hogs, a fine drove of 100 head, so that he was left 
with nothing on earth but his wife and children, their household elFects 
and a milch cow, the soldiers having taken all his other stock except 
his hogs, Avhich the cholera made way with. The following winter he 
spent making rails for money to buy bread and meat with for the 
family, and he Avalked five miles to and from his work. That was a 
pretty bine time with him, but his courage and resolution never for a 
moment faltered. The next spring he went to farming again, and 
the wonder naturally arises how he managed to farm without anything 
to farm with or on. Where there is a will there is a way. There is 
a God in Israel as well as good men and kind neighbors in North 
America. He rented land on shares, some neighbors loaned him some 
unbroken young steers and a three-year-old fill3^ He and his family 
lived on corn bread and butter-milk ; he broke the steers and filly, 
and with them raised a fine crop. He then bought his present farm 
on credit, paying $80 down on the purchase. But the next year tlic 
drought and chinch-bugs were extremely bad, and crops were therefore 
generally a failure. Soon, however, good seasons returned, the 
chinch-bugs disappeared, and from that time on to the present his 



382 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

career has been one of unbroken prosperity. He has fully paid for 
his farm, is entirely out of debt, and has his place well improved. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lipp are blessed with five children : Andrew J., Adol- 
phus L., Elijah M., John L. and Elizabeth J. He and wife are both 
church members, he of the Methodist and she of the Baptist Church. 
He is also a worthy member of the Masonic order. 

CHARLES P. Mccarty 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe). 

Charles P. McCarty, born in 1846, in Audrain county, is the son of 
Calvin and Maria (Spotts) McCarty, natives of Virginia. His father 
formerly kept a hotel in Abingdon, Va., whither, after moving to 
Missouri and living for 12 years in Audrain county, he returned in 
1848. He again went into the hotel business, continuing it until 1862. 
The subject of the present sketch, C. P. McCarty, was the eldest 
of the family, and attended school until he was 16 years of age, when, 
unable longer to restrain his ardent enthusiasm, he rushed into the 
thickest of" the fight then raging between the North and the South. 
Espousing the cause of the gallant Confederates, he enlisted in the 
Thirty-thu-d Virginia Infantry, Co. K, one of Stonewall Jackson's regi- 
ments. His first battle was that of Manassas, and he also took part 
in the battles of Port Republic, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and 
most of the principal battles of the war. At Chancellorsville he was 
wounded and transferred to the cavalry. He was discharged at Lynch- 
burg, Va., April 7, 1865, after many thrilling experiences and bitter 
hardships. Among the latter was a period of five months, during 
which he was closely confined in the Fort Delaware prison. This 
young hero came to Missouri in October, 1865, and hegim farming on 
a rented farm in Monroe county. Mr. McCarty built a mill in Santa 
Fe, which he traded for 155 acres of land in Audrain county. After 
living on this place for two years he sold it and bought his father's 
farm, but in 1880 sold that also and purchased the one upon which he 
now lives. This contains 400 acres, all fenced and well improved. 
He is now dealing in stock of all kinds, and frequently feeds cattle. 
Mr. McCarty is a business man of much sagacity and occupies a very 
prominent position in the township. He is a Mason of high standing 
in Santa Fe. November 13, 1866, Mr. McCarty married Miss Elmira 
E. Bates. The^^ lost two boys at a tender age, and have still two 
children, Carrie and Sidney. Mrs. McCarty is a member of the Pres- 
byterian Church. 

WILLIAM PEAK 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Perry), 

Mr. Peak was born in Monroe county, in 1843, and was a son of 
Henry J. and Mary (Bartlett) Peak, formerly of Kentucky. His 
parents came to Missouri in 1831 and settled in this county, and his 
mother died here when William, the youngest of four children, was 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 383 

four years of age, the others being Howard, Thomas aud Geor^re W 
His father subsequently married Miss Nancy Martin, bv whom ''there 
Clime eight children: Mary A., James, Horatio, Edward, Clarence, 
lannie, Eugene and Lillian. The father lived to the advanced ao-e of 
82, having been born in 1799. William worked on the farm until he 
was 20 years of age and then went out to work for himself by the 
month at $20 a month. He worked that way for three years, and was 
married September 28, 1856, to Miss Caroline Duncan, a dauo-hter of 
John C. and Martha (Johnson) Duncan, who came from Viro-inia iii 
ail early day and had four children, Catherine, Mary, Sarah aud 
Caroline The mother died in 1848, and the father married Miss 
Carroll, by whom there were also four children : William, Thomas, 
A\esley and Velis. The mother of these died in 1871, aud three 
years afterwards the father married Mrs. Morehead, who had had 10 
children by her first husband. Meanwhile, William Peak, after his 
marriage, rented a farm and continued to rent and lease until 1877 
when he bought the place where he now resides. He has 80 acres of 
land, neatly and comfortably improved. Mr. and Mrs. P have had 
seven children: John H., deceased; Charles H., Minnie, Minerva, 
Gertrude, Lillian and another died in infancy. Mrs. Peak is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. 

PHILIP QUISENBERRY 

(Dealer in Dry Goods etc., etc., Santa Fe). 

Mr. Quisenberry, a gallant soldier under Gen. Moro-an, of Ken- 
tucky, diiring the late war, and one of the substantial business men 
ot Santa Fe, is a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Clark county 
December 5, 1835. His father, William Quisenl^erry, was a well-to-do 
and respected business man of that county, and Philip spent his youth 
principally at school, learning also merchandising as he o-rew up At 
the first outbreak of the war he joined the Southern arm? and served 
with unfaltering fidelity aud with unshrinking bravery on many a 
htird fought field until the close of that long and terrible struo-^le 
He was with Morgan on the hitter's celebrated raid throu^-lf Ihe 
Northern States, and was one of the forty-three who crossed th? river 
above Louisville into Indiana, mentioned at the time in all the papers 
Iwenty-two of the company were captured the day thev crossed, and 
seventeen of the others were taken the day following, le"avino- but four 
who succeeded in joining the main army of invasion. Mr. Quisenberry 
returned to Kentucky after the war, where he continued until 1806, 
when he came to Missouri and engaged in the saw-mill business in 
Monroe county. He continued in that business for two years and theu 
began merchandising at Santa Fe, where he has since resided. He 
has been satisfactorily successful as a merchant and by close attention 
to business, fair dealing and accommodating treatment of customers, has 
succeeded in building up a good trade, which he has long held, aud 
which IS steadily increasing. Mr. Quisenberry carries a o-ood stock 
ot general merchandise, well selected and of the best classes for the 



384 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

prices charged, for his policy is to sell at living figures, both for him- 
self and his customers. In February, 1866, Mr. Quisenberry was 
married to Miss A. P. Elkin, formerly of Kentucky. After a happy 
married life of over eight years she was taken from him by 
death. She left him three children : Blanche, Elkin, and Frances. 
Mr. Quisenberry was married to his present wife, formerly Mrs. L. 
G. Racklett, the widow of Dr. S. S. Racklett, deceased, and whose 
maiden name was Miss L. G. Tanner, on the 7th of August, 1877. 
She has three children by her first marriage: Minerva, Henry C. and 
Estella. Mr. and Mrs. Quisenberry have four children: Fred, Maud, 
Walker and Wallace, the two latter twins. He is a member of the 
I. O. O. F., and she of the Christian Church. 

GEORGE M. RAGSDALE 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Section 19). 

Mr. Drury Ragsdale, father of George M., was a native of Kentucky, 
and came to Missouri in 1826. He settled with his mother in the 
north-east part of Monroe county, not far from Clinton. He lived 
there until he was 27 years of age, then married Miss Louisa C. 
Thompson, also of Kentucky, and moving to St. Louis, there 
embarked in the hotel and stock business. He was thus profitably 
engaged until 1847. He then returned to Monroe county, was for a 
short time in the drug business in Paris, and then determined to 
become a farmer. He followed this in connection with stock-raising 
until his death, Avhich occurred February 22, 1875. His faithful wife 
had preceded him across the dark river by 10 years, and at last these 
loving hearts were united in that land where there is no parting. 
George M. Ragsdale Avas born November 25, 1854, near Paris, in 
Monroe county. He was raised on the farm, and received a common 
school education. When this was completed, he worked with his 
father until 1875, then began farming and feeding stock on his own 
account. In 1881 he and his l)rother took possession of their present 
farm. They have worked hard, and begin to feel the benefits of it. 
They have fenced their place entirely since they came on it, and have 
a good house, barn and other buildings, also a splendid young orchard. 
No young men in the count}^ have a l)righter future. They deal in 
cattle and hogs, and while their business is as yet in its youth, every 
year gives them more solid assurance of becoming, at no distant day, 
men of wealth. Mr. Ragsdale is an unmarried man, and many a 
sw^eet face flushes and tender heart flutters at the sound of his coming. 
His handsome face and manly bearing, and above all, the safe shelter 
offered by his true and loyal character for some fortunate fair one, win 
for him smiles upon all sides, and it is for htm to choose who shall take 
with him that long journey through sunshine and shadow, which 
stretches its allurinof leno^th before him. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 385 

NATHAN P. RODGERS 

("Farmer, Stockman and Capitalist, Post-oflSee, Florida). 

In December, 1876, Mr. Rodgers alighted from the train at Monroe 
City, in this county, with his wife, direct from Virginia, and without 
a vestige of property or other means of any kind, except a few house- 
hold goods, such as bedding, etc., which he brought along, but which 
he was not able to take out from the depot for the want of money to 
pay the freight on them. He borrowed $10 from a friend to pay his 
freight bill, rented a house and moved into it and went to work. The 
first break he made into the stock business was to buy a hog at a sale 
for $2.50 on credit. This hog was fattened on slops about the house, 
and when sold brought $12.80, which enabled him to repay the $10 
he had borrowed and, also, pay the debt contracted by the purchase 
of the hog. He also rented a farm on credit and entered actively into 
farming, as well as continuing the stock business. From this small 
beo;inning: in handlino; stock and farraino^, for he has since followed 
nothing else whatever, he has risen within the short period of eight 
years to the position of one of the largest stockmen in the United 
States, and of perhaps the wealthiest man in Monroe county. He is 
now assessed at $305,000, and is probably worth more than half a 
million dollars. This is so extraordinary that it seems hardly credi- 
ble, yet it is the statement of a plain, actual fact. There may be 
examples in mining, speculating in grain, or stock jobbing on Wall 
street, of wealth as rapidly acquired as the one mentioned in this 
sketch, but it is certainly to be doubted whether there is another 
example in any line of legitimate industry where a fortune has been so 
quickly acquired by strictly honest methods. The facts read more like 
the story of the lamp of Aladdin in the Arabian Nights than the career of 
a man in this matter-of-fact business age. Let us then give briefly the 
record of the life of this man which, in other respects from his rapid 
acquisition of a fortune, will I)e found but little different from the facts 
in the lives of the generality of farmers in Monroe county. Mr. 
Rodgers is a native of Virginia, born in Greenbrier county, August 27, 
1840. He was a son of Eli and Charlotte (Hope) Rodgers, both of 
old and respected Virginia families. His father was a farmer of 
Greenbrier county, and quite a successful one, noted, also, in the 
country round about for his sterling integrity of character and his 
earnest. Christian piety. He was a man of acute intelligence and 
great energy, and had marked ability for successfully conducting his 
affairs, though he was a man of great generosity, and in no circum- 
stances would he avail himself of an advantage to the detriment ol 
others. He was thus successful in life, and at the same time highly 
esteemed by all, for he is believed to have never been knowingly guilt}- 
of a wrong act. Mr. Rodgers' mother was a lady of refinement, of 
more than ordinary culture and of decided natural intelligence. To 
such parents it is easy to trace the ori2;in of those qualities and char- 



386 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

acteristics which the son, Nathan P., had displayed so clearly and dis- 
tinctly in his later career. The war coming on when young Kodgers 
was not yet hardly of military age, he joined the Southern army nev- 
ertheless, and served until the close of the struggle. Thus not only 
were several of the most valuable years of his life virtually canceled 
out, but the effects of the war were such as to leave him practically 
penniless at its close. In 1865 he was married to Miss Joanna Patton, 
in Greenbrier county, Va., and he then rented a farm in that county 
and engaired in fiirming for himself. Remaining there for four years 
continuing farming, his success was not such as to satisfy his ambi- 
tion. He therefore came to Missouri in 1869 and rented a farm south 
of Monroe City. Two years later he rented aiiother place in this 
county Avhere he followed farming for two years more, and, meanwhile, 
had enoao-ed to some extent in raising and handling stock. Mr. Rodgers 
was succeeding quite up to his expectations when, in December, 
1874, he lost his wife. This sad event greatly broke his spirit and 
unsettled him. He boarded with a neighbor, however, and afterwards 
gave his attention principally to dealing in stock. In 1875 he took 
two car loads of stock to Memphis, Tenn., and subsequently dealt in 
stock at that city for nearly a year. But on account of the malarial 
condition of the country he was taken down with the chills and fever 
and thoroughly broken down in health and discouraged. He then 
went back to his old home in Virginia. Afterwards, December 14, 
1876, he was married in his native county to Miss Virginia Nickell, 
his present wife. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Rodgers 
returned to Missouri for the purpose of making a new start in life, 
for he was now practically penniless. The financial condition in which 
he arrived at Monroe City has alread}' l)een stated. The farm he 
rented, as mentioned above, he continued to rent for three 3^ears, 
working all the time with indefatigable energy and managing his 
affairs with marked business ability. At the end of his three years 
as a renter he made a sale and realized from it no less than $3,250. 
"With that business acumen characteristic of the man, he had already 
seen that there was a fortune to be made in Texas cattle, and all he 
needed was a little means to start on. It was for this reason that he 
made his sale. He communicated his ideas to several of his acquaint- 
ances who had some means, who, seeing the practicability of his plans, 
and having confidence in his ability and honesty, readily joined him 
in a stock enterprise in Texas. There were five others besides himself, 
and the six formed a company with a capital of $15,000, with which 
they bought a herd of cattle in Shackelford county, Tex. Mr. Rodgers 
went to Texas to take charge of the herd in person, and he continued 
there for three years, trading extensively in cattle on account of the 
company, and also buying large bodies of land. Such were the profits 
of the enterprise that in 1883 they incorporated their company under 
the laws of Texas with a capital of $500,000. This was less than a 
year ago. Their stock interests now consist of 14,331 head of cattle 
and 300 horses. They also have 100,000 acres of fine land. Besides 
his interests in this company, Mr. Rodgers has a herd and ranch of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 3^7 

his own, which consist of 6,500 head of cattle, 90 head of horses and 
8,000 acres of land. He has also continued farming and handlincr 
stock in Monroe county. In 1882 he bought his present farm in thil 
county. His homestead contains 680 acres of as handsome and fertile 
land as is to be found in the country. This place is improved with 
little regard to cost, and is one of the most desirable homesteads in 
the county. His improvements alone represent an expenditure of 
over $6,000. These are the plain facts of Mr. Rodgers' career, flicts 
which reflect only credit on him whom they most directly concern. 
Personally, Mr. Rodgers is a plain, unassuming man, sociable, kind 
and pleasant to all with whom he comes in contact. He has acquired 
a fortune and is still, perhaps, but little more than well started on his 
career. Speaking of his past, he says that his most gratifyino- recol- 
lection IS that he has never knowingly wronged a man out of a cent. 
All who know him have implicit confidence in his honor and inteo-rity. 
He has not obtained his wealth by oppressing the poor or by slnall,' 
mean methods. But, on the contrary, he is a man of large heart and 
liberal ideas, and ever ready to help the needy or relieve the distressed 
w'herever and whenever he can. Mr. and Mrs. RodgeVs have one 
child Lavenia, born October 2, 1877. Mr. Rodgers is an active and 
worthy member of the A. O. U. W. 

JAMES SxMILEY {Pere), and JAMES R. SMILEY iFils) 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe) . 
James Smiley, the father of James R., was a son of Archibald and 
Mary (Hanna) Smiley, of Virginia, being one of seven children, Will- 
iam, Robert, Alexander, Archibald, Anna and Ella, being the others 
James being born September 22, 1812. His father and an uncle were 
soldiers in the War of 1812. The father died in 1832 and the mother 
in 1842. James Smiley was reared as a fVirmer as he came up, for his 
tather was an industrious and well respected farmer of that county 
He and his two brothers worked the farm until the winter of 1841-42 
when he came to Missouri and located in Audrain county. On the 
20th ot January, 1842, he was married in Audrain county to Miss 
J^lizabeth Kerr, and the following spring he bou^it land and improved 
atarm. He lived there for 12 years engaged in flirmino- and then 
removed to Monroe county in 1854, where he has since re^sided. He 
bought 160 acres of land, partly improved, or rather his tract had a 
log shanty on it and a small clearing not much bigger than a lonely 
cloud floatmg in the sky of a clear August day. ^ He improved his 
land, however, and made a good f\irm and afterwards added to his 
place l)y industry and successful farming and stock-raisino- until he 
increased it to a farm of 320 acres. As his fields and herds'prospered 
him he bought other lands, and owns another fiirm of 160 acres in the 
prairie, well improved. He has been quite successful in raisino- ^rrain 
principally wheat, but he attributes his principal success to" stock- 
raising, and in this line he has given his attention principally to cattle 
and hogs. He ships to the Chicao:o markets mainly. Mr. and Mrs 



388 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Smiley have four children : William H., James R., Mary A. and Susan 
R. He has been director of the district schools for several terms, 
and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. James 
R. Smiley was born May 3, 1852, whilst his parents were residents of 
Ralls county. Inasmuch as his parents removed to Monroe county 
when he was but two years of age, he was reared in this county. 
James R. secured a good common school education, and learned the 
practical work of farming as he grew up. Following the example of 
his father, he has become a stock-raiser, and fattens and ships cattle, 
hogs and sheep to the markets, and he is one of the successful young 
men in South Fork township in these lines. He also handles horses 
to some extent, and, indeed, trades considerably hi all kinds of farm 
stock. February 24, 1880, he was married to Miss Bettie Emmons, a 
daughter of William Emmons, of Mexico, Mo., but she was taken 
from him by death in a few months after their marriage. She died 
on the 19th of the following May. Mr. S. is one of the charter 
members of the Santa Fe I. O. O. F. lodge. 

W^ILLIAM L. SMITHEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

This young farmer of South Fork township is one of the worth}'^ 
and deserving young men of the township, and enjoys the respect 
and esteem of the community as such. By the death of his father, 
three years ago, he was left witli a large family to care for, and is 
faithfully acquitting himself of his obligation to his mother and younger 
brothers and sisters. He is a native Missourian, born in Audrain 
county, March, 22, 1863, and a son of John T. and Mary (Alberson) 
Smithey, formerly of Kentucky. His father was an enterprising 
stock trader of the State, and came to Missouri in 1862, the fall after 
his marriage, settling in Audrain county. Two years later, however, 
he removed to Lafayette county, where he resided for 13 years, 
and in 1877 came to Monroe county. He bought the old Poidlon 
farm here, a place of 80 acres, on which he resided until his death, 
and where the family still make their home. He was a worthy 
member of the Odd Fellows Order, and was, also, an exemplary 
member of the Presbyterian Church. He died April 29, 1882, leav- 
ing his wife and nine children to mourn his loss. The children are : 
William L., Jennie B., Louella, Robbie R., Anna M., Sallie T., John 
T., Ernest M. and James E. William L. was principally reared in 
Lafayette county, but grew up on the farm here from his fourteenth 
year. Since his father's death he has taken charge of the farm and 
assumed the care of the family. He is a young man of excellent 
habits, industry and energy, and is providing well for those whom 
it is his natural obligation to care for. His sister Jennie B. died 
August 7, 1883. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 389 



JOHN R. SNYDER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 31). 

Mr. Snyder's parents, Powell and Elizabeth (Finks) Snyder, were 
natives of Virginia, and moved to Missouri in 1832. After residing 
for a year in Ralls county, and two years in Audrain, they came to 
Monroe county and settled on the farm upon which John R. now lives. 
Here the old man farmed until his death in 1844. His was a most 
beautiful Christian character, and the brightness of the halo that 
irradiated his pathway, will long linger in the mental vision of all who 
were so fortunate as to be witnesses of his pure life. A touching 
testimonial of his worth lies in the fact that his Avife remained a 
widow, for his sake, until her own death in 1861. She left four children : 
Martha A., James H., Lucy J. and John R. The latter attended the 
common schools and helped on the farm until he was 16, at that age tak- 
ing entire charge, managing the place for his mother. In 1860, he was 
himself married to Miss Salome, daughter of John and Rebecca Hawkins 
Story, formerly of Virginia. Mr. Story died in 1850, and in 1876 his 
widow came to Missouri and lived with her daughter, Mrs. Snyder, 
until her death, which occurred three years later. She was the mother 
of eleven children, nine of whom are living. Soon after his marriage 
Mr. Snyder joined the Confederate army with Porter. He was in the 
battles of ^Newark, Kirksville and Moore's Creek, after which he 
returned to his disconsolate bride and resumed his farming operations, 
which he has ever since continued. His farm comprises 120 acres, 80 
luider fence, and contains all needful improvements, including a taste- 
ful residence, the surroundings of which are further beautified by the 
soft green velvet of an exquisitely kept lawn. Mr. S. is extensively 
engaged in raising stock, cattle, hogs and horses, in which he is meet- 
ing with gratifjnng success. He is one of the substantial farmers of 
the township. Mrs. Snyder is a member of the Baptist Church. 

CHARLES W. TANNER 

(Dealer iu Dry Goods, etc., and Postmaster, Santa Fe). 

Mr. Tanner, who has every promise of a long and successful busi- 
ness career at this place, was a son of Silas Tanner, who was also 
engaged in business here for many years. His ftither was a prom- 
inent business man of Sante Fe for about seventeen years and died 
here in 1872, Avidely and profoundly mourned, for he had many friends 
throughout this part of the county and few enemies, if any at all. 
Mr. Tanner's mother (Charles W.'s) was a Miss Lucy J. Crigler 
before her marriage. She is still living. Charles W. was reared at 
Santa Fe, and received a good general and business education in the 
schools of this place and in the store. Li 1874 he was married to 
Miss Sarah M. McClintock, a daughter of William McClintock, a 
prominent merchant of Mexico, Missouri. After his marriage Mr. Tan- 
ner engaged in farming, but a year later quit the farm and accepted 



390 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

a situation in the store of Quisenberrv & Botts, where he clerked 
for four years. He then engaged in the drug business on his own 
account, but in 1881, after being in the drug store for two years, 
went back to the farm, where he was engaged in farming for three 
years. On the 20th of March, 1884, he bought out Wilkerson & Son 
of this place, and has since been continuously engaged in the dry goods 
business. He carries a neat and carefully selected stock of dry goods, 
hats, caps, boots, shoes, etc., and has a good custom, which is stead- 
ily increasing. He is a plain, unassuming, popular man, with good 
business qualifications and strictly honorable in all his dealings. Mr. 
and Mrs. Tanner have had seven children : Lydia, Wallace, Mattie, 
Ada L., Edith I., Dennis D. and William A. Mattie and Ada L. are 
deceased. Mr. Tanner is an active member of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows. He is also constable of South Fork township. 

JOHN G. TILLITT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Perry). 

No conspectus of the substantial farmers of South Fork township 
would be complete which failed to represent the subject of the pres- 
ent sketch. Mr. Tillitt comes of one of the old and respected fam- 
ilies of the county, his parents, Henry and Lurena Tillitt, having 
settled in this county from Kentucky aAvay back in 1837. The father 
died here in 1869 and the mother in 1882. John G. spent his youth 
on his father's farm, and received a common school education. When 
he attained his majority he rented a farm one season and then bought 
a place of his own. Two years later he sold that at a small profit 
and bought the place where he now resides. Here he first had 132 
acres, but industry and good management have enabled him to add to 
it until he now has a fine farm of 400 acres, all but 20 acres in the 
prairie, and well improved. The 20 acres are devoted to timber. 
He has a good residence, a large barn and excellent other buildings 
and good fences. Mr. Tillitt raises considerable stock which he has 
found quite a profitable industry. He also feeds cattle and hogs for 
the market, at which he has been very successful. In 1865 Mr. Til- 
litt was married to Miss Susan Smith. She brio-htened his home for 
12 years, but at last fell to sleep in the cold embrace of death. She 
left three children, namely: Edwin P., Mary S. and Cordelia. In 
1879 Mr. Tillitt was married to Miss Ann L. Ely, a daughter of James 
and Dulcena Ely, who came to Missouri from Kentucky in an early 
day. By his second marriage Mr. Tillitt has had two children : 
Henry E., now in infancy, and an older one who died when an infant. 

JAMES W. TRIMBLE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Santa Fe) . 

Mr. Trimble, one of the substantial property-holders and old and 
respected citizens of South Fork township, is by nativity a worthy 
son of that grand old Commonwealth of the South, Virginia, not only the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 391 

mother of Presidents and States, but of many of the best citizens of 
all the Southern and "Western States. Mr. Trimble was born in 
Augusta county in Juh^ 1818, and was reared in his native county. 
In 1846 he Avas married in Virginia to Miss Isabella Sterrett, and he 
continued to reside in Augusta county until 1857, when he removed 
to Missouri with his family, and settled on the place where he now 
resides. Here he bought 500 acres of land, which he improved. He 
has followed farming and stock-raising uninterruptedly, and has long 
been recognized as one of the successful farmers of the township. He 
has added to his place until now it includes over a section of fine land, 
all of which is improved except about 40 acres. He has two sets of 
homestead improvements, one of which his son George occupies. 
Mr. and Mrs. Trimble have six children: William S., a minister of 
the Presbyterian Church, at Cahoka, Mo. ; Mary, now the wife of 
William McCrutcher ; George S., John "W., Joseph W., lumber 
dealer at Mexico ; Thomas T., at Westminster College, Fulton. Mrs. 
Trimble is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church. He has 
long taken commendable and active interest in the cause of education, 
and particularh'^ of public schools, and has been a director of the dis- 
trict schools for the past ten years, and still occupies that position. 
Mr. Trimble was a son of James B. and Margaret (Wilson) Trimble, 
both of old Virginia families. He was one of 10 children, five sons 
and the s'anie number of daughters. His father was a blacksmith 
and miller, and also ran a large farm, superintending the whole busi- 
ness himself. He was quite successful in life, and was in easy circum- 
stances. During the War of JL812 he served with credit as a soldier in 
the American army, and for many years was a worthy elder in the 
Presbyterian Church. He died at a ripe old age in 1863. The 
mother died in 1862. 

BENJAMIN F. VAUGHN 

(Farmer and Fine and General Stock-raiser and Dealer, Post-office, Florida). 

What energy, good common sense and perseverance can accomplish 
at farming and in the stock business in this part of the country, is 
forcibly illustrated by the career of the subject of the present sketch. 
Less than 18 years ago Mr. Vaughn was a young man 26 years of age, 
and with $150 in cash as his only worldly possessions, except his wearing 
apparel, which was by no means as gorgeous or expensive as Freddie 
Gebhardt's. He started on foot into dealing in stock, buying and 
selling cattle, hogs, sheep, etc., and after awhile was able to begin 
farming in a small way on rented land. He has kept resolutely and 
intelligently at both of these occupations, and is now worth $60,000, 
having become one of the leading farmers and stock men of North 
Missouri, and having also large ranch interests in Texas. He has 
made every dollar he is worth by his own energy and industry, except 
$200 that his wife brought him at the time of their marriage. Per- 
haps it is more just to say that he and she have made it, for she has 
bravely and faithfully done her part at home in carving out their 

20 



o92 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

fortune, a part which, if it had not been well done, would perhaps 
have rendered success impossible. Mr. Vaughn when he grew up, 
had no extra chances to develop those qualities or acquire that knowl- 
edge of business affairs which are commonly considered important 
requisites to success. And then when he was a young man just nearly 
ready to get something of an education and make a start in life, the 
war came on and practically canceled out four years of his life so far 
as industrial activity was concerned, so that after the war he was left 
with only a horse, saddle and bridle, which he sold for the $150 above 
mentioned, to start on. He was son of William and Eliza (Poage) 
A^aughn, of this county, but formerly of Kentucky, and was born 
April 16, 1839. He was married on his father's farm, near Paris, 
and being the oldest in the family of children, of course had to take 
the lead in and bear the brunt of the work on the place. Those were 
no days of sulky riding-plows, protected with a shade, and of self- 
binders, or white school houses with walnut finished, casting mounted 
seats. They were the days of breaking prairie with ox teams and 
grubbing stumps in woods, fields and all that sort of things. Young 
Vaughn grew up on the farm, and at the age of 13 was commissioned 
captain of an ox team, which he commanded with unfaltering fidelity 
for five long years, he and the team becoming so used to each other 
that neither felt at home when they were separate. When he reached 
the age of 19 he began to see the necessity of an education, and to 
exert himself to obtain some knowledge of books, using his leisure 
time at home in study. He kept on at work, however, and when he 
reached majority, made a crop of his own, and a good crop at that. 
As his crop ripened he began to see visions of a nice little start in 
life and of a neat little home of his own, and some nice little body in 
that home to make it bright and happy. The milkmaid's dreams 
were never brighter or more rose-tinted when she was thinking of the 
new green gown that she was to buy and the party she was to attend, 
and all that sort of things, than were his anticipations. But about' 
this time the Federal soldiers came along and swooped down upon his 
crop, so that the field that had known it kne\f it no more. He was 
now thoroughly incensed and joined the Southern army. He went 
out under Col. Green, and bravely did his duty as a soldier until he 
was overtaken by another shadow of misfortune. After participating 
in the battle of Pea Ridge and numerous other less engagements, and 
undergoing indescribable privations and hardships, he was at last taken 
prisoner and shipped off to St. Louis and then to Alton, at which points 
he had ample opportunity to philosophize on the vicissitudes of life, being 
confined within the somber walls of the military prisons of those places 
for six months. He was at last released under heavy bond not to join the 
Southern army again, but it is needless to say that the crop he had 
lost in 1861 was not restored to him. He then went to Boone county 
and tried cropping again, thinking that if he couldn't get the old crop 
back he would make a new one. He also worked around and o-ot a 
few cattle and hogs. But about this time, times got squally again. 
Price made a raid in the State, and the Federals became as thick as 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 393 

blackberries all over the country. His second crop was swept away, 
and he found his only safety in flight, so he rejoined the Southern 
army. He got cut off from the main body of the army, however, and 
after hiding out in the woods all winter to keep from being shot as a 
bushwhacker, he finally made his way across the river into Illinois. 
There he obtained employment under Mr. Fisher as stock buyer and 
shipper, and shortly thereafter became the hitter's partner in business. 
But soon afterwards the war closed, and he came back to Monroe 
county, having made, during the short time he was in Illinois, his 
expenses and a little money, which he invested in a horse, saddle and 
bridle. He now commenced his career here as a stockman, as stated 
above. He rented land up to 1870, and then he bought 1^50 acres of 
raw prairie, which he improved, paying his board while improving his 
farm and at the same time making some money at handling stock. 
He kept on in this way for two years, making a little extra money 
each year; and November 14, 1872, he was married to Miss Mary 
Poage, who assisted him with $200 that she had. From that time he 
kept on farming and handling stock, his profits gradually increasing 
each year until they rose from hundreds to thousands, and finally to 
over $5,000 a year. We can not go into the details of his farming 
and stock operations, interesting and instructive as they are, for the 
limits to which these sketches must be confined will not permit it. 
Suffice it to say that he has raised and dealt in, on a large scale, and 
still raises and deals in, even more extensively, cattle, mules, hogs, 
sheep and all kinds of stock. He also raises extensively corn, wheat, 
oats, hay and all sorts of farm products, his grain crops rising to 
thousands of dollars in value. His farm contains 760 acres, a whole 
section of which is finely improved — fenced with white oak rails and 
hedge and plank, and his buildings and other improvements, taken as 
a whole, are second to none in the county. He has all forms of fiirm 
buildings on his place, including three barns, used for different classes 
of stock, and any number of sheds. He also has a stock ranch in 
Texas valued at $9,000. When asked to what he attributes his great 
success mainly, he replied, " Honesty and energy." He said that his 
father always impressed upon him the great maxim, that " honesty is 
the best policy in all circumstances," and that he has striven to never 
deviate from it in his own conduct. While he admires the man of 
brilliant mental qualities as much as any one, he holds that it isn't 
brilliancy that succeeds best in the material affairs of life. On the 
contrary, it is a favorite maxim with him that " a pound of energy 
with an ounce of talent can accomplish a great deal more than a 
pound of talent with an ounce of energy." For high character and 
personal Avorth no man in the county stands higher in the estimation 
of those who know him than Benjamin F. Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn is 
making a specialty of raising fine half-bred Hereford cattle, and this 
year has about fifty calves, the product of his present year's breeding 
in that line of stock. It is generally believed that he has the best 
Hereford bull in the county. He has about $(^,000 invested in stock 
cattle that are now ijrazing on the farm. Mr. and Mrs. V. have four 



394 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

children, namely: William Gray, Susie Clay, Bessie and Nathan 
Pierce. Master Gray Vaughn, the oldest, was nine years old last 
January, and rides his excellent pony, and has for two years gone 
with his father for cattle or mules, and riding from 25 to 40 miles per 
day. He and his sister, Susie, ride their pony to Sunday-school, 
three and a half miles, every Sunday. He and wife are both members 
of the Presbyterian Church. 

JAMES WILLIAMS 

TFarmer, Section 18"). 

Mr. Williams was born January 6, 1822, in Clark county, Ky., of 
David and Polly (Raker) Williams, both of North Carolina. His fiither 
was a farmer who emigrated to Kentucky in an early day and later 
to Monroe county. Mo., settling five miles south of Florida, where he 
lived until his death in 1840. His wife survived him six years. They 
left a family of seven children. James, in the intervals of acquiring 
an education, worked on his father's farm. He married August 3, 
1843, Miss Cinderilla Bybee, daughter of John and Polly (Adams) 
Bybee, of Kentucky. Mrs. Williams' father came to Missouri in 1822 
and settled first in Howard county. In 1834 he moved to Monroe 
county, where he died in 1858. Mr. W. is an active and intelligent 
farmer and no man in the township has more friends. He has a farm 
of 103 acres, 65 of which are under fence. His improvements 
are neat and substantial, and he derives a comfortable income from 
the place. Mr. and Mrs. W. have had thirteen children. Six are 
now living: James R., Evaline, Hannah, Minerva, Barbara and 
David. The following are deceased: William, who died in Oregon in 
1865; Mary G., who died at the age of four years ; John J., who 
died when nine years of age ; Minnie, who died in infancy ; Mar- 
tillus, who died at the age of 24; Edith J., who died at the age of 35 ; 
and Julia, who died when twenty-six years of age. Mr. Williams and 
his wife are members of the Christian Church at Santa Fe. 

MILTON B. WILKERSON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Santa Fe) . 

Mr. Wilkerson is the son of Presley and Polly (Searcy) Wilkerson, 
of Kentucky, who came to Missouri in 1826, and made their home 
.near Columbia, in Boone county. Mr. Wilkerson, Sr., was a cooper 
by trade, but devoted much attention to farming. He was a noted 
hunter, and having induced many of his friends to come from Ken- 
tucky, when they needed meat they would work on his farm while, 
with trusty rifle, he replenished their wants. At that time the 
county was thickly infested with wild beasts of all kinds, as well 
as with every variety of game. Mr. Wilkerson died in 1876. Milton 
B., born January 10, 1830, in Boone county, was reared on the farm 
in Monroe county, and for fifteen years sipped assiduously of the 
Pierian spring of knoAvledge. He then sold groceries and dry goods 



HISTORY OF MONKOE COUNTY. 395 

for his father and himself at Florida and Santa Fe eight j^ears and later 
farmed for several years near Santa Fe. He was afterwards, until 
1864, in the furniture business, then returned to his farming opera- 
tions, which he still carries on in connection, however, with a dry 
goods and grocery house in Santa Fe, which contains as large and com- 
plete a stock of goods as any in the township. Mr. Wilkerson has a 
nursery on his farm and keeps on hand such fruits as are most hardy in 
this country. His varieties, which are numerous, are considered the 
best in the State. Mr. W. has been postmaster for four years and he 
enjoys the confidence and esteem of all around him. Mr. Wilkerson 
married, February 17, 1851, Miss Amanda M. Bybee, by whom he 
has seven children: Ella M., wife of T. J. Wilson ; Milton B., who 
married Miss Ada Hunt ; William T., married to Miss Lucy Mussetter ; 
Sallie M., Kelley B., Charles B. and Pet, a lovely little maid of eight 
summers, the darling of the family and the admired of all beholders. 
Mr. Wilkerson, his wife and four children are members of the Chris- 
tian Church at Santa Fe. 

•PETER D. WILKINS 

(Farmer, Post-office Strother). 

Mr. Wilkins was "liorn in 1835 in Europe, and is the son of Louis 
Wilkins, who, emigrating to this country in 1837, settled in Washington 
county, Ohio. He farmed there for nine years, then moved to Shelby 
county, Missouri, where he died in 1847, leaving four children, Louis, 
Christina, John and Peter. After his father's death Peter worked at 
the gunsmith's trade until 1861, then began shoemaking. In 1872 he 
became a farmer and ten years later moved to the place where he now 
lives. He is thrifty and industrious and is a valuable citizen. Mr. 
Wilkins married May 21, 1857, Miss Susan Gorham, of Callaway 
county, daughter of Harvey and Grizzella (Oakley) Gorham. Mrs. 
Wilkins was one of eight children : William R., Eliza J., Nancy E., 
Daniel, James C, Mollie L., Cynthia L. and Susan, wife of Mr. 
Wilkins. She has borne her husband five children: Frank L., James 
C, Eva, William G. and Charles R. Mrs. Wilkins' brother, James, 
was, during the late war commander of a battery under Price. Mrs. 
W. belongs to the Christian CInirch at Santa Fe, as does also Mr. 
Wilkins and the three oldest children. 

SAMUEL WOOLDRIDGE 

(Farmer, Post-offlce Paris) . 

When the deer fed without fear on the present site of Boonville, 
Mr. Wooldridge's parents, David and Elizabeth (Bingham) Wool- 
dridge, were residents of Cooper county, and his father was offered 
the tract of land on which Boonville now stands for an Indian pony. 
This at that time was not considered as tempting an offer as the 
famous demand of Richard III. — "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for 
a horse !" — whatever would be thouo-ht of it now. Thev resided in 



396 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Cooper county until 1838, when they removed to Monroe county, and 
settled on the Campbell tract of land on Brush creek, where they 
improved a farm and lived worthy, respected lives until their death. 
Samuel Wooldridge was born in Cooper county, November 2, 1826. 
He grew to manhood in Monroe county, or until 20 years of age, 
"when he Avent out to learn the blacksmith's trade. Subsequently he 
followed blacksmithing and farming until 1862. He then joined the 
Southern army under Price, and remained out until the close of the 
war, surrendering at Shreveport, La., in May, 1865. Returning after 
the war to Monroe county, he engaged in farming and subsequently 
bought his present place, a neat farm of 90 acres. August 27, 1865, 
he was married to Miss Rebecca J. Johnson. They have five children : 
Mary E., William E., Effie F., Margaret and Mur."^ Lee. He and wife 
are members of the Christian Church. 

ROBERT H. WRIGHT 

(Blacksmith, Santa Fe). 

Mr. W^right, one of the hardest workino; and most deservins: vouns 
man in the township, was born in September of the year 1860. His 
father, James Wright, came from Tennessee in 1852. In 1857 he 
began blacksmithing in Paris, Monroe county, where in 1859 he was 
married to Margaret Ashcraft. The last 13 years of his life were 
spent on a farm where he died in 1883. He was a member of the 
Christian Church, and one of the elders of Deer Creek conofreojation. 
He was buried by the Masonic fraternity. His widow now lives in 
Santa Fe and her son Robert makes his home with her. He was edu- 
cated in the county and is now running a blacksmith and wagon making 
shop, doing a good business, as he richly merits, since his natural 
intelligence, industrv and close attention to his work combine to make 
him one of the very best blacksmith's in the county. He is as j'^et 
unmarried, devoting himself with beautiful filial solicitude to the 
surviving parent. Mr. Wright is a member of the order of Chosen 
Friends, and also of the Christian Church. 



uis^ioisr TowisrsHip. 



EVAN S. ANDERSON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Tulip). 

Mr. Anderson, one of the leading citizens of the south-western 
part of the county, is a native of the Blue Grass State, and comes of 
two well known and prominent fiimilies — the Andersons and McDow- 
ells. His grandfather on his father's side was Hon. Joseph Anderson, 
originally of Pennsylvania, but afterwards of Tennessee, and one of 
the distinguished men of the country. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 397 

From Beii. Perley Poore's " Political Register and Congressional 
Directory," published by authority of Congress, we take the follow- 
ing brief facts in Hon. Joseph Anderson's career: Born near Phila- 
delphia, November 17, 1757, he received a liberal education and 
studied law. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he promptly 
enlisted in the Continental army, and was commissioned ensign in the 
New Jersey line in 1775. He served with distinction during the 
entire war, and became Major of the Third New Jersey volunteers in 
Gen. Dayton's brigade of Knox's division. Gen. Dayton, in recom- 
mending him to Gen. Knox for promotion, makes use of this compli- 
mentary language in his letter: «' His character is established as that 
of a brave, moral, temperate, intelligent and meritorious olBcer, 
whose judgment is to be relied upon at all times." After the war, 
Maj. Anderson was engaged in the practice of law in Delaware for 
seven years. In 1791 he was commissioned United States District 
Judge of the territory south of the Ohio river, which included the 
present State of Tennessee. He took an active part in organizing the 
State government of Tennessee, and was a member of the first con- 
stitutional convention of that State. Immediately on the admission 
of the State into the Union, he was elected United States Senator, 
and served in that body for a period of about eighteen years consecu- 
tively, from September 26, 1797, to March 3, 1815. The following 
day after his term expired in the United States Senate, March 4, 
1815, he entered upon the discharge of the duties of First Comp- 
troller of the Treasury, to which he had been appointed by President 
Madison. He served in that office for over tw^enty-one years, or until 
July 1, 1836, when he retired on account of advanced age and failing 
health, being then in hi* seventy-ninth year. He died at Washing- 
ton City the following spring, April 17, 1837. His wife and himself 
reared a family of ten children, including Addison Alexander Ander- 
son, afterwards Col. Anderson, of Monroe county, and the father of 
the subject of this sketch. 

From the Monroe Apjjeal of April 13, 1883, which published 
an obituary of Col. Anderson, who died at his residence in Union 
township, this county, April 7, 1883, we take the following tacts: 
Addison Alexander Anderson was born in eTefferson countv, Tennes- 
see, November 17, 1809. At the age of eight he was placed in school 
at Washington City l)y his father and soon afterwards entered the col- 
lege of the Smithsonian Institute, where he graduated in his sixteenth 
year. His father then obtained him a position as midshipman in the 
Navy, in which he served on the man-of-war Constitution, under Com- 
modore Hull. He cruised on the coasts of Europe, Africa, and South 
America, and took part in the capture of several steamers, including 
the Diabeta, a noted Spanish pirate, and also participated in the storm- 
ing of Moro Castle, at Callao. After three years' naval service, he 
returned to Washington, studied law, soon afterwards formed a part- 
nership with Col. John Crozier, and commenced practicing at Knox- 
ville, Tenn. He was elected to the Legislature two terms, served 



398 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

with distinction, and was the author of a bill estabhshing a thorough 
system of internal improvements tha.t marked the opening and devel- 
opment of a new and progressive era in that State. He was a warm 
friend and admirer of Gen. Jackson, and often visited him at the 
Hermitage, but upon his causing Congress to expunge from the rec- 
ord resolutions of censure relative to him, he viewed the General's 
conduct as offensive, and introduced and advocated to successful pass- 
ao;e a set of resolutions denouncing his conduct as arbitrary ; and 
these resolutions figured prominently in the ensuing Presidential cam- 
paign, and were largely instrumental in causing the loss of that State 
to the following of Gen. Jackson, and throwing it into the hands of 
the "Whigs. He left Tennessee and moved to Kentucky in 1842, set- 
tling on a farm near Danville. He afterwards represented Boyle 
county in the Legislature of that State, and resided there until 1858, 
when he came to Missouri, and settled near Middle Grove, in this 
county. Here his time was spent in a quiet and unobtrusive man- 
ner, chiefly devoted to his family, to whom he was fondly attached. 
During his entire residence here and up to the time of his death, he 
made but one effort to re-enter public life. Believing that the agri- 
cultural classes are not represented in proportion to the taxes they 
pay, he made a canvass for Congress on that question, but failed of 
an election. In 1837 Col. Anderson was married to Miss Catherine 
McDowell, a daughter of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, who was an uncle 
to Dr. McDowell, of St. Louis, the founder of McDowell's Medical 
College of that city, or the Missouri Medical College, as it was named 
by him, a man well known l)oth in this country and in Europe for his 
eminence in the profession of medicine. Dr. Ephraim McDowell, of 
Kentucky, svho was the preceptor of Dr. McDowell, of St. Louis, 
was also a distinguished physician and surgeon, and eminent as a 
medical writer. His ability and skill in surgery obtained him a 
national reputation, particularly in Ovariotomy, and in acknowledg- 
ment of his great services and high character and ability as a physi- 
cian and surgeon, the medical fraternity of Kentucky erected a 
handsome monument to his memory, at a cost of over $10,000. His 
wife was a daughter of Gov. Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky, for whom 
all the Shelby counties are named, a distinguished colonel in the Rev- 
olutionary War, and who gallantly led his regiment to victory at 
King's Mountain, when Ferguson's army was captured. Col. Ander- 
son, by his marriage with Miss McDowell, had a family of seven 
children, six of whom are living and now themselves the heads of 
families, residents of this 'and Caldwell counties. He was a kind 
parent and husband, and his devotion to his family was unlimited. 
He was a finished scholar, an impressive speaker, and a thorough his- 
torian and linguist. His memory will be cherished long and tenderly 
by his familv, and revered by his relatives and friends. A grand old 
man, ever honorable and upright, who, with almost his last breath, 
made this noble declaration, that he had never knowingly wronged 
one of God's creatures. He was the last of a family of ten sons to 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 399 

give back to the Great Author of their being that iiuuiortal life-spark 
which never dies. 

Evan S. Anderson, the subject of this sketch, and the third in his 
father's family of children, was born at Danville, in Boyle county, 
Ky., September 17, 1839. He was educated at Center College, Dan- 
ville, and was among the first in the senior class during his last year 
at college. In 1859 he came to Missouri, and located in Monroe 
county, six miles east of Middle Grove, where he engaged in farming 
and the stock business. He was busily occupied with these pursuits 
when the war broke out, and, being a Southern man in sympathy and 
convictions, he promptly enlisted in the service of the South. He 
became a member of Co. A, Sixth Missouri cavalry, and served 
until the close of the war. After his return home Mr. Anderson 
resumed farming and stock raising, which he has since continued, and 
with good success. He has a fine stock farm of 500 acres, all under 
fence, and in a good state of improvement. In the spring of 1866 
he was married to Miss Eleanor Sames, a refined and accomplished 
daughter of Carl F. Sames, of this county. Mrs. Anderson was 
educated at Christian College, Columbia. Her mother's maiden 
name was Miss Margaret Ess, and both her parents were of German 
lineage, her father being a native of Hesse-Darmstadt. Mr. and Mrs. 

A. have six children : Charles F., Gussie, Evan, Addison, Mabel and 
Mary H. Mr. and Mrs. A. are members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN JAMES BASSETT, A. B. 

(Fai-mer and Ex-Maitre d^ecole, Post-office, Middle Grove). 

Mr.Bassett, a man of finished education, a graduate of the Missouri 
State University, as well as a teacher of long and approved experience, 
and one of the neat, business-like farmers of Union township, is by 
nativity and bringing up a Missourian, born and partly reared in 
Randolph county. His father and mother were both originally of 
Kentucky, who came to Randolph county in an eai-ly day. John J. 
was born in that county, four miles north-west of Middle Grove, on 
the 27th of March, 1837. When he was about six years of age, how- 
ever, they moved across into Monroe county, and settled in township 
53, range 12, where they made their permanent home. John J. 
attended the neighborhood schools until he was well advanced in his 
studies. He then went to the academy at Paris, where he pursued 
his studies for two years. He was now prepared to enter the State 
University, and he accordingly matriculated at that institution, in 
which he continue'cl until his graduation, receiving the degree of A. 

B. After his graduation he came home and taught a ten months' 
school at Middle Grove. He then, in the winter of 1861-62, went to 
Sacramento, Cal., and was en<xao:ed in farmino; and teaching there for 
some time. Returning home in 1865, he resumed farming, and also 
taught school, both of which he continued alternately with each other 
up to the time of his marriage. On the 21st of July, 1879, he was 
married to Miss Marv E. Hunter, a daughter of Burrill B. and Eliza- 



400 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

beth (Lightner) Hunter, of this county. He then turned his attention 
exclusivel}^ to farming, which lie has since foUowed without interrup- 
tion. He has a phice of 140 acres of land, and besides grain growing 
raises considerable stock. He and wife have two children: Harry H. 
and Fannie R. Both parents are members of the Christian Church. 
He has a handsome residence on his place, one of the best in the 
township. He was once elected justice of the peace, and filled that 
office with great credit to the local magisterial administration of 
justice, as well as to himself and the community. 

TENNESSEE M. BASSETT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Middle Grove) . 

Tennessee Matthew Bassett was born on his father's farm on section 
9, in township 54 and range 12, in Monroe county, on the 1st day of 
December, 1848. His parents were long old and respected residents 
of this county. Tennessee M. was reared on the farm and educated 
at the common schools, supplemented with a course at Younger' s 
Academy, where he studied the higher English branches and Latin. 
Afterwards he went to Jefferson Cit}'^ and began the study of medicine, 
and while there also learned the drug business. Abandoning the idea 
of becoming a physician, he decided to give his attention wholly to the 
drug business, and accordingly, after ample experience at Jefferson 
City, returned to Monroe county and opened a drug store at Middle 
Grove, which he carried on with success for about four years. He 
then sold out to advantage, but resumed business in 1877, a year later, 
and continued it for some 12 months, and until he was burned out, a 
misfortune that was a serious reverse to him. He now engaged as a 
clerk in a store at Moberly, and clerked in that city for a short time, 
or until he took charge of a dry goods store at Holliday, where he was 
enofaired in sellins; oroods until 1879. Mr. Bassett then engaged in 
farming on section 9, township 53, range 11, in this county, and in 
handling fine short-horn stock, both of which he has since continued 
to follow. He has had good success as an agriculturist and is steadily 
coming to the front as a prominent farmer of the county. Mr. Bas- 
sett has .a place of 245 acres, an excellent grain and stock farm, which 
he keeps in good condition and conducts in an enterprising and busi- 
ness-like manner. On the 29th of October, 1879, Mr. Bassett was 
married to Miss Mary B. Giddings, a daughter of W. B. Giddings, 
mentioned in the sketch of Thomas M. Giddings, and also of W. B. 
Giddings and Evan S. Anderson, on other pages of this work. Mrs. 
Bassett was educated at Renslaw Academy in Ralls county, where she 
took a general English course and also studied French. She is a lady 
of superior education and highly-refined sensibilities, delicate in 
thought and word and most estimable both in her family and as a 
neighbor and friend. They have one child, Rob Roy, aged three 
years, named for the great French teacher of Belles-lettres, M. De 
Rob Roy, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 401 



CYRUS COLLINS EVANS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Madison). 

Mr. Evans' paternal ancestry of the fifth generation came from 
Wales to America prior to the Revolution and settled on the boundary 
between North and South Carolina, in the valley of the great Pee Dee 
river. Later along in life, among the very first settlers of Kentucky, 
he pushed on out into that then wilderness and settled in Madison 
county, where he made his permanent home and where some of his 
descendants still reside. Mr. Evans' father, the great grandson of 
the pioneer settler mentioned above, was born in Madison county, 
Ky., and after he grew up was there married to Miss Mahala Gutherie, 
of another family of early settlers of Kentucky. In 1830 they 
removed to Missouri and settled in Howard county, near Fayette. 
Two years later they crossed over into Randolph county, where the 
father still resides, at the advanced age of 81. The mother, however, 
died in 1868. He was for many years a prominent stock man of that 
count}'' and drove mules both south and north to the principal markets. 
Cyrus C. Evans, the subject of this sketch, was born the fall before 
his parents came to Missouri, October 7, 1829, and was therefore 
principally reared in Randolph county. On the 7th of October, 1851, 
he was married to Miss Nancy A. Grimes, a daughter of Henry and 
Elizabeth (Clark) Grimes, of Randolph county, but formerly of Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Evans followed farmins: in that countv until 1857, when 
he removed to Macon county, eight miles south of Newburg, where 
he was engaged in farming for 10 years. He then returned to Ran- 
dolph county, but the year following came back to Monroe and settled 
on section 2, township 54, range 12, where he has since resided. He 
has a good farm and is quite extensively engaged in farming and stock 
raising, hav'ing n\et with good success in both lines of industry. Mr. 
and Mrs. Evans have seven children: Virginia E., the wife of Isaac 
C. Tater, now of Cook county, Texas ; William H. H., who married 
Miss Isa Driscoll, and a resident of Monroe county; George Allen, 
who married Miss Addie Garnett and also resides in this county ; 
Viola E., Manuel H., Anna L. and Fannie A. Two are deceased, 
Letha L. and Emma L. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are members of the 
Christian Church. Mr. Cyrus Collins Evans' grandparents, on his 
mother's side, were Nathaniel Guthery, born in Ambrose county, Va., 
and Nancy Guthery, who was born in the same State and county, 
near Lynchburg, on the James river. They moved to Kentucky in 
1812, and settled in Madison county, 18 miles from Richmond, the 
county seat of Mason county, and lived there all their lives. 

WALKER TURNER FEATHERSTON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Middle Grove). 

Mr. Featherston is a native of Kentucky, born in Fayette county, 
July 26, 1825. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Wymore ; his 



402 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

father came originally from Virginia, but she was a native Kentuckian. 
She died when Walker T. was eight years of age and had been the 
mother of 11 children. The father afterwards married Rebecca Gor- 
man, who has borne him six children. In 1841, when Walker T. was 
a youth some 16 years of age, the family removed to Missouri and set- 
tled in Randolph county, two and a half miles from Middle Grbve, in 
Monroe county. Walker T. grew to manhood in Rtindolph county, 
and obtained a good, general, common English education. He sub- 
sequently taught school more or less regularly for about 20 years, up 
to 1868. He married Miss Amanda M. F. Stephens, a daughter of 
William R. and Agnes (Nelson) Stephens, of that county, her father 
formerly of Fauquier county, Va., but her mother of Kentucky. Mr. 
and Mrs. Featherston have seven children: Mary S., the wife of John 
M. Doyle, of Monroe county; Minerva F., the wife of William J. 
Llewellyn, of Audrain county; Walter A., who married Laura D. 
Settle, a daughter of Martin E. Settle, and resides in Monroe county ; 
William S., who married Cora Llewellyn, the daughter of John T. 
Llewellyn, of Audrain county; Thomas S., who married Sarah R. 
Settle, daughter of Martin E. Settle, of Monroe county; Oscar M., 
still at home, and Fannie A. who is still at home. Four of their 
children are deceased, Charles A., John E., Otho L. and James E. 
Mr. and Mrs. F. are members of the Christian Church, and he is a 
deacon in the church — a man remarked among his co-members and 
by all who know him for his earnest, exemplary Christian piety. He 
was constable of Union township, Monroe county. Mo., and is now a 
successful farmer. He has a neat farm in a good state of improve- 
ment and an excellent measure of coal on his place. He is a promi- 
nent member of the A. F. and A. M., and has been a delegate to the 
Grand Worthy Serene Conrocation of that order several t.imes at St. 
Louis. 

THOMAS M. GIDDINGS : 

(Farmer, Post-office, Tulip) . 

Mr. Giddings was born in Paris, January 8, 1835. His father was 
William B. Giddings, originally of Barren county, Ky. He came to 
Missouri early in life and located, first, at Fayette, in Howard county. 
He was married to Miss Mary H. Buckner, originally of Virginia, of 
the well known family of that name, representatives of which have 
attained to eminence in life, both in Kentucky and Missouri, as well 
as in Virginia and some of the other States. From Fayette he re- 
moved to Paris and then to Huntsville, but finally settled on a farm 
near Middle Grove, in Monroe county. Thoinas M. was reared at 
Paris and Huntsville and on the farm. He had good opportunities 
for an education, not only passing through the common and prepara- 
tory schools, but having also the benefit of one year's instruction at 
the State University, where he studied the high English branches Jind 
Latin. Returning home, he resumed farming to which he had been 
brought up, and in the spring of 1860 he was inarried to Miss Mary 



HISTORY OF MONIIOE COUNTY. 403 

J. Todd, a daughter of Albert G. Todd, of this county. She was 
born February 12, 1842. Her fother was from Madison county, Ky. 
After he was married Mr. Giddings continued farming, which he has 
since followed without interruption. His homestead tract of land 
contains 120 acres, and he has his place neatly and comfortably im- 
proved. He has a valuable coal measure on his farm which, however, 
has never been exploited to any considerable extent. Mr. and Mrs.' 
G. have one child, Lillie M., aged three years. Mrs. G. is a member 
of the Christian Clnirch. 

WILLIAM B. GIDDINGS, Jr. 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Tulip). 

Mr. William B. Giddings, Jr., was born in Monroe county April 
28, 1842, and was educated in the schools of Paris. He was 19 years 
of age when the war broke out, and, like his brother-in-law, Mr .E. S. 
Anderson, he promptly enlisted in the Confederate service. For over 
four years he followed the flag of the South, and only returned after 
it had gone down in defeat to rise no more after a struggle which made 
it an emblem of the highest heroism and patriotic devotion the world 
has ever seen. He first enlisted in the State Guard, becoming a mem- 
ber of Co. A, Second Missouri Cavalry, Brace's regiment, under 
Gen. Harris. After the expiration of that term of service, he enlisted 
in Co. G, Second regiment, First Missouri Brigade, Confederate 
service. Among the other battles in which he took part during the 
war^ are remembered those of Lexington, Mo. ; Pea Ridge, Ark. ; 
Corinth and luka, Miss,, and nearly all the engagements'^in which 
Gens. Johnston and Hood were engaged, whilst he was in their respect- 
ive commands. He was paroled at' Jackson, Miss., in 1865, and at 
once returned home and engaged in farming and stock-raisin o-, in 
which he had been brought up. In August, 1867, he was married to 
Miss Kate Auderson, a daughter of A. A. and Catherine (McDowell) 
Anderson. She was born in Bovle county, Ky,, in 1847, and was 
educated at Lexington, iu that State. They have three children: 
Joseph, James and Fannie. Mrs. Giddings is a member of the Chris- 
tian Church. Mr. Giddings' home tract of land contains nearly 300 
acres, all of which is under fence and otherwise improved. He makes 
something of a specialty of raising short-horn cattle. Mr. Giddings 
has a two-foot vein of coal on his place, but has never beo-un to work 
it lor the markets. 

JAMES OWNBY, SR. 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Ex-Sheriff, Post-office, Middle Grove). 
For 57 years, since 1827, this old and respected citizen of Monroe 
county has been a continuous resident of the county. Indeed, he 
catne here some years before the county Avas organized and has been 
a personal witness to its progress and an active worker in its develop- 
ment from its birth to the present time. He has seen the countv 



404 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, 

made aud has assisted to make it one of the first in popuhition and 
wealth and in intelligence and prosperity in the sisterhood of 
counties of the State. Mr. Ownby is a native of Kentucky, born in 
Shelby county, November 11, 1810. His father, James Ownby, 
originally of Virginia, was a gallant soldier in the Revolution, as was 
also five brothers to his father. Mr. Ownby' s mother was a Miss 
Hawkins before her marriage. His parents were early settlers in 
Kentucky, and his father died there September 16, 1816, when James 
was only in his sixth year. Mr. Ownby's mother never remarried, 
but with the help of her worthy family of children bravely faced the 
duties and responsibilities of life in widowhood. Left an orphan by 
the death of his father at this early age, and the family being by no 
means m easy circumstances, young Ownby's lot was far from an 
,easy or promising one. But his mother was devoted to her family and 
they to her, and together they carved out their destiny in a way that 
left few regrets and no heart-burnings. James Ownby, of course, had 
little or no school advantages, but had to work hard to help the family 
along. If he thus missed much of the knowledge taught in books, he 
more than made up for it by learning those lessons of fortitude in 
adversity, self-reliance and resolute industry, so important for success 
in life. The qualities that make successful men were stamped upon 
his character by nature, and although his early outlook seemed unpro- 
pitious, he triumphed over all obstacles before the meridian of life 
was reached and became one of the substantial citizens and influential 
men of his community. With the courage characteristic of the men 
of those early times, in 1827 he bravely pushed out into the then 
wilderness of North Missouri and settled in what is now Union town- 
ship, of Monroe county. Here he w.ent to work with courage and 
indefatigable industry to establish himself a home. In due time he 
succeeded in opening a farm and in 1835 was married to Miss Sarah 
J. Dulany, a daughter of George H. and Mary J. (Brassfield) 
Dulany, earl}^ settlers of this part of the country from Kentucky. 
Mrs. Ownby was born in that State June 4, 1817. She was a woman 
of many estimable qualities of head and heart and devoted herself to 
making home happv, to the interests of the church of which she was 
a devout member, and to assist her husband in providing for the 
family and getting along in the world. This proved a long and happy 
union and heaven prospered them with a worthy family of children, as 
the soil and seasons and their own industry prospered them with 
abundant harvests. Mr. Ownby rose to easy circumstances and at 
one time owned over 400 acres of fine land, large numbers of stock 
and considerable other property, whilst at home he was surrounded 
by everything to make sober farm life comfortable and contented. 
He also grew steadily in the confidence and esteem of his fellow country- 
men and all who knew him. He was constable of his township for 
16 years, and then afterwards, in 1866, was elected sheriff'of the county 
and two years later was re-elected, filling that office to the full limit 
of the law. His son, William H. Ownl)y, was then elected sheriff" and 
Mr. Ownby, pere, continued in the office as deputy. It is needless to 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 405 

say that a man of the sterling character of the subject of this sketch 
is a consistent, life-long and unvarying Democrat. All Democrats 
are good men and Mr. Ownby is no exception to this immutable law 
of moral philosophy. After quitting the office of sheriff he retired to 
his family and has since been spending his years in comparative rest 
from the severe activities of life. A man of the most generous 
impulses and singularly devoted to his family, he has distributed his 
land among his children until he now has only a small homestead left 
to himself, which he carries on no longer as an industry of profit or 
money making, but simply to provide comfortably for his own home. 
Those who journey down the stream of time must inevitably reach the 
gulf of eternity sooner or later. Such is the destiny of all things 
earthly, and oftentimes the end is reached when the ties of nature are the 
dearest and tenderest. When two loving hearts have made the voyage 
of life for long years together, becoming as time floats away knitted 
nearer and nearer together, it seems hard that they should ever be 
severed. But He who rules above surpasseth in wisdom as he sur- 
passeth in gentleness and love, all earthly wisdom and all tenderness 
of the human heart. He knows what is wisest and best and to His 
decrees we must bow even more dutifully than the child yields to his 
father. It was ordained in Heaven that the good wife in this happy 
union should go first, perhaps to smooth and light the pathway of her 
husband to their common home above, as she had made happy and 
bright his pathway on earth. Accordingly, on the 11th of September, 
1882, the Angel of Death came and bore her pious and gentle spirit 
away to Heaven. Her remains now sleep peacefully in the church- 
yard at Middle Grove, where those of her husband will some day join 
hers, as his spirit will join hers in their home on high. Of their 
family of children eight are living, namely: Powell S., of Denisou, 
Tex. ; Gecn-ge D., James O., Jr., William H., Martha E., the wife of 
C. J. Chilton, of Randolph county; Mary E., the widow of S. O. 
Hunter; Sarah E,, the wife of Thomas E. Bassett and John F. 
Each one of these is well known and highly respected in their communi- 
ties. 

William H. Ownby, the fifth son, was born on the homestead in 
this county June 19, 1844, and received a good common-school edu- 
cation. Having decided to devote himself to a business life, he also 
took a course at commercial college at St. Louis. Inheriting his 
father's inflexibility of character and a man of great energy and 
enterprise as well as of superior business qualifications, he soon rose 
to a position of prominence in the community, and for his personal 
worth, public spirit and strong intelligence he became recognized as 
the leader among those around him. After holding minor positions, 
in 1870 he was elected sherifi". In 1873 he was appointed one of the 
commissioners of Missouri to represent this State at the International 
Exposition in Vienna, Austria, and visited Europe in the execution of 
the duties of that commission. Since then he has retired to his farm 
near Middle Grove. In 1874 Mr. Ownby was married to Miss Mary 
T. Bodine, a refined and estimable daughter of Martin Bodine, a 



406 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

highly respected citizen of Paris, in this county. They have two 
children, Talitha C. and Mary B. Mrs. Ownby is a member of the 
Christian Church and Mr. Ownby is a prominent member of the 
Masonic order. 

JAMES C. SNELL 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Middle Grove). 

Mr. Snell's father came to Monroe county in a comparatively early 
day, and became quite a successful and well-to-do farmer, as well as a 
neighbor and citizen highly esteemed by all who were favored with 
his acquaintance. James Cumberland Snell, one of his sons, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born on his ftither's homestead, two miles 
north of Middle Grove, on the 8th of September, 1846. His early 
youth was spent on a farm and he then went off to college. He took 
a regular course at Mt. Pleasant College, in Huntsville, and graduated 
there with distinction in the class of 1863, having taken Latin in his 
colle2i:e course. After his graduation he returned home and engaged 
in merchandising at Middle Grove, which he followed for two years. 
He then turned his attention to fiirming, to which he had been 
brought up, and has followed fa.rming since that time, except a year 
or two whilst he engaged in other pursuits. January 27, 1870, he 
was married to Miss Kate Thomas, a daughter of Dr. Thomas, of 
Waverly, Lafayette count}'. She was also educated at Huntsville. 
During the j^ears 1873-74 he was farming and stock-raising in Lafay- 
ette county, and in 1879 and 1880 he was merchandising at Middle 
Grove. Mr. and Mrs. Snell have three children: Floyd, Clark and 
Nora. One besides, Susan, is deceased. Mr. Snell, as the above 
facts show, is a man of superior education, and is not less energetic 
as a farmer than he is proficient in the knowledge of books. He is 
meeting with good success in his agricultural affairs, and already 
occupies a position among the better farmers of the township. 

CAPT. WILLIAM EDWARD WILLIAMS 

(Farmer aod Stock-raiser, aud Contractor and Builder, Post-offlce, Madison). 

Capt. Williams is a lineal descendant of William Williams, one 
of the four signers of the Declaration of Independence for Con- 
necticut. William Williams was born at Lebanon, in that colony, in 
1731, and was educated for the ministry, but becoming interested in 
the Revolutionary cause, he devoted himself to its interests. Re- 
moving to Maryland after the Declaration of Independence, he was 
elected a delegate from that State to the Continental Congress. He 
died in 1811. One of his sons became a prominent seafaring man, a 
commander of a ship, and died in the West Indies whilst out on a 
voyage. He made his home at New York, and there his son. Dyer 
E. Williams, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born, on 
Lonir Island, in 1796. After he grew up he married Miss Clancy 
Hempestel, formerly of Stonington, Conn., born in 1801. He served 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 407 

with distinction in tlie American army during the War of 1812 as 
drum major. He died in 1880, at the age of 84, but his wife is still 
living. Wm. E. Williams was born in Connecticut, at the home of his 
maternal grandparents, November 18, 1832. He had good oppor- 
tunities for an education, and took a course in the higher branches at 
the East Greenwick Academy, of Rhode Island. Besides becoming 
proficient in the studies of the general course taught there, he became 
an exceptionally expert and accomplished penman. He did not grad- 
uate, however, at East Greenwick. Becoming impatient to enter 
upon the activities of life, he returned to New York and obtained a 
situation as letter-carrier when 18 years of age. He remained there 
for about a year, when he went to Troy and accepted a position under 
Capt. Nelson, in the U. S. Arsenal, where he was employed for about 
ten months. From this time, for a period of about five years, he 
traveled extensively over this country and also made a trip to En- 
gland. He went from Troy, N. Y,, direct to Liverpool, and then 
returned to the citv of New York. From there he went to Dover, 
N. H., but soon returned to New York. In 1853 he went to Chicago, 
and thence came to St. Louis. Returning to New York, he soon 
went to San Francisco, Cal., making the trip by the Isthmus route, 
and afterwards returned by the Isthmus, stopping, however, on the 
way, for nearly five months at Aspinwall. Soon after his return 
again to New York he came West a second time, to Chicago, and 
thence to Grand Haven, Mich. From Grand Haven he went to Red 
Wing, Minn., near which he engaged in farming and dealing quite 
extensively in stock. He remained there for 10 years, and whilst 
there was commissioned by Gov. Ramsey to command a company in 
an expedition against the Indians. Returning to New York in 186(), 
he was largely engaged in contracting and building for the next 12 
years, and among other important structures he erected was Sibley 
College, at Cogman's, on the Hudson river. From New York he 
came to Missouri in 1878, and settled in Monroe county, where he 
has since resided, making the entire trip in a buggy with his familv, 
and bringing such household utensils as were of daily use along with 
him in a covered wao^on, and also brinsino; out some stock at the 
same time. This was not the first time Capt. Williams had traveled 
most of the same road, for in 1854 he returned from St. Louis to 
New York on horseb:ick. At the different points mentioned above 
he remained for a time, a year more or less, but more than a year at 
only a few of them, and at each was engaged in one of the several 
pursuits in which he was equally at home — farming and handling 
stock, teaching penmanship, or contracting and building. Capt. 
Williams is a man of great industry and activity of mind as well as 
of energy and enterprise, and has always been a careful and judicious 
reader, being one of the best informed men on general subjects that 
one could meet in a day's journey, even in a community noted for the 
intelligence of its people. Capt. Williams has a good farm here and 
some fine stock, and is making something of a specialty of raising 
fine stock. He also has valuable farming property in Pierce county, 

21 



^. 



408 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

AVis., and Goodhue county, Minn. He has been twice married. On 
the 1st of January, 1856, he was married in New York to Miss Eliza- 
beth Niver, a dauohter of David Niver, of Bethlehem, N. Y., a sub- 
urb of Albany. She was a sister to Hon. D. P. Niver, an eminent 
lawyer of Cahoes Falls, and of Dr. Fennimore Niver, a leading 
physician of Cambridge, N. Y. She died in Minnesota in 1866. 
There are three children living of this union : Oscar, now of Troy, 
N. Y. ; David E., now a telegraph operator near Red Wing, Minn. ; 
and Peter, now of Kansas. Cornelius, a fourth child, died in infancy. 
In 1866 Capt. Williams was married at Madison to Miss Ann Howell, a 
daughter of Francis F. Howell, formerly of Ohio. They have one 
child, Daisy, now two years of age. Capt. Williams is a member of 
the M. C. order, and his wife is a member of the Presbj'terian 
Church. They are highly (isteemed as neighbors and acquaintances 
in the community where the}^ reside. 



IN^DIA^ CEEEK T0W:N^SHIP. 



JEROME J. BICK 

(Dealer in General Mercliaudise, Farm Machinery, etc., Clapper, Monroe county, Mo.). 

One of the most interesting and instructive branches of the study of 
political economy, perhaps the most interesting and instructive one, is 
that which deals with the comparative thriftiness of intelligent and honest 
communities and nationalities ; and, indeed, it is a branch which has 
not received that attention from thinkers and writers which its impor- 
tance deserves. Here we see German-Americans all around us and 
those of German-American parents outstripping us, whose families 
have long been settled in this country, in the material affairs of life, 
almost without exception. This is absolutely true, considered as 
classes, respectively, those of old German stock on the one hand, and 
those of old American families on the other. Wherever we see one of 
the former class, we fail not, in one instance out of 99, to see a 
thrifty, prosperous citizen, one steadily and certainly rising to promi- 
nence in the material affairs of life. But this is by no means true of 
Americans ; the American of thrift is rather the exception than the 
rule. These facts are plainly manifest to any one of ordinary obser- 
vation. But Avhy this is so is not so easy to determine. We would 
be slow to admit that we are not as intelligent, active and industrious 
as our fellow-citizens of German antecedents. What is the cause of 
it, then? This is an interesting question for political scientists to 
consider and determine. We, who write only history, or rather biogra- 
phies, have only the facts to state, without entering into philosophico- 
scientific process of ratiocination to determine the sequence resulting 
from such facts. Here we have a striking illustration of the subject 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 409 

under consideration in the career of a prominent citizen of the north- 
eastern part of the county. Mr. Bick started out in life for himself 
with a verj^ modest modicum of means. His whole business career 
has been made at Clapper, a small country point, ftir from the best 
trading center to be found. Yet, notwithstanding, he has l)uilt up the 
largest business in the county in his lines of trade — is the leading busi- 
ness man, in fact, of the county, in these lines. To this proniinence 
of success he has risen, too, in a remarkabl}^ short time. Why has he 
surpassed all others in the county? He is a German- American, or 
rather of German parents, and exhibits in his close attention to busi- 
ness, his economical and frugal management, his sterling honesty and 
fair dealing, and his sober judgment and solidity of character, these 
marked traits of a German character. Doubtless it is not all due to 
his hereditary nationality that he has succeeded so well ; but certain 
it is that most of his class do succeed, and in this fact may be found at 
least some explanation of his success. John Bick, his father, was 
born and reared in Germany, and came to America when a young man 
24 years of age, in 1846. He located in Ohio, and resided in Seneca 
county for nearly 20 years. He was there married to Miss Catherine 
Portz, also originally of Germany, and nine children followed their 
union, namely : Margaret E., Jerome J., Nicholas M., John, Francis, 
Louis, David C, Mary A. and Anna M. He followed farming and 
merchandising in Ohio with characteristic German success, luid in 
1865 removed to Missouri, settling in Monroe county. Jerome J., his 
eldest son, and the subject of this sketch, was born in Fostoria, Sen- 
eca county, Ohio, November 9, 1852, and was therefore 13 years of 
age when the family came to Missouri. He was reared to farm life, 
and also learned the practical details of merchandising, receiving as he 
grew up a substantial business education. On starting out for himself 
he inherited $1,000, as well as the rest of his brothers and sisters, and 
by his good judgment,- intelligence and character, made wise use of 
the means he received. But of more value than this was the manner 
in which he had been brought up, and the lessons of old-fashioned 
honesty and economy which he had been taught. Young Bick has 
proved himself fully worthy of his ftither's help and his father's hopes 
and expectations. He has come up in life with steady strides and, as 
has been said, is now one of the leading and most prosperous business 
men of the county. He carries an extraordinarily large stock of gen- 
eral merchandise for a store outside of a city, and, indeed, for a retail 
house anywhere, as well as a full and complete supply of farm machin- 
ery, in which can be found everything to supply the wants of a farming 
community. His trade extends for miles and miles around, and he is 
doing what may be fairly termed an immense business. No more 
popular business man is engaged in trade in the county, and his name 
is a synonym for reliability wherever it is known. Mr. Bick is a man 
of family. He was married June 21, 1871, his wife having been before 
her marriage a Miss Mary Shields. She was born July 4, 1854. 
They have five children : Frederick J., Eichard J,, Joseph E., William 



410 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

T. and Robert P. Besides his business, Mr. Bick has a fine farm of 
350 acres, devoted to grain and stock, the management of which he 
superintends. His place is conducted on energetic business principles, 
and is one of the choice farms of the township. 

JOHN DIXON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Elizabethtown) . 

Mr. Dixon's farm contains 300 acres, in sections 3 and 4 of Indian 
Creek township, and is a place substantially and comfortably im- 
proved, one of the valuable farms and desirable homesteads of the 
township. He is a man who, in any country where agricultural 
advantages are at all fiivorable, would take an enviable place among 
the well-to-do ftirmers and respected citizens of his community. 
Thoroughly industrious and a man of intelligence and unquestioned 
old-fashioned honesty, he attends faithfully to his duties as a farmer 
and stock-raiser and leads a life that is without reproach as a neighbor 
and citizen ; so that, while he necessarily. succeeds by steady, regular 
strides in the accumulation of property, he at the same time wins and 
retains the confidence and esteem of his neighbors and acquaintances. 
It is such men as these, of which he is a representative, that we desire 
to sketch in this volume, briefly of course, but in a way, at least, that 
will do them no injustice, and at the same time add to the value of our 
work. Mr. Dixon was born in Nelson county, Ky., December 
12, 1818. Fortunate in the possession of kind and worthy parents 
who took an interest in his moral trainino- as well as in learnino; him 
habits of industry and frugality, he grew up on the farm, developing, 
by the outdoor exercise of farm life, a good physical constitution, and 
forming a character for integrity and a disposition for industry that 
were bound to make him a valued citizen and successful farmer. 
Reared on a farm in Nelson county, he was married June 29, 1841, 
to Miss Matilda Abell, and the following year they removed to Mis- 
souri, settling in Monroe county, where they have since resided. Here 
he resumed farming and by hard work and honest methods has suc- 
ceeded in situating himself comfortably in life. Seven children have 
been sent to him and his good wife, as the best blessing which Heaven 
can bestow upon the conjugal relation, namely: Helen C, Joseph A., 
Matilda M., Robert P., Mary Bell, John t). and Anna L. John D. 
was accidentally drowned while attempting to cross the Neosho river, 
in Kansas. He left a family, consisting of his wife and a child. Two 
others died of that dread and fjital disease, consumption: Robert P., 
who died October 22, 1875, and Anna L., the wife of James E. 
McLeod, August 9, 1878. Mrs. McLeod left four orphan children. 
When death enters the household it is hard to bear at best, but when 
it selects for its victim a devoted young mother Avith a family of small 
children around her, and robs them of the angel of their life, of her 
who loves them above all others on earth, and for whom it is her 
greatest desire to live — when death comes to a home to take away a 
mother, the light and life and hope of the household, it is sad, indeed. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 411 

But that fell malady, consumption, selected this gentle and lovino- 
mother to be borne away to the grave at its behest, and after slowly 
but surely destroying her health and drying up the source other life 
death came at last to bear her away. The gentlest hearted of Ameri- 
can poets might well have had this good woman in view when he wrote 
his tender poem of a beloved one taken from those who loved her by 
consumption : — ' "^ 

«'Ay, thou art for the grave ; thy glances shine 

Too brightly to shiue long; another Spring 
Shall deck her for men's eyes, —but not for time — 

Sealed in a sleep which linovvs no wakino-. 
The fields for thee have no medicinal leaf,"' 

And the vexed ore no mineral of power ; 
And they who love thee wait in anxious grief 

Till the slow plague shall bring the fatal hour. 
Glide softly to thy rest then ; Death shall come 

Gently, to one of gentle mold like thee, 
As light winds wandering through groves of bloom 

Detach the delicate blossom from the tree. 
Close thy sweet eyes, calmly, and without pain ; 
And we will trust in God to see thee yet again. " 

JAMES V. DOOLEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Stoutsville). 

Any one at all acquainted with the peoi)le of Monroe county and 
with Its history is aware that the Dooley family was one of the pioneer 
families of the county, coming here in a day when but few, if any, of 
t^ie conveniences and comforts of civilized life were to be enjoyed. 
They had to tace life in a wilderness with all the hardships and 
dangers that that implies. The treacherous Indian had not yet been 
driven out and the flocks and herds of the early settlers were in 
greater danger from the wolves and other predatory " varmints " of 
the country, than were the loved ones around the hearthstone from 
the merciless savage. Then hardly a sio:n of roads had appeared and 
ot course there were no bridges, and as for school-houses and church 
buildings they were out of the question, while mills, the old fashioned 
Horse-power machines, were days' journey apart. All these things are 
changed now, and here to-day we have one of the first counties in the 
fetate, a county that compares favorably with any, disconnected with 
a large city, m the whole West. To niake this mighty and ^ratifyino- 
change the Dooleys did their full part, and no history of the county 
would be ajustly correct one which failed to give them the credit they 
deserve. Mr. Dooley's father, Stephen Dooley, came from Kentucky, 
where he had been reared, and settled here in an early day. He was 
married in Monroe county of Missouri, to Miss Fannie Johnson. He 
IS still living, and he and his good wife have been blessed with nine 
children : James V., Elkana, Martha, William, Christopher, Lucy, 
1 9 1 QQ ^""^®^'* James V. was born in Monroe county, January 
12, 1837. He was reared, however, in Monroe county and lives on 
the home his father gave him. He has always engaged in stock- 



412 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

growing as his favorite calling, and to this he has devoted himself with 
unwavering fidelity and industry. He has a good farm of over 300 
acres. In 1876, Mr. Dooley was married to Miss Sallie A. Searcy, 
formerly of Boone county. Mo. They have no children. 

REV. FATHER P. MORRISSEY 

(Catholic Priest, Indian Creek). 

Father Morrissey was ordained to the priesthood at Montreal, Canada,. 
in 1875. Born August 10, 1852, his early years were spent at home 
with his parents, assisting in such work as he could do and in attend- 
ing the local parochial schools. At an early age, however, the pur- 
pose was formed for him to devote himself to the jDriesthood, as soon 
as he could be prepared for that sacred office. Accordingly, he was 
educated with that object in view. His ecclesiastical education was 
completed in Milwaukee, Wis., and in due time, thereafter, he was 
ordained at Montreal, as stated above. Father Morrissey came to this 
place in 18 — , since which he has had continuous charge of the church 
here. His work has been of much value to the church, and highly 
gratifying to the Catholic community ; while his bearing toward those 
with whom he has been thrown in contact, generally, and his presence 
as a representative of the church are commended by the public at 
large. By all who have witnessed his labors here he is considered 
a churchman of marked ability and superior scholarship, and his 
piety and earnest zeal for the cause of religion are manifest in 
everything that he does. A representative of the church, that 
stands out to all the world the intermediary between God and man, 
it is the most that can be said of any human being to say, that 
he is in every way worthy of his high and sacred office, a state- 
ment which the writer believes, from all he has been able to learn, 
can with truth be made. 

SAMUEL C. FIELDS 

(Dealer iu Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Notions, Etc., Elizabethtown), 

Capt. John D. Fields, Mr. Fields' father, an old steamboatman, 
who had run the Ohio river for a number of years, desiring to lead a 
more quiet life came out to Missouri in 1835, and settled in Monroe 
county, Avhere he engaged in farming. He was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, born near Pittsburg, and made his home in that State until his 
removal to Missouri. He was married in this State to Miss Mary C. 
Edwards of Monroe county, but formerly of Kentucky. After living 
in this county for over 20 years he crossed into Ralls county and 
settled there, where they still reside. They had a family of seven 
children, namely; Catherine, Samuel C, Elizabeth, John D., Martha 
J., Abigail A. and Ella. Samuel C. Fields, the eldest son and subject 
of this sketch, was born in Monroe county, January 23, 1848, and 
was reared in this county. He was engaged in farming for a number 
of years after he grew up, but always had an inclination for business 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 413 

pursuits. Possessed of a studious miud aud ambitious to obtain a 
respectable knowledge of books, he not only improved his mind to 
good advantage in school, but studied his book at home with great 
assiduity during his leisure hours. Later along, having an opportu- 
nity to engage in business, he became identified with mercantile life 
and has since had no cause to regret his identification with it. At 
Elizabethtown he has a good drug store with a well selected stock of 
drugs, medicine, etc., and has a large custom from the people tribu- 
tary to this place. On the 9th of February, 1871, he was married 
to Miss Mary E. Hagan. They have five children : Mary A., Herbert 
E., Margaret M., John Elbert and Harriet E." Mrs. Fields is a mem- 
ber of the Catholic Church. 

CHRISTOPHER G. HAYDEN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Indian Creek) . 

Among the many settlers who came into Monroe county from 
Kentucky, some 10 or 12 years before the war, was the familv of 
which the subject of the present sketch is a worthy representative. 
His parents were James L. and Catherine (Gibbs) Hayden, his father 
a native of Kentucky, but his mother originally from Maryland. 
Both were reared in Washington county, of the former State, how- 
ever, and they were married in that county. They lived there en- 
gaged in farming until 1850, when they came to Missouri and settled 
in the neighborhood in which Christopher G. Hayden now resides. 
The father died in this county a number of years ago, but the 
mother is dead. They made a good farm, on which they per- 
manently resided, the father until his death. There were 11 children 
in the family, of whom but five are living: William H., Amelia, 
Christopher G., Louisa and John S. Christopher G. Hayden was 
about grown when the family came to Missouri, being 18 years of 
age, and three years afterwards, in Monroe county, February Cy, 1853, 
he was married to Miss Susan M. Peirceall. Nine children have followed 
this union, six of whom are living: Mary L., Joseph C, Elizabeth 
C, Thomas B., Malinda J. and Annie L. Mr. Hayden has followed 
farming from boyhood, to which he was brought up, an'd by industry, 
a frugal manner of living and good management, has achieved success 
as a farmer. He has an excellent place of 220 acres, all well im- 
proved and one of the valuable farms of Indian Creek township. 
Personally, and as a citizen, he holds a worthy place among the best 
class of people in the north-eastern part of the" comity and his family 
is well respected. 

GEORGE B. LAWRENCE 

^ (Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Indian Creek) . 

On account of the conformation of the country, in the movement of 
emigration westward, especially from the South Atlantic States be- 
tween the Chesapeake Bay and the Peninsula of Florida, to the 



414 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

country west of the Ohio and of the Mississippi below Cairo, Ken- 
tucky became a sort of gateway or filter, as it were, through which 
all, or nearly all, must pass to reach this western region. Hence it 
is that in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, and in all this part of the 
country, we find that most of the people whose families were origi- 
nally settled in the South Atlantic States, stopped for one or more gen- 
erations in Kentucky. Here we see people, some from North or 
South Carolina and some from Virginia or Maryland, or even from 
Alabama or Tennessee, whose families lived for a greater or less 
period of years in the Blue Grass State in the course of their migra- 
tion westward. So it was with the family of which the subject of the 
present sketch is a representative. His people were originally from 
the Carolinas, and his father, William Lawrence, was born in North 
Carolina, but the Lawrences became early settlers of Kentucky. 
There he was married to Miss Margrey Luckey, formerly from South 
Carolina, and in 1832 they came to Missouri and settled in Monroe 
county. Here the father followed farming with success until his death, 
which occurred in 1848. The mother died in 1851. They had five 
children : Louisa, Charity, Agnes, Rachel and George B. George 
B. Lawrence, the subject of this sketch, was born in Iredell county, 
N. C, April 1, 1824, and at the age of 25 was married in Monroe 
county. Mo., to Miss Sarah E. Engle, originally of Virginia, but 
reared in this county. Nine children have followed this union, five 
of whom are living : Mary O., Eliza J., James O., Sarah, Agnes C, 
Leroy and Loyd H., three of whom are married, Mr. Lawrence has 
followed farming and has done weU in his chosen occupation. He has 
a good farm of 360 acres, on which he raises considerable grain, stock and 
other products for the markets. He is in easy circumstances, having a 
good property without being in debt to any one. 

JAMES E. McLEOD 

(Of McLeod & Hardevick, General Merchants, Post-office, Clapper). 

Whoever has read the biographical division of this work, as well as 
all who are acquainted with the people of this county, are not unfa- 
miliar with the honorable record in life made by the father of the 
subject of this sketch, Hon. Patrick H. McLeod, one of the promi- 
nent citizens of the county. An outline of his life and of his family 
antecedents has been given in the sketch, at the head of which 
stands his name, on a former page of this volume. It is unnecessary 
therefore to repeat here what is said there. Suffice it to say that 
James E. McLeod is a worthy representative of the family whose 
name he bears. He was born in Montgomery county, Md., before his 
father left that county for the West, March 1, 1844, and was there- 
fore six years of age when the family settled in Monroe county. 
Reared in this county, he obtained a sufficient education for business 
l)urposes, and would doubtless have taken a more advanced course had 
not the war unsettled everything in this part of the State. Although 
still a mere boy when the war broke out he joined his fortunes with 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 415 

the South and became a soldier in the State guard under Jackson's 
call. Faithfully through the long struggle he did his duty as a defender 
of Southern rights and institutions. Since the war he has been 
actively engaged with the business duties and responsibilities of life. 
As a member of the firm with which he is at present connected, he 
gives his whole attention to the business, and by his excellent busi- 
ness qualifications and personal popularity contributes his full share 
to the marked success which has characterized the career of the firm. 
They carry a full line of general merchandise, and doing business on a 
cash basis, absolutely so, so far as purchases are concerned, they sell at 
the lowest prices possible, and thus secure a large trade. Dealing 
fairly with their customers, when once a patron begins to trade with 
them he almost invariably continues their permanent customer. Mr. 
McLeod has been twice married. His first marriage was to Miss 
Susan Dixon. After her death, in 1882, he was married to Miss 
Estelle Freeman, his present wife. She is a member of the church. 

CHARLES W. MONTGOMERY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clapper). 

One of the industrious farmers and well respected citizens of Indian 
Creek township must be set down as the subject of the present sketch, 
Charles W. Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery, a son of William P. and 
Mary (Yates) Montgomery, was born in Washington county, Ky., 
September 1, 1823, and was reared in that county. His parents are 
both now deceased ; his father died of cholera during the terrible cholera 
epidemic of 1833. His mother survived until 1874 and died of dropsy. 
They had six children, four of whom are living: William P., Mary 
R., Martha E. and Charles W. Montgomery, who, 11 years after 
his father's death, December 20, 1844, was married to Miss Helen M. 
Hagen, of Kentucky. This union lasted many years and to them were 
given 12 children. But at last the shadow of death fell upon their 
pathway and beneath its dark pall the spirit of the devoted and beloved 
wife took its flight to its home beyond the skies., Mr. Montgomery's 
present wife was a Miss Mary E. Grant, of the same name as the great 
General in the Union armies of the great war, and probably distantly 
related to him. She was born and reared in Marion county, Ky. 
Mr. Montgomery, who has resided in Monroe county for many years, 
and is one of the sterling good citizens of Indian Creek township, has 
a neat farm of about 100 acres, in an excellent state of cultivation and 
miprovement. By his first wife he has 10 children living: Mary C, 
Martha A., Sarah F., James S., John H., Elizabeth J., Alice I., 
Charles W., George E. and Thomas G. 

ROBERT F. PARSONS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Indian Creek). 

A year before Mr. Parsons' birth his fiither, 'Squire Clement Parsons, 
and family, including his wife, whose maiden name was Eliza Blan- 



416 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ford, and their elder children, or those then in esse, went to Louisiana 
from Kentucky, remained there five years, then came to Missouri in 
May, 1841, and settled in Monroe county, where 'Squire Parsons 
made a good farm, and lived a useful and respected life until his death, 
which occurred in 1865. His wife died in 1875. They had 10 chil- 
dren, eight of whom are living: James C, Mary J., John H., William 
E., Elizabeth C, Thomas S., Joseph M. and Robert F. The father 
was for some years justice of the peace in this county, and acquitted 
himself in the discharge of the duties of that office with great credit. 
Robert F. Parsons was born in this county November 15, 1841. After 
he grew up he was married on the 17th day of January, 1865, to 
Miss Mary M. Winsatt. They have seven children: James W., 
Thomas E,, Clary V., Mary A., Alfred W., Alfonsus and George H. 
Mr. Parsons' father having been a life-long farmer, the son not only 
inherited a taste for agricultural life, but by long experience on the 
farm became so well attached to it that he has made it his permanent 
calling. Mr. Parsons has a farm of 180 acres, comfortably improved. 

CAPT. JOHN D. PIERCEALL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Indian Creel?). 

During Gov. Phelps' administration in this State, Capt. PiercealU 
who had been chiefly instrumental in organizing a company under the 
militia laws of the State, was commissioned by the chief executive of 
Missouri, Thomas C. Fletcher, commander of the company which he 
organized. Since then he has continued captain of this company, and 
under his command and discipline it obtained a wide and enviable 
reputation for its superior drill. Capt. Pierceall, one of the public 
spirited citizens of Indian Creek township, takes a commendal)le 
interest in everything calculated to advance the best interests of the 
community. He is one of the substantial farmers and stock-raisers 
of the county, and one of its energetic farmers. He has a good farm 
of nearly a quarter section of land, which, with his characteristic 
industry and good judgment, he has improved in an excellent man- 
ner. His place is one of the choice homesteads of the township. 
Capt. Pierceall is a worthy oifshoot of the respected old Maryland 
family whose name he bears. His father, Joseph Pierceall, was born 
in Maryland, but when quite young was brought out to Marion county, 
Ky. In 1836 Joseph Pierceall was married in Kentucky to Miss Eliz- 
abeth Able, of Washington county, that State, but also originally 
from Maryland, and a relative of the well known Dan. Able, of St. 
Louis, who was likewise from the Chesapeake Bay State. There were 
14 children by this union, seven of whom are living, Capt. John D. 
being the fifth in the family. He was born in Union county, Ky., 
January 14, 1827. In an early day his parents removed to Missouri 
and settled in Indian Creek township, Monroe county, where he grew 
to manhood. Capt. Pierceall received a good ordinary education in 
the country schools, and perhaps not less from natural inclination than 
from the feet that in an early day in" this country there were but few 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 417 

other pursuits open to young men, he became a farmer, having been 
reared on a ftirm, which occupation he has since followed. April 9, 
1850, he was married to Miss Delphena Wimsatt, also originally from 
Kentucky. She died, however, after the birth of two children. " Capt. 
Pierceall's present wife was a Miss Susan Yeager before her marriage. 
The two children by his first wife are Benedict J. and Laura A. 
There have been six children by his last wife, but only three are living : 
Ernest, James G. and Idella. " The Captain and family are members 
of the Catholic Church. 

WILLIAM J. PIKE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clapper) . 

The mind and heart are the sources from which spring all our 
emotions, and they it is that test the measure of contentment and 
happiness which fall to our lot in this life, as well as determine the 
fate that is to overtake us when the body shall have crumbled to dust. 
And it will hardly be questioned by any one that our affections, our 
attachments to loved ones, have more to do with our happiness in 
this world than all other influences combined. What though a man 
prosper in material affairs and rise to fame in the general esteem, if 
his heart be torn and lacerated and his life be darkened by the 
shadows of sorrow from the loss of those nearest and dearest to him 
on earth? Who, with his accumulated millions and with all the hon- 
ors that the world can bestow, when bending over the form of a dying 
wife or child, or some one dearer than lifeltself, would not give all 
he has — of wealth, iame and everything — to call back the fast wan- 
ing life to health and happiness again ? " Then, is he not to be congrat- 
ulated, is he not to be ranked among the most fortunate of men who, 
entering life at its Eastern threshold, has made much of its journey 
and passed over to where the sun goes down, without from the first 
being called upon to witness the death or to bear the loss of some 
loved one? Such has been the happy fortune of the subject of the 
present sketch. Already well along in life, he was married in 1853, 
and himself one in a family of 13, has been blessed with 10 
children of his own, all of whom are living, as well as their lovmg and 
devoted mother, and 13 grandchildren besides. From the morn- 
ing of his long and happy married life the shadow of death has never 
hovered over his household, nor over the families of any of his chil- 
dren. 

"The knell, the shroud, the mattock and the grave, 
The deep damp vault, the darkness and the worm," 

have never thrown the pall of sorrow across his life — the weepino- 
form of grief, white-robed and head bowed under the dark long veU 
of sorrow, has never entered his home. With the Penate of domes- 
tic affection ever supreme in his household, in leadiug a li'fe of 
unbroken contentment with his surroundings, his lot is one to be 
envied by the best and wisest of men. True he has not become the 



418 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

master of o-reat wealth, nor has he made nor desired to make a hio-h 
sounding name in the world, but pursuing the even tenor of his way, 
he is livina: out the measure of the sands of life assigned him with as 
little to regret and as much to be satisfied with here and to hope for 
hereafter as seldom falls to the fortune of men. It is not to be 
looked for in this sketch that the great service a family like the 
one of which we are now speaking performs to society, to govern- 
ment, to humanity, should be pointed out or dwelt upon. From 
the beginning there has been no higher, wiser, more divine law than 
the one expressed in the command — " Go forth, multiply and replen- 
ish the earth." Living in obedience to this great law, to the country 
no less than to the interest of humanity and the divine economy of 
Heaven, the subject of the presentsketch is performing the full measure 
of his obligation. To the State he is giving citizens to upbuild its pros- 
perity and, if needs be, to defend it in times of danger, and in every 
aspect of man's relation to life he is worthily subserving the interests 
of humanity. The sketch of such a citizen, therefore, appropriately 
finds a place in this volume. William J. Pike was born in Nelson 
county Ky., December 7, 1827, and was a son of Bernard and Mary 
L. (Shirclilf) Pike, being the eldest in their family of 13 children. 
When he was quite young, his father, a fiirmer by occupation, 
removed to Meade county, that State, where William J. was reared. 
The father was for many years, and until his death, one of the most 
highly respected citizens of that county. He never held an office of a 
political nature. William J. Pike became a farmer, following the 
example of his father, continuing that pursuit in Meade county until his 
removal to Missouri in March, 1853. Mea^iwhile, on the 18th of 
October, 1853, he was married to Miss Elizabeth M. Yager. As has 
been said, 10 children have blessed this union, namely, as follows : 
Mary E., Cordelia E., William H., Martha J., John T., Teresa F., 
James M., Magdaline, Agnes and Josephine. Several of the elder 
of these are married and have families of their own, there being 13 
of the grandchildren. Mr. Pike feels encouraged to hope that 
if he lives to a ripe old age he will have the pleasure before the sun of 
his earthly career goes down of presiding over a family union of 
20 sons, sons-in-law, daughters and daughters-in-law, and no less 
than 100 grandchildren, making in all, including himself and 
good wife, 122. A family union even larger than this was not an 
uncommon thing in the good old days of the patriarchs and with 
the blessing of Heaven it is still not impossible. Mr. Pike has 
a good homestead of his own, made by the sweat of his own hon- 
est brow and now he is living in comparative ease, a life of sin- 
gular contentment and happiness under the shade of his own vine 
and fig tree. He and wife and his elder children are worthy believers 
in and followers after him whose word that can not be broken has 
been given that those who believe in me shall not perish, but shall 
live eternal in the home not made with hands, wherein there is no 
sorrow nor sadness nor parting of loved ones. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 419 

BENEDICT J. YAGER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clapper). 

Probably the principal reason that the Western people have become 
distinguished for their enterprise and push, or what is commonly 
called go-ahead-ativeness, is that they are descendants of the brave- 
hearted men who, taking their lives in their hands, had the courage to 
push out into the wilderness of this Western country, among savages 
and all the dangers of pioneer life. None but men of courage and 
character could do this, for let us take it to ourselves and reflect 
whether we would be willing now to go into the wilds of Australia or 
South America, away from all civilization and with rifle and ax drive 
out the Aborigines at the risk of our own lives and clear away forests 
to make homes and found States. Mr. Yager's ancestors were of 
this brave-hearted class of men. His grandfather was one of the 
pioneers of the wilds of Kentucky, and his father, Francis E. Yager, 
was a pioneer in Illinois and an early settler in Missouri. His father 
was born and reared in Kentucky and lived there until after his mar- 
riage. Miss Elizabeth Simss becoming his wife. Two years after 
Benedict J.'s birth, he having been born in Meade county, January 
11, 1832, the family struck out across the wilderness for Illinois and 
settled in Hancock county. There they lived until 1842, when they 
came to Missouri, locating in Monroe county, where the father subse- 
quently died. He opened a good farm here, on which the subject of 
this sketch and his mother still reside. There were 14 children in the 
family, 10 of whom are living. Benedict J. was reared on the farm 
and also learned the milling business, for his father, besides being a 
farmer, was an energetic miller. Benedict J. Yager has never mar- 
ried. He has resided on the homestead from boyhood and still con- 
ducts the place. Mr. Yager is one of the well respected citizens of 
Indian Creek township. 



WASHi:N^GTO]Sr TOWNSHIP. 



HENRY BOHRER 

(Farmer, Post-office Clapper). 

Mr. Bohrer's father, David Bohrer, was one of the most energetic 
and successful man among the early settlers in this county. He was 
a native of Pennsylvania, born in Cumberland county, a half mile from 
Chambersburg, and was of German parentage. He was left an orphan 
when a mere boy, and rose in life by his own personal worth. He came 
to this county in a very early day and entered the tract of land on which 
he improved a farm. By industry and good management he added to 



420 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

his landed estate until up to the time of his death, he owned about 
1,500 acres of fine lauds in this and Shelby counties. He also had a 
lai"2;e amount of stock, and for years made a business of loaning money, 
having out at times as high as $20,000. He was a member of the 
Christian Church, and was quite a liberal supporter of the church. 
His homestead farm contained about 800 acres and was one of the 
best farms of the county. He settled on this place in 1850. His wife 
was a Miss Elizabeth Vanskike before her marriage, and they reared 
a family of seven children, namely: John, now of Hannibal ; Henry, 
the subject of this sketch ; Emily, now Mrs. George Hardesty ; David, 
of Nel>raska, near Kearney; Sarah, now Mrs. Washington Moore; 
Susan J. (Jennie), now Mrs. Peter Smith; George W., at Kemper 
School, Boonville. Henry Bohrer was born at the old ffimily resi- 
dence, within a quarter of a mile from where his house now stands, 
September 15, 1848. He was reared on a farm. On the 27th of 
August, 1872, he was married to Miss Sarah Blasley, of Pike county, 
a sister to his brother John's wife. Mr. Bohrer has made farming 
his regular occupation and is one of the stirring young farmers of the 
township. For eight years he lived on the prairie farm, but in 1881 
came to his present place, a part of the old homestead. He has 160 
acres of good land, which is an excellent farm. Mr. and Mrs. Bohrer 
have had six children: Anna, who died in infancy; Robert E., who 
died at the age of three years, and was the youngest in the family of 
children ; Ehiora, Lena, Iva H. and Cassius M. Mr. and Mrs. B.are 
members of the Christian Church. 

SAMUEL H. COX 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Hunnewell) . ^ 

Among the better class of our early settlers who came to Missouri 
early in the " thirties" Avas the family of which the subject of the 
present sketch is a worthy representative. Mr. Cox's parents, James 
and Elizabeth (Gills) Cox, were from Bedford county, Va., and came 
to Monroe county in 1833. Their family then consisted of nine chil- 
dren and they also brought nine slaves with them. Mr. Cox's father 
bought the B. Moss farm, where the subject of this sketch now lives, 
on which the family settled, and afterwards the father entered about 
400 acres more of land. He was a man of good education, solid in- 
tellio'ence and stirring business qualities, and was quite an extensive 
tobacco-raiser and also raised considerable number of stock. He 
died here on the 25th of June, 1860, at the age of 73. His wife died 
in 18 — , having been born January 27, 1793. ^ Most of their children 
lived to reach maturity and several of them are now themselves the 
heads of worthy families of children. Samuel Cox was born in Bed- 
ford county, Va., and when young his parents came to Missouri. 
Reared on the farm and educated in this county, he was married here 
on the 9th of November, 1853, to Miss Mary F. Lasley, of Kanawha 
county, W. Va. She had spent the summer here visiting relatives, 
where Mr. Cox met her, and their two hearts coming to beat in unison 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 421 

the old, old words of love were whispered each to the other ending, 
as such meetings usually end, in matrimony. This has proved a long 
and happy union and is blessed with five children, namely : James W., 
engaged in merchandising at Hunnewell ; Willie E., now the wife of 
William Blackburn of Hunnewell; Charles T., also at Hunnewell; 
Matthew M. and Alivilda, the last two at home. Mr. Cox received his 
father's homestead by the will of his father, where he has resided 
continuously from boyhood. He took charge of the farm at the death 
of his father and has since conducted it with energy and success. The 
place contains 400 acres and he has 120 acres besides in another tract. 
Before the war he owned six neo-roes and followed stock-raising to 
quite an extent. In 1875, he and his son, James W., formed a part- 
nership in merchandising, and James W. is still conducting the busi- 
ness at Hunnewell. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are members of the M. E. 
Church. He has been a member since he was 19 years of age, and 
has been a steward in that Church for the last 25 years. 

JACOB S. CROW 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

That industry, energy and good management employed in agri- 
cultural life will place one in due time in comfortable circumstances, 
is proven by the many examples of substantial farmers we see in every 
community, and who are almost invariably men that commenced in 
life for themselves with no means to succeed but their own ability and 
disposition to work and manage their affairs with intelligence. In the 
instance of Mr. Crow Ave have another illustration of this fact. He 
began when i young man with little or nothing, and besides rearing a 
worthy family in comfort, has provided himself with an ample com- 
petence. He has an excellent farm of 400 acres, all well improved 
and well stocked, besides several hundred acres of land elsewhere, and 
considerable other property. In a word, he is one of the substantial 
men of the township. Mr. Crow was born in Mercer county, Ky., 
November 3, 1816, and was a son of John and Mary (Little") Crow, 
both also natives of Kentucky, and of pioneer families in that State. 
From Kentucky the family removed to Pike county. Mo., back in 
1824. There they made their permanent home and the father, a 
successful farmer, died there in 1874, at the advanced age of 82. The 
mother is still living, at the age of 92. Jacob S. was the second in 
their family o: 10 children, and followed the example of his father, 
becoming a farmer by occupation. In 1845 he was married to Miss 
Agnes Fifer, originally of Augusta county, Va., and in 1848 he 
removed to Scotland county, where he resided for 13 years, en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising. From there he came to Monroe 
county in 1865, where he has since made his home. Mr. and Mrs. 
Crow have had six children, four of whom are living: James J., 
America A., Mollie E. and William D. Mr. C, though not a church 
member, leans toward the Presbyterian faith ; his wife, however, is a 
Baptist. 



422 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ALFRED R. GIBBONS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina) . 

Mr. Gibbous, one of the substantial farmers and respected citizens 
of Washington township, though born in Virginia was reared in Geor- 
gia. He came to Missouri in 1867, and settled on the land in Monroe 
county where he now resides ; this was a part of a tract of 480 acres, 
bought by his father a number of years before. The tract given to 
Alfred R., containing 320 acres, was raw land, but he improved it 
and has made a comfortable farm. He has since added to it until now 
he has 480 acres, and it is one of the choice homesteads of the town- 
ship. He raises considerable cattle and feeds large numbers every 
year for the markets. October 22, 1868, he was married in this 
county to Miss Cassie A. Thomas, a daughter of Edmond Thomas, an 
early settler of Marion county. She was taken from him by death, 
however, May 3, 1881, leaviug him six children: Samuel B., Eliza- 
beth F., Presley, Edmond A., John William and Katie. One, 
besides, is deceased, Christina. March 29, 1883, Mr, Gibbons was 
married to Miss J. Boone, of Marioii county. She was the daughter 
of Daniel Boone of that county, related by descent to the great pioneer 
and Indian fighter of the same name. Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons are 
members of the M. E. Church South, at Greenwood. He is a mem- 
ber of the A. O. U. W. Mr. Gibbons' parents were Samuel and 
Christina (Miller) Gibbons, and he was born in Page county, Va., 
August 6, 1846. When he was 13 years of age, in 1859, they removed 
to Georgia. In July, 1866, young Gibbons entered the Military 
Academy at Lexington, Va., where he continued until the spring of 
1864. He then enlisted in the First Georgia Cavalry under Col. 
Strickland, known as "Old Shanks," and thereafter he was in engage- 
ments of more or less importance, either battles, fights or skirm- 
ishes until he was captured the 21st of July with about 56 others, by 
Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota troops. While being taken to 
Camp Chase as a prisoner he jumped from the train in Indiana, but was 
re-captured about 10 days afterwards. After his capture, it being 
known that he was an escaped Confederate prisoner, for whom the 
people of that section of the country then had no loVe, he was tried at 
LaPort, on the trumped-up charge of stealing clothing, and of course 
was convicted, that being the only object of the trial. He was sen- 
tenced for two years in the penitentiary at Michigan City. He was a 
prisoner at Michigan City for 11 months, or until the fall after the 
war, when he was " pardoned " out by Gov. Morton. He could have 
been released before, but he persistently refused to take the 
so-called oath of loyalty. After his release from prison he returned 
to his home in Georgia and then went to West Virginia, where he 
remained until the spring of 1867, coming thence to Missouri. Mr. 
Gibbons' parents are both deceased, his father having died in Georgia 
in 1870 and his mother four years afterwards in that State. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 423 



CLEMENT A. HAMILTON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Shelbina). 

Maryland, settled originally by Catholic English and other colonies 
of the Catholic faith, for generations afterwards the adherents of the 
Church of Rome preponderated in that colony. Mr. Hamilton's parents, 
or rather his grandparents were Marylanders, and descended from 
early colonies in that State. Like most of them around them they 
were also Catholics, and Mr. H.'s father, Walter Hamilton, horn in 
Prince George county in 1782, was reared to the Catholic faith. 
When he was 16 years of age the family removed to Washington 
county, K3^, away back in 1798, where he grew up and was married 
to Miss Anna D. Smith, also of Maryland, and a member of the 
Catholic Church, born in 1783. Mr H's. grandfather was a man of 
some consideration in Maryland, and served in the office of sheriff and 
other positions of local prominence. Mr. Hamilton, the subject of 
this sketch, was one in a family of three children, and was born in 
Washington (now Marion) county, Ky., August 28, 1825. Reared in 
that county, his father being a farmer and stock-raiser, he was married 
there October 20, 1846, when Miss Mary J. Brown became his wife, 
a daughter of the well-known Peter Brown of Washington county, 
now deceased. In 1852, Mr. Hamilton removed to Missouri and 
settled in Monroe county. He has been successful as a farmer and 
stock-raiser, and has a place of 340 acres. Mr. and Mrs. H. have had 
11 children, eight of whom are living, namely: Susan D., Peter 
W., James A., Margaret I., Mary A., Theodore ^. and Clement A., 
Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton in religious belief are of the Catholic 
faith. 

WILLIAM H. HAWKINS 

(Deceased). 

For many years one of the highly respected citizens of Monroe 
county and one of its thorough-going, enterprising farmers, Mr. 
Hawkins' life was such in his family, as a neighbor and in every rela- 
tion in which he was placed, as to leave behind him a memory that 
reflects only credit upon his name and upon the community with 
which he was identified. He led an active, useful life, and died a 
death that was in keeping with the manner in which he lived, pro- 
foundly and sincerely mourned by those who knew him best, regretted 
by all and with the assurance, as safely as we can estimate the future 
life, that his would be one that might be looked forward to with hope 
and fiiith. He was born in Kentucky, August 17, 1810, and was a sou 
of Philemon and Alice (Lewis) Hawkins, both of old Virginia fami- 
lies. After his father died, the family came to Missouri, settling neai- 
Hannibal, William H. then being about 16 years of age. Remaining 
with his mother's family until after he attained his majority, he was 
then married to Miss Rachel Bates, a daughter of Isaac and Jane 

22 



424 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

(Davis) Bates, of Monroe county, and early settlers in this State 
from Kentucky, though they were originally from Virginia. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hawkins were marriecl October 13, 1836, he having met her 
some time before while looking at land in Monroe county. The 
spring after his marriage Mr. Hawkins settled near his father-in-law, 
on Clear creek, where Caldwell now lives. There he entered a small 
tract of land and afterwards increased it until he made a large farm. 
He sold this place in 1856 intending to go to Texas, but finally gave 
up the idea and settled where the family now resides. This is a fine 
farm of 400 acres. He died here February 8, 1872. He was a quiet, 
industrious home man, and followed farming exclusively from boy- 
hood. Thoroughly devoted to his family, most of his time when not 
employed on the farm was spent around his own fireside, though he 
was fond of the society of friends and quite popular with all his 
neighbors and acquaintances. He left a family of seven children, 
namely : Margaret J., now Mrs. M. F. Bryon, of Shelbina ; John F., 
an enterprising farmer of this county; Fannie E., now Mrs. N. W. 
Maupin ; James H., on the farm and in partnership with his brother, 
Thomas E., in farming and stock-raising; Mary A., a young lady 
who is still at home; Thomas E., of Shelbina; and William A., a 
well-to-do farmer of the county. James H. Hawkins was born Feb- 
ruary 27, 1849, and was reared on the farm. As stated above, he and 
his brother, Thomas E., are in partnership in the stock business. 
They buy and feed mules and handle annually from 100 to 500 head. 
They are quite successfully engaged in stock breeding on the farm, 
James H. having charge of the farm. He has the farm in fine condi- 
tion and is regarded as one of the best farmers and most enterprising 
stockmen of the northern part of the county. Mr. Hawkins is un- 
married, though he is quite fond of society and is quite popular 
among the young people of both sexes. He is one" of the worthy, 
highly esteemed citizens of Washington township. 

DAVID R. HUME 

(Farmer, Section 6, Post-office, Paris). 

Among the self-made men of Monroe county stands out conspicu- 
ously the gentleman whose memoir now engages our attention. Begin- 
ning life without means or influence, Mr. Hume has worked his way 
steadily upward, and now enjoys the proud consciousness that no one 
in the county occupies a more honorable position among men, from 
everv point of view, than he. His father, James Hume, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, born in Cumberland county, December 27, 1809. 
Thence he removed to Ohio, where in Shelby county he married Miss 
Mary Driclem, l)orn and raised in that county. He had eight chil- 
dren, of whom but two are now living: James H. and David R. The 
latter, l)orn Octo])er 17, 1839, was reared in Shelby county, O. 
He followed the occupation of a farmer there up to February 23, 
1883, when he removed to Monroe county. Mo. He married in his 
native county Miss Annie Shaw, who was born August 23, 1843, in 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 425 

the same county. While still in Ohio eight children were born to 
them, seven of whom are living: Hubert S., Edmund E., Arthur 
C, Stella M., William, Olivia G.) Earl C. and Mary L. Himself and 
family are strict members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Humes' 
farm, consisting of 270 acres, is very nicely improved and well fenced. 
He is rapidly surrounding himself with all the comforts of a thrifty 
and prosperous farmer, and it is safe to say that he will continue to 
-enhance the value of his property by other improvements in the 
future, making it one of the model farms of the township. 

JOSEPH H. JETT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clapper). 

Mr. Jett was born and reared in this county, two and a half miles 
south of Clinton, August 11, 1841. He started out for himself with- 
out any means to speak of, having only his ability to work and 
•enterprise and intelligence to rely upon for a successful career in life. 
In 1860 he rented the place he is now on, and in two years was able 
to buy it partly on time. Industry and perseverance soon enabled 
him to complete the payments on his home, and from that time to this 
his career has been one of continued and substantial success. He has 
been engaged in farming and stock-raising all the time, and now feeds 
annually about 200 head of hogs, 30 to 40 head of cattle, and has a 
large number of sheep, besides a good stock of horses and mules and 
other farm animals. His place contains 271 acres, which is one of 
the best stock farms in the vicinity. Mr. Jett has long been regarded 
as one of the substantial citizens of Washington township, and is a 
man whose upright life and many kind, neighborly qualities have made 
him much valued as a friend and acquaintance by all. The Jett family 
was one of the pioneer families of this part of North Missouri, having 
come here as early as 1825. Mr. Jett's father, William Jett, was a 
hatter by trade and first located at Palmyra. He then settled on Salt 
river, in Monroe county, where Joseph H. was born. He settled there 
in 1830, at a time when there were but few settlers in this part of the 
county — the Martins, Pritchetts, and a few other families having 
come in a short time before. Mr. Jett's father died here, and the 
mother, whose maiden name was Martha Dicker, is still living. They 
had a family of nine children, namely: Elizabeth ("Bettie"), who 
became the wife of Judge Moore, and, after his death, the wife of 
James Hubbard, and is now a resident of Texas ; William D., now of 
Kokomo, Col. ; Emily, who was the wife of Pet. Dooley, is now 
his widow, Mr. D. having been a brother to Judge Dooley, and now 
lives, as does her eldest sister, Bettie, with the hitter's son in Texas ; 
Mary ("Polly"), now the wife of James Young, of Lewis county; 
Stephen, now of Doniphan, Kan. ; Sarah, now Mrs. Benjamin Wash- 
burn ; James, who died in the hospital whilst a Union soldier, at Fort 
Scott, Kan., during the war; and Samuel, now of Kokomo, Col. ; 
and Joseph H., the subject of this sketch, who is the seventh in the 
family. After Joseph H. Jett grew up, he was married November 



426 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

19, 1863, to Miss Amanda Vanskike, of this county. April 10, 1880, 
she died, however, leaving him five children: Samuel D., now in 
Illinois ; Loula Lee, William Jett, at home ; Anna May, now at 
school, and James Eddy. Mr. Jett was married to his present wife 
March 26, 1882. She was a Miss Ella V. Bradley, a daughter of 
Nomus Bradley, of near Florida. Mr. and Mrs. J. are members of 
the church, he of the Christian and she of the Baptist. Mr. Jett's 
mother is still living at the age of 78, and resides with her grand- 
daughter, Mrs. Mary Forbes, near HoUiday, and is said to be the 
stoutest woman, in the original and true sense of that word, in Monroe 
county, considering her age. She is also a member of the Presby- 
terian Church. 

JAMES T. MARTIN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

Mr. Martin is one of the oldest living residents of the northern part- 
of this county. His parents, Robert B. and Susan (Pearson) Mar- 
tin, came from Kentucky to Missouri in 1824, when James T. was a 
lad about 12 years of age. They first located near Palmyra, and then 
for a short time at Sharpsburg, in Marion county, but in 1829 settled 
in Monroe county, near the confluence of Deer creek and Salt river, 
in the neighborhood where James T. Martin now lives, 55 years 
after theil' settlement here. The father Avas married four times, and 
left a large family of children. James T. Martin, born in Clark 
county, Ky., February 29, 1812, was 17 years of age when the family 
settled in Monroe county, and the same year returned to Kentucky to 
go to school. He remained there for four years, but at school only a 
part of the time. At Winchester, Ky., he learned the saddler's trade, 
and when 21 years of age returned to Monroe county. After this he 
worked at the saddler's trade at New Franklin, Mo., and then again 
for about two years in Kentucky. In 18 — he set up a shop at Clin- 
ton, and did business there for about 10 years. In 1848 Mr. Martin 
engaged in farming and has been farming ever since. He has led a 
life of industry and without reproach, respected and esteemed by all 
who know him. Years ago he was a candidate for county judge, but 
on account of the relative strength of parties was defeated. He is a 
man of good education, and particularly fond of reading and study. 
He has an excellent collection of books, and is Avell informed in his- 
tory and on most subjects of inquiry at the present time. Mr. Martin 
has been residing at his present place since 1848, and in his present 
dwelling for 23 years. He has a good farm comfortably improved, 
and is pleasantly situated in life. December 18, 1853, he was married 
to Miss Mary J. Fowler, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Car- 
lysle) Fowler, earl}'^ settlers in Missouri from Delaware. Mr. and 
Mrs. Martin have had seven children, but two of whom are living: 
William Robert, born August 18, 1863, and educated at the Normal 
school of Kirksville ; and Mary E. (Miss MoUie), born January 16, 
1867. Mr. Martin has served as justice -of peace, but has never taken 



HISTOliY OF MONROE COUNTY. 427 

any active part in politics. During the war he was foraged on bv both 
parties. 

JAMES W. NESBIT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Huunewell). 

The Nesbit family is one of the oldest in Monroe county. Mr. 
Nesbit's grandfather, Robert Nesbit, came from Cynthiana, Harrison 
county, Ky., to Missouri in 1819, and located with his family, first, in 
Palmyra. But two years later he came to Monroe county and settled 
in the north-eastern part of the county, there being then only two 
other families in this part of the county, or rather in the whole sur- 
rounding region of country for miles, for a large district of North 
Missouri was then known as Ralls county, including what is now Mon- 
roe county. He lived to an advanced old age and died in Lewis 
county, Mo., in 1852, leaving a large landed estate. He had two sons 
and eight daughters, the two sons being Samuel, now of Kirksville, 
Mo., and John, the father of the subject of this sketch. All the fem- 
ily lived to become heads of families themselves. John Nesbit settled 
on land entered by his father on Deer creek, in this township, and 
when about 33 years of age, in 1834, was married to Miss Catherine 
Waller, then of Macon county. John Nesbit lived on his farm in this 
county until his death in 1867. He reared a family of four children, 
namely: Minerva, now the wife of George Cole, of Montague county 
Tex. ; William, James W. and John W. The father was a man of a 
great deal of life and energy and especially fond of hunting. He had 
the reputation of l)eing the best shot in the county, and generally bore 
off the prize at all shooting matches. He was a noted hunter and 
killed more deer and turkeys than any one throughout the whole sur- 
rounding country. While he was a man of the noblest and best qual- 
ities of head and heart, generous and kind, and brave-hearted and 
true, and a man of more than ordinary intelligence and information, 
he had one ineradicable fault, and that was an overweening fondness 
for the bowl, or a " dhrop o' th' crathur," as the Irish call it; and 
often when he took a little too much, but never more than he wanted, 
he would illustrate in both an amusing and perilous way the truth of 
Burns' hexastich : — 

" Jolm Barleycorn was a hero bold, 

Of noble enterprise, 
For if you do but taste his blood, 

'Twill make your courage rise; 
' Twill make a man forget his woe, 
'Twill heighten all his joy." 

It was not an uncommon thino; for him at such times to swim Salt 
river when it was swollen out of its banks and its torrents ot water 
surging and hunting by with almost the speed of lightning — times 
when it seemed certain death to enter the stream, a stream whose wa- 
ters have passed over many a lifeless form whilst the unfortunates 
were attempting to cross it. But barring this fault, he was a man whom 



428 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

all that knew him respected and admired, and his industry and good, 
strong common-sense made him successful in the affairs of life, though 
he never became by any means a wealthy man, for he was too gener- 
ous and cared too little for money to hoard it. James W. Nesbit was 
born on the homestead in this county, September 7, 1849, and was 
reared to the life of a farmer. His father was a man much given to 
reading and James W. inherited this quality, so that besides receiving 
a good common-school education he has become a man of liberal and 
wide information. Differing, however, from his father, he has always 
been a strong temperance man and has long been a prominent worker 
for the temperance cause. He was for several years a district organ- 
izer for the Sons of Temperance in Macon, Shelby, Randolph, How- 
ard and Monroe counties. Since early manhood he has been engaged 
in farming and stock-raising for himself. About ten years ago he had 
a half interest in 1(30 acres of land and some $500 or $600 in capital, 
but such has been his industry and good management that he is now 
in independent circumstances. He has two good farms aggregating 
about 500 acres of fine land, both run principally in blue grass as 
stock farms, and his home place is exceptionally well improved. He 
has just built a handsome barn at a cost of nearl}^ $1,000, and he is 
now preparing to erect a dwelling to cost nearly double that amount. 
Mr. Nesbit makes a specialty of feeding stock for the markets, and 
ships two or three car loads annually. He now has on hand about 60 
head of cattle besides considerable numbers of mules, horses, etc. 
Inasmuch as he is shortly to build a handsome residence it is believed, 
beyond a hinge to hang a doubt upon, that he has found one who has 
consented to become queen of his heart and home, and of whom he 
can truthfully say : — 

" My Nencia's beauty hath not any blot, 

She's stately, straight and tall as lass can be ; 
A dimple in her chin my love hath got, 

Which makes her bright laugh lovelier to see. 
There is no single charm she boasteth not; 

I think dame Nature framed her purposely 
So fair, so fine, so noble and so tender, 

That all the VForld might homage to her render." 

MORGAN O. ROBERTSON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Robertson traces his agnate lineage back to the old and 
respected Robertson family of Pennsylvania. In fact his father, 
Washington Robertson, was a direct representative of that family, 
born and reared in Pennsylvania, where he studied medicine and 
became a physician. He removed to Kentucky in 1810, locating 
in Henry county, where he practiced his profession and car- 
ried on farming on quite an extensive scale. He was married in that 
county to Miss Eliza J. Wiley, and of this union Morgan O., the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was born January 31, 1832. He was one of a 
family of seven children, only four of whom are now living: William 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 429 

W., Amanda J., Harriet N. and Morgan O. Morgan O. Robertson 
remained in Kentucky until after his marriage, which was on the 25th 
of September, 1855. Miss Jemima Kerlin then became his wife. 
Later along, desiring to have the advantage of cheap and fertile lands 
and of the excellent advantages in this State for raising stock, he came 
to Missouri, and settled in Monroe county. Here he secured some 
good land and has a comfortable homestead in a fair state of cultiva- 
tion and improvement. Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have three children : 
Callie B., Oscar D. and Sarah D. These were by Mr. Robertson's 
first wife, however, who was taken away by death when the youngest 
one was quite small. Mr. Robertson's present wife was previously a 
Miss Maggie Harlow, and is a most excellent lady. 

SAMUEL SHEARER 

(Farraei-, Post-office, Clapper). 

In the formative period of Roman greatness and splendor the great 
body of the people were distinguished fortheir physical vigor, independ- 
ence of character and courage, and not less than either for their fruit- 
fulness. Then it was, that the architects of that great nation were 
brought into existence and were multiplied to fill the ranks of its 
mighty armies, destined to carry the eagle of the Imperial City in 
triumph throughout the known Avorld. We read in Livy that in the early 
days of the Republic a family of from 13 to 23 children was considered 
only a general average among the people. So it is in the early, vigor- 
ous formative period of every people destined for greatness and empire, 
Hence it is not surprising to note, in reading the annals of the pioneers of 
this country, the numerical strength of their families. On the contrary, 
it was as it should be, and is a record greatly to their credit and honor. 
With the appearance of an era of decadence comes a diminution in the 
rate of increase of population, and the latter is an unfailing sign of the 
approach of the former. Among the families characteristic of the 
development in population of Missouri is that of which the subject of 
the present sketch is a representative. He was one of a family of 
14 children. His parents were Cavil Shearer and wife, whose 
maiden name was Dulcina Dooley, her Christian name in its Latin 
meaning being happily suggestive of the great prosperity which was 
to attend her domestic life. Both were originally from Kentucky, 
but they Avere married in Monroe county, for they came here when 
young and were among the first residents of the county. Of their 
happy union Samuel Shearer was born January 1, 1834, two years 
after the father came to the county. Samuel Shearer was reared to 
manhood in this county and was married here January 20, 1857, to 
Miss Mary E. Henderson, originally from Virginia. Mr. Shearer, the 
subject of this sketch, started out without anything to begin on, and 
by his own industry and perseverance has established himself com- 
fortably in life. He has a good farm of 172 acres in Washington 
township, where he has resided for many years, one'of the substantial, 
well respected citizens of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Shearer are 



430 HISTORY OF MONKOE COUNTY. 

members of the B;iptist Church. Three of their family of children 
are living: Preston, Nannie B. and Mary A. Three of his brothers 
and a sister are also living; Simeon, Thomas, Henshaw and Celia. 

DAVID H. STODDART 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Hunnewell). 

Mr. Stoddart is a native of Scotland, and was born at Dunfrieshire, 
June 14, 1836. He was reared in his native country, and there 
learned the carpenter's trade, serving an apprenticeship of four years. 
He then came to America in 185G, and stopped first in Canada, where 
a brother had preceded him, Robert, who came over in 1851 and was 
in Canada. Another brother, William, also came over at the same 
time Robert did, but William now resides in St. Paul, Minn., and is 
a prominent railroad contractor. Mr. Stoddart worked at his trade 
in Canada awhile, and then in Michigan, but came to Missouri in 1861, 
and was in the service of the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad Company 
during the entire war. He was attached to the protective service of 
the company, and was twice called out for military duty, once at the 
time of the burning of the Salt river bridge, and another time at 
Hannibal. His general employment, however, was in the line of his 
trade. In 1864, he came to the farm where he now resides. Subse- 
quently he vvas engaged in building bridges on theMissouri, Kansas and 
Texas one seasjn, and again in 1872 he did similar work for the St. 
Louis and South-Eastern. The followinij year he was engao-ed in 
trestle work for the Cairo and Vincennes. But in 1875 he returned to 
the farm and has since been engaged in farmino; and raising; stock. He 
keeps from 40 to 50 head of cattle, about the same number of hogs, 
and sometimes as man}^ as 30 head of mules on the place. The farm 
is owned by his brother William, of St. Paul, who improved it in 
1864 and lived here for nearly 20 years, going thence to St. Paul. 
The place contains 280 acres and is an excellent stock farm, well im- 
proved. On the 31st of August, 1882, Mr. David Stoddart was 
married to Miss Harriet N. Hayes, a daoghter of Kendall W. Hayes 
of this township. Mrs. S. is a meml)er of the M. E. Church, and he is 
a member of the Masonic Lodge at Hunnewell. 

CALEB WOOD 

(Fai-raer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Clapper). 

Between 1827 and 1837 four of the Wood brothers and three sisters, 
all grown up at the time and heads of families, came to Missouri from 
Bourbon county, Ky., where they were born and reared. They were 
the children of Malcum and Angelica Wood. Fielder Wood, who 
married Miss Mary Johnson, after he grew up, came to Boone county 
in 1827, but three years later settled in Monroe county on the farm 
where Caleb Wood, Jr., his son, now lives. Caleb Wood, Sr., a 
brother to Fielder -Wood, came to Marion county in 1827 and to Mon- 
roe in 1830, settling on an adjoining tract of land to that of his brother. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 431 

John Wood, another brother, came to Monroe county in about 1831, 
but died a few years afterwards, leaving a widow and a hirge family 
of children. Thomas Wood came in 1833 and lived in this county 
until 1840, when he went to Sullivan county, where he died over 20 
years afterwards. Nancy (Wood), the wife of John Arysmith, came 
in 1830 and settled adjoining to her brothers. Sarah, the wife of 
Henry Ashcraft, came out in 1834. She died in Paris in 1870. 
Fannie, the wife of Stephen Miller, came in about 1837, but subse- 
quently moved to Shelby county. Nearly all of these are now deceased. 
Fielder Wood, the father of the subject of the present sketch, on com- 
ing to the county, entered 160 acres of land, where he improved a 
farm. He lived here a successful farmer and well respected citizen 
until his death, which occurred in 1871. His wife died in 1833. They 
reared a family of seven children : Martha, now the widow of the late 
John L. Wood, a minister of the M. E. Church South, of the State 
of Oregon ; James, also in Oregon ; Caleb, the subject of this sketch; 
Rachel, now the wife of George A. Forralin, of Oregon ; John, residing 
near his brother Caleb ; Louisa, who died whilst the wife of Charles 
Fondler, and Julia A., who died whilst the wife of William T. Ary- 
smith in Sullivan county, Mo. Calel) Wood, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Bourbon county, Ky., January 6, 1824. After he grew 
up he iiiid his brother John ran the old homestead farm until the latter 
married, \ind then Caleb bought out the interest of the other heirs in 
the place and has since owned it. The farm contains 280 acres and 
here he has followed farming; and stock-raising. On the 1.6th of Octo- 
ber, 1851, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Fowler, a daughter of 
Jesse and Anna (Rickards) Fowler, formerly of Delaware. Her father 
was an early settler of Shelby county, and there he died. Her 
mother died in Delaware when Mrs. Wood was an infant. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wood have had nine children: Joseph A., now of Crawford 
county, Kan. ; Martha J., now Mrs. W. D. Brown, of Clarence ; May 
E., now Mrs. M. F. Bastian ; James F., Edward F., Charles R., who 
died at the age of thirteen in 1868 ; Henry T., John W., and Minnie 
M. Mr. and Mrs. Wood are members of the M. E. Church South. 
He has served as justice of the peace several years, a number of years 
ago, however. His uncle, Caleb Wood, had four children, all now iu 
Oregon, He served as justice of the peace for a number of years and 
was judge of the county court at the time of his death, which occurred 
in 1844. 



MARIOlSr TOWIS^SHIP. 



THOMAS J. BARKER 

(Fanner, Stock-raiser, Dealer and Feeder) . 

One of the most extensive and successful stock men in the county 
is he whose name heads this sketch. Born in Bourbon county, Ky., 



432 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

September 27, 1832, he come to Missouri with his parents in 1839, 
and has ever since been a resident of Monroe county. His father, 
Judge Thomas Barker, was a Kentuckian by birth ; his mother, 
Frances Dawson, a Virginian. The former, who was a soldier in the 
"War of 1812, when he arrived in Monroe county purchased about 
800 acres of hind near Paris and improved a farm. He was a large 
farmer and stock-dealer and a man of immense public weight. He 
served several terms as judge of the county court, and his decisions 
were ever characterized by the most brilliant and profound learning. 
Though twice suffering terrible financial reverses, he did not allow 
himself to be conquered, but gathering together his energy and 
strength re-entered the lists, coming off in the end victorious. At 
the time of his death he was a very wealthy man and had given his 
children at least 2,200 acres of land. T. J. was next youngest in a 
family of seven children, and grew up on a farm with ample oppor- 
tunities for acquiring information in that branch of business to which 
he has devoted his life. He early showed a taste for dealing in 
stock, and after receiving a good common school education, he chose 
this as the most congenial method of making a livelihood. He first 
lived for a few years on a farm five miles west of Paris, and in 1864 
took possession of his present farm. Mr. Barker has 1,200 acres 
of land, about 500 in the home place, 200 at the Welsh settlement 
and two small farms in other places, besides 300 acres in Southern 
Missouri, which is unimproved. Mr. Barker's chief business is ship- 
ping stock. He ships about 400 car loads annually, and last year he 
and his partner did a $250,000 trade. He feeds of his own about 200 
head of cattle and 200 hogs. He formerly dealt in short-horn cattle, 
but after three very large and profitable sales at Hannibal, St. Joe 
and Moberly, in 1875-76-77, he retired from business. Mr. Barker 
stands at the head of the flourishing and substantial dealers of the 
township and enjoys the confidence, respect and admiration of every 
class of the community. He married February 15, 1854, Miss Sallie 
C, daughter of N. W. Dawson, of Monroe, formerly from Kentuck3^ 
Mrs. B. was born in Henry county, near New Castle, but came to 
Monroe when a child. By this marriage there are six children : 
Anna Belle, wife of Sam T. Curtright, Jr.; James E., married; 
Charles D., Edwin, Minnie R. and Fannie Maud. Mrs. Barker is a 
member of the Christian Church and Mr. B. belongs to the I. O. 
O. F. 

WILLIAM P. BRADLEY, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Holliday). 

Having the advantages of thorough, general and professional edu- 
cations, and earnestly devoted to the practice of medicine, Mr. Brad- 
ley's career, although not a long one as yet, has been a most gratifying 
one, thus far, to him and to the public. He completed his medical 
education at the Keokuk Medical College in 1877, at which time he 
was graduated with high honor, for he had been a hard student of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 433 

medicine, and, to advance him the more rapidly, had the advantage of 
a fine general education. It is not too much to say that he quit 
Keokuk, la., one of the best qualified young physicians ever sent out 
from the medical colleges of that city. Since then he has been 
actively engaged in the practice of his profession for a period now of 
over seven years. He practiced for four years at Madisonville with 
his brother, Dr. John S. Bradley. After that he came to Holliday in 
1881, and has since been located here. His gentlemanly bearing, irre- 
proachable manner of life and thorough qualifications as a physician 
recommended him at once to the esteem and confidence of the public, 
and he was therefore not long in building up an excellent practice, 
which is still increasing. He has been very successful in the treat- 
ment of cases, and in several of great difficulty has made a high repu- 
tation for skill and ability. Dr. Bradley was born in Missouri (a son 
of Felix and Sarah (Volley) Bradley), August 1, 1850, his parents 
having come here in 1849 and located in Monroe county, where they 
partly reared their family. After taking a course in the common and 
intermediate schools, young Bradley entered the State University of 
Missouri, in which he continued as a student until his graduation in 
1872. October 5, 1880, Dr. Bradley was married to Miss Rosanna 
Herndon, a daughter of Dr. John B. Herndon, of Florida, Monroe 
county. Dr. and Mrs. Bradley have no children, having lost their 
only two in infancy. The Doctor and his wife are members of the 
Good Templars' lodge. 

SAMUEL CORNELIUS, 

(Farmer, Post-office, Madison). 

All old citizens who lived here before the war remember Elder 
Isaiah Cornelius, the father of the subject of this sketch, one of the 
earnest ministers of the Gospel. He was a native of England, born in 
Yorkshire, August 26, 1788, but came to America when quite young 
with his parents, who settled in Kentucky. He was there married to 
Miss Elizabeth Haney, who was born in Clark county in 1802. They 
had four sons : Richard H., now of Knox county, Mo., Samuel, Will- 
iam, of this county, and James, also of this county. The mother died 
when Samuel was about five years of age, and in 1828 the father 
married Miss Elizabeth Holmes, of which union all but one son are 
living, namely: Anna, the wife of Leonard Bates, of Vernon county. 
Mo. ; Joseph and John, twins, the former of Richardson county. Neb., 
and the latter of Franklin county, Kan. ; Thomas P., of Knox county. 
Mo. ; Kasiah, the wife of Dr. Thomas Cox, of Richardson county. 
Neb. and Alpheus G., the one deceased. In 1856 Elder Cornelius with 
his family, or those of them who had not grown up and gone to them- 
selves, removed to Missouri and settled in Monroe county, where the 
father remained engaged in the ministry until his death, which occurred 
in the spring of 1866. His last wife died in 1861. Samuel Cornelius, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Clark county, Ky., November 
25, 1822. He now resides on the old family homestead of his father's, 



434 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

which he owns. This is a good phice of 160 acres, and Mr. Cornelius 
is comfortably situated, his place being substantially improved with 
all necessary conveniences. In the fall of 1849 Mr. Cornelius was 
married to Miss Anna Norris, originally of Switzerland county, Ind. 
She bore him three children : Mary M., now of Knox county, Mo., 
being the wife of Montville De La Montague; Anna E., now the wife 
of Thomas M. Collins, and William M., who died in infancy. The 
mother died at the birth of her last child. January 23, 1856, Mr. 
Cornelius was married- to Miss Margaret P. Thompson, of Henry 
county, Ky. By this union there is a son, Samuel T., who is married 
and lives on the farm with his father, which the two cultivate in 
coparcenary. Mr. Cornelius lost his wife some years ago, but he and 
his son, together with the latter's wife are members of the Christian 
Church. 

WILLIAM A. DAVIS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Madison). 

Mr. Davis has been living on the place where he now resides for 36 
years. He has a good farm of 1,860 acres, and is regarded as an 
energetic farmer and worthy citizen. His parents, James and Eliza- 
beth (Fox) Davis, were among tlie first settlers of Ralls count}^, or 
rather they came with their parents, respectively, away back in the 
"twenties." They had but two sons, William A. and James C, now 
of Moberly. The father diedin 1876, and the mother in 1878. They 
left a farm of over 300 acres. Mr. Davis was reared to be a farmer, 
an occupation he has since followed. In the spring of 1848 he was 
married to Miss Martha J. Yeager, a daughter of Aaron and Verrilla 
Yeager. They have been blessed with ten children: Verrilla E., the 
wife of George W. Ellsberry ; James C, Thomas J., Cleopatra, the 
wife of Andrew Alexander, of Moberly; Aaron V., Billy U., Gabriel 
W., Oral W., Zulah M. and Ernest T. The part of Ralls county in 
which Mr. Davis was born was included in Monroe county after its 
organization, so Mr. Davis may be said to be a native of this county, 
and has therefore lived in it since the first streakings of earthly light 
illuminated the canopy of his globular optics, or, in other v/ords, from 
the time of his birth. Mr. Davis is one of those earnest, sterling 
men who believes that one should prosper only by honest industry, 
and all through life should maintain the strictest faith with his neigh- 
bors, his family, his church and his God. He is a very sincere mem- 
ber of the Christian Church, and believes that the code of the true 
church is to be found in the Bible, which he believes in from Genesis 
to Revelations, without the cross of a t or the dot of an i, and not in 
catechisms or anything of that sort. He is one of those true, plain- 
minded Christian men, neither bigoted nor intolerant, who believes 
that all men will be saved who live according to the teachings of the 
Bible, regardless of sect or similar doctrines. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 435 

ELD. WILLIAM M. FEATHERSTO^ 

(Minister of the Christian Church, Post-office, Madison). 

Rev. Mr. Featherston has been actively engaged in the ministry of 
the Christian Church since 1861, a period now of 23 years, and it is 
due to the truth to say that under the blessings of God his hibors 
have been productive of great good to the Church and to the cause of 
his religion. He is a man whose life has been squared according to 
the great principles of Christianity, and earnestly devoted to the 
saving of souls and all the best interests of those around him. As a 
minister, both in work inside and outside the pulpit, his efforts have 
been characterized by unfaltering zeal, indefatigable industry and an 
earnest desire to promote the great cause of which he is a represen- 
tative. In his daily walk and talk and in the discharge of the duties 
of the sacred office, he has always observed the same spirit of humility, 
sincerity and piety, and he so lives that his life illustrates the great 
truths he teaches. He has been pastor of the church at Madison for 
a number of years, and no minister ever commanded the sincere 
respect and affection of his congregation more fully than he. Mr. 
Featherston is a native of Kentucky, born in Jessamine county, 
February 24, 1833. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah 
VVymore, died while he was in infancy, leaving besides W. M. six 
sons and four daughters, of whom the five brothers are yet living. 
Subsequently the father, Burwell Featherston, was married to Miss 
Rebecca Gorman, of Jessamine county, Ky., who bore him five 
daughters and a son, of whom all but one daughter are living, and in 
1841 the family removed to Missouri, settling on a farm in Randolph 
county. He is now living in Monroe county, at the advanced age of 
87, but in good general health and well preserved in mind. His wife 
died in 1874. William M. Featherston, the subject of this sketch, 
eight years of age when the family came to Randolph county, was 
reared on a farm, and was principally self-educated, though he 
attended several of the neighborhood schools, and after he was 21 
years of age spent a term at the male academy at Paris. For a num- 
ber of years he taught school, a part of the time alternated with 
attending school himself, and the balance with studying for the min- 
istry... He was ordained in 1861 at the Madison Church, of Avhich he 
is now pastor, and at once began his active work in the pulpit. Of 
his career we have briefly spoken above, which is one that reflects only 
credit on himself and the church. In 1850, he was married to 
Miss Mary J., a daughter of Edward and Sarah E. Ragsdale. Rev. 
Mr. and Mrs. Featherston have no children. He is an active member 
of the Sons of Temperance. 

JOHN W. JOHNSTON 

(Assessor of Monroe County, Paris) . 

Mr. Johnston, who is now filling his third term in the office of 
assessor, is a native of Monroe county, born March 16, 1833. His 



436 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

father, Heniy Johnston, from Kentucky, born in 179(5, was a mechanic 
and farmer by occupation faiid followed these in Jefferson town- 
ship, of this county, after coming to Missouri, until his death. John 
W. assisted his father during youth and remained with him until 
he attained his majority. He attended an occasional neighborhood 
school as he grew up and, besides, studied diligently at home, so 
that he became qualified to teach school. When 21 years old he 
began teaching, which he followed for about two years. He then 
located on a farm he owned and went to worii, where he continued 
farming until 1857. Selling his place, he removed to Long Branch, 
in the southern part of the county, where he bought raw land and 
improved another farm. He lived on this place, engaged in farm- 
ing with good success, for about 26 years. Selling it he bought 
another place in the neighborhood, and afterwards followed dealing in 
stock in addition to farming. This farm he also improved from raw 
land. Mr. Johnston being an old teacher, always took a lively inter- 
est in school affairs, and was school director for several years, and 
treasurer of the local school board. He also taught school for a while 
during the year 1862-63. Besides school offices he held the position 
of township clerk for a few years. In 1883, however, he removed to 
HoUiday, where he has since resided. Being a man of good business 
qualifications and unimpeachable integrity, he was picked out in 1878 
as the proper man for county assessor and was accordingly elected 
to that office. Since then he has been twice re-elected and still holds 
the position. His assessments give general satisfaction and he is 
more than ordinarily popular as a pul)lic officer. He is in the saddle 
almost constantly attending to his duties, and suffers nothing to go 
unattended to. He also has two or three deputies to assist him and 
together they keep the business of the office in excellent shape. As 
a matter of curiosity, some friend of his who has noticed that he is 
always on the go, has figured out that he travels about 1,200 miles a 
year in the performance of his official duties. That of itself ought to 
be worth three times the pay he gets. In 1880 he took the U. S. 
census of this district by appointment from Commissioner Walker, of 
Washington. February 3, 1854, Mr. Johnston was married to Miss 
Celia A. Lee, who lived to brighten his home for nineteen years, dying 
however in 1875. She left five children : Augusta, the wife of James 
C. Moore; Alice, the wife of George P. Moore.; Everett J. and 
John and Lizzie. To his present wife Mr. Johnston was married 
March 16, 1881. She was formerly Miss Louisa C. Rice. 

JUDGE THOMAS W. McCORMICK 

(Of T. W. McCormick & Sou, Dealers in Hardware, Tiuvvare, Stoves, Agricultural 

Implements, etc., Holliday). 

Judge McCormick, a leading business man of the Western part of 
the county, and a man of high character and marked influence in the 
community, is by nativity from the old Commonwealth; — Virginia, 
which has given to Missouri so many of our best citizens. He was 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 437 

born in Clarke county, of the Old Dominion, April 6, 1820. At tlje 
early age of four years he was left an orphan by the death of both 
parents, and was reared by relatives. His father. Province McCor- 
niick, was of one of the most respected families in Clarke county, 
and was a man of liberal education. His mother, before her mar- 
riage a Miss Mazzie Davenport, was also of a good family in the 
northern part of Virginia. Young McCormick, being well con- 
nected, was given good advantages for an education. He was sent 
to both Kenyon College, Ohio, and Princeton College, New Jersey, 
and was graduated in 1839. After his graduation he remained in 
Virginia engaged in mercantile business until 1844, when he came 
to Missouri, and located in Macon county, in which he beo-an mer- 
chandising at McGee College. He was also occupied with farming in 
the vicinity of that place, and continued there until 1879, when^he 
came to Holliday and began his present business with his son. Judo-e 
McCormick is a man who has always commanded the respect and 
confidence of those around him. A capable and energetic business 
man, he is at the same time agreeable in his intercours* with others, 
and accommodating to the last degree, while for personal worth and 
reliability, he is never questioned in word or deed. In 1875 he was 
elected to the office of county judge in Macon county for a period 
of four years, but on account of a change made soon afterward in 
the general law of the State, he held the office but one year. 
Besides occupying that position, he was a justice of the peace in 
Macon county for about sixteeen years consecutively, and is now 
holding a commission from the Governor as notary public. He is a 
worthy member of the A. F. and A. M., and also of the Good 
Templars, in both of which orders he takes a commendable interest. 
Judge McCormick has been twice married. On the 7th of February, 
1850, he was married to Miss Harriet Hill, formerly of Virginia! 
She survived, however, less than three years, dying Septeml)e? 22, 
1852. She left him two children : Ficklen and Strother, the last of 
whom died in 1861. To his present wife Judge McCormick was 
married December 7, 1854. She was a Miss Mary A. Tedford, a 
daughter of Andrew Tedford, formerly of Alabama. There are 
three children by this union : Francis D., Cyrus A. and May E. The 
Judge and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

^^ RICHARD P. MOORE 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Holliday). 

Mr. Moore is a son of A. P. Moore, an old and highly respected 
citizen of this county, and was born on the old family homestead Octo- 
ber 3, 1854. His mother was a Miss Mary Guthrie before her mar- 
riage, of the well known Guthrie family of North Missouri. The 
father being an energetic, go-ahead farmer, Richard P. was brought 
up to industrious farm work, and not only learned thorouohly the 
business of agricultural life, but, reared in the country and"^ to the 
active work of firming, was favored with the development of a o-ood 



438 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

physical constitution, without which one can not hope for comfort, or 
hardly expect success. In the country schools he secured a satisfac- 
tory knowledge of books, and much attached to farm life, as soon as 
he reached manhood he began ftirming for himself. Being young yet, 
of course he has not become one of our solid citizens, for he has not 
had the time to accumulate property, but still he has a neat farm and 
is making a good start in life. He is not married yet, which is about 
the worst thing that can be said of him. 

LITTLEBEREY B. WADE 

(Retired Farmer and School Teacher, Post-office, Madison) . 

Mr. Wade was one of the early settlers of Monroe county, coming 
to Marion county from Kentucky as early as 1835, and settling in this 
county two years later. He first taught school principally, but later 
along followed farming mainly, keeping up to pursuits, however, the 
former desultorily until six years ago, when he sold his farm, a fine 
place of nearly 400 acres, and retired from active work both on the 
farm and in the schoolroom. It is thus seen that his life has been a 
success. He was born in Bath county, Ky., June 18, 1815. His 
parents, James and Nancy (Bay) Wade, were early settlers in Ken- 
tucky, or rather came there with their parents in an early day, the 
father from Rockingham county, Va., and the mother from Pennsyl- 
vania. They spent their lives in Kentucky, and are buried side by 
side in the neighborhood cemetery in Bath county, of that State. But 
two of their family of five sons and three daughters are living : Frances 
A., who resides in Fayette count}', 111., being the only other sur- 
vivor besides the subject of this sketch. Littleberry B. Wade was 
reared in Kentucky, and the day before he was 18 years of age was 
married to Miss Mar}^ E.Mason, a daughter of Silas Mason, originally 
of Culpeper county, Va., and a descendant of the distinguished Mason 
family of that State. Two years after his marriage he removed to 
Missouri, as stated above. Mr. and Mrs. Wade have had 12 children, 
four daughters of whom are deceased : Anna E., the wife of William 
Sibel, of Genesee, III.; Nancy, now the widow of Luther Love; 
James A., of New Mexico ; Henry, Samuel, now of Jefferson county, 
Mont. ; Clifton, Ephraim, of Montana, and Florence, the wife of Mon- 
tieth Riley. The deceased are: Martha V., who died at the age of 
13; Mary E., who died after becoming the wife of Bayless Riley; 
Lucy A., who died whilst the wife of Charles Mitchell ; and Louisa, 
who died whilst the wife of Dr. D. B. Wilcox. Mr. Wade has a hand- 
some piece of property in the town of Madison and is comfortably 
situated in life, his residence being one of the best in the vicinity. 
He and wife are members of the Christian Church. Both are highly 
esteemed and respected. 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 439 



CLAY TOWKSHIP. 



JOHN S. AUSTIN 

(Of N. M. Read & Co., Millers, Granville). 

Mr. Austin bought an interest in the Granville mill in 1865, and 
has since been identified with it as one of its owners and proprietors 
and active operators. This is an excellent mill of two run of buhrs, 
with ample machinery of a good quality and pattern, and does first- 
class custom work. It is run by steam power and is one of the valu- 
able pieces of mill property in the north-western part of the county. 
Mr. Austin is an experienced miller and, besides, a polite, accommo- 
dating man, and thus not only does good work but knows how to 
treat the public so as to keep up the enviable reputation both he and 
his mill enjoy. Mr. Austin was born in Marion county, October 14, 
1838. His father, John F. Austin, came to this State from Kentucky 
as early as 1830, and was married to his second wife, subsequently 
the mother of John S., whose maiden name was Miss S. J. Wilson, 
soon after coming to the State. He died in Marion county in 1849 
and the same year John S.,then 11 years of age, came over into 
Monroe county, where he has since lived. He was reared on a farm 
in this county, but whilst still young apprenticed himself to the car- 
penter's trade, under his uncle, Wesley Wilson, at Paris, with whom 
he worked until he had mastered the business. He then worked for 
others or on his own account at his trade in Paris up to 1861, when, 
having married several years before, he settled on a farm, and fol- 
lowed farming for two or three years. Becoming dissatisfied, how- 
ever, in 1865 he came to Granville and bought an interest in the mill, 
as stated above. October 14, 1858, Mr. Austin was married to Miss 
Nannie E. Kipper, a daughter of John and Jane Kipper, of this 
county, but formerly of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Austin have seven 
children : Adda E., wife of J. Wesley McGee ; Jennie S., Anna May, 
Marcus B., Frank W., Belle and Sadie. Mr. and Mrs. A. and all 
their family, except the two youngest children, are members of the 
Christian Church. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Gran- 
ville and of the Chapter at Paris. 

HON. MARCUS D. BLAKE Y 

(Ex-Representative, and Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Post-office, Granville). 

Among the leading citizens and prominent and successful farmers 
and stock-raisers of the county, the subject of the present sketch has 
long occupied an enviable position. He came to the county when the 
whole country around him was in its primitive condition, unfenced 
and untouched by the husbandman. He purchased 700 acres of fine 
land and improved a handsome farm, having under fence nearly the 

23 



440 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

whole of his tract. His farm is one of the best improved in his part 
of the county, having a hirge two-story residence, commodious barns, 
other out-buildings of every needed kind, substantial fences, large 
fields and pastures, a good orchard, etc., etc. In fact, it is one of the 
choice places of the county. Mr. Blakey makes a specialty of raising 
fine stock, and has a herd of some 25 as fine thoroughbred short-horns 
as are to be met with in Monroe county, besides having sold off a 
number of fine cattle, for he raises them to sell principally as breed- 
ers, and has done a great deal in this way for the improvement of the 
grade of cattle raised in the county. He also makes a specialty of 
raising Poland-China hogs, of which he has a large number. One of 
the progressive-minded, enterprising farmers of the county, he is at 
the same time one of its most public-spirited and popular citizens. 
Favored in early life with an advanced education, and having after- 
wards followed mercantile pursuits with success for a number of years, 
his education and experience in affairs are such as to entitle him to 
the enviable position he has so long held. Mr. Blakey is a native of 
the Old Dominion, born in Madison county March 28, 1822. On both 
sides he came of old and respected Virginia families, the Blakeys and 
the Ruckers, and his father, James Blakey, was in comfortable cir- 
cumstances. His mother, formerly Miss Margaret Rucker, was a 
daughter of Angus Rucker, a well-to-do and influential citizen of 
Madison county. She is still living, at the advanced age of 91. Mar- 
cus D. was educated in his native county, and besides studying the 
other higher branches took a course in advanced mathematics, includ- 
ing trigonometry, and also a course in Latin and Greek. He then 
taught school in Virginia with success for three years. In 1844 he 
came to Missouri and located at Clinton, in Monroe county, where he 
engaged in merchandising. From there he removed to Paris and 
continued merchandising up to 1854. Meanwhile he had purchased 
the tract of land on which he now resides, and he then moved on to it 
and opened a farm. November 3, 1847, he was married to Miss Patsey 
J, Buckner, a daughter of Madison Buckner, a pioneer settler of this 
countv from Virginia, and related to the pronunent Buckner family of 
that State, Kentucky and Missouri. Mr. Blakey's first wife died on 
the third of November, 1871, leaving him six children, who are now 
grown up and married : Ellen M., wife of Benjamin F. Harvey ; Mary 
A., wife of T. T. Rodes ; Frederick G., Angus R., Julia B. and 
Katie M. Mr. Blakey was married to his present wife November 23, 
1872. She was Mrs. R. A. Weedin, widow of Mr. Weedin, deceased, 
and a daughter of Dr. Sylvester Hagin, of this county, but formerly 
of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Blakey have one son, Harry, nine years 
of age. Mr. Blakey has always been identified with the Democratic 
party, taking an active interest in its success and the triumph of Dem- 
ocratic principles. Away back in 1856 he was assessor, and has held 
other positions of consideration. In 1878 he was nominated for the 
Legislature and was elected by a large niajority, receiving nearly as 
many votes as both the candidates who ran against him. He acquitted 
himself with great credit in the Legislature and occupied a position of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 441 

more than ordinary influence in that body. Personally, he is a man 
of pleasant, agreeal^le manners, and readily wins the good opinion of 
all with whom he conies in contact. No man in the vicinity is more 
highly esteemed as a neighbor and friend than he. 

JOHN S. CROW 

(Farmer and Fiae Stock Breeder, Post-office, Paris). 

In the early days of this county, for a number of years Dr. Samnel 
•Crow, the father of the subject of this sketch, and Dr. Bower, were 
the physicians of the county, that is, if they were not the only prac- 
titioners here they were the leading ones, and did by far the principal 
])art of the practice. Dr. Crow was a Kentuckian, and early came to 
Missouri with his family, his wife having been a Miss Catherine Smith, 
of Kentucky. He first located in Cole county, where John S., the 
son, was born November 10, 1828. Whilst the latter was still in 
infancy Dr. Crow removed to Monroe county with his family and 
settled in the neighborhood in which John S. now resides, or rather in 
this vicinity, there being little or no " neighborhood " here for want 
of neighbors, inasmuch as the county was then nearly a wilderness. 
He practiced medicine in this county over an area of 20 or 30 miles, 
being almost constantly in the saddle or at the bedside of the sufiering, 
until at last he who had healed so many was himself stricken down by 
the fatal hand of death. He was a man .well known all over the 
county, one whose life had been of much value to the people, and his 
loss was greatly deplored. He had accumulated a handsome fortune 
for those days, and at his death was the owner of 3,000 acres of 
choice lands. He died in 1852. John S. Crow was principally reared 
in this county, and received a good general English education by 
private instruction and in the subscription schools of the vicinity ; 
indeed, most of his time was spent in study, for he was generally in 
delicate health during his adolescence. In 1853 he made a visit to 
Kentucky, and there met and was married to Miss Catherine Kerr, a 
daughter of Enos Kerr, a leading citizen of Louisville. Mrs. Crow is 
a lady of superior education and rare intelligence, one of the estimable 
and excellent ladies of the county. Returning to Missouri with his 
fair young wife, Mr. Crow engaged in farming on the old family 
homestead, where he resided for about three years. He then bought 
raw land and improved a place of his own, where he has since con- 
tinued to reside. He has a handsome farm of 330 acres, which is 
improved with good fences, buildings, etc., meadows, pastures, and 
the like, a fine orchard and small fruits, and everything is in excellent 
shape. Mr. Crow, besides tarming and raising stock in a general 
way, is making a specialty of fine cattle, and has a fine Palangus, 
Gregis, two years of age. Mr. Crow is aman of sterling character, 
superior intelligence, and one of the substantial, highly esteemed 
citizens of Clay township. Hospitable about his home and unassum- 
ing in manners and conversation, as a neighbor he is highly prized 
by all around him. Mr. and Mrs. Crow have reared a family of seven 



442 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

children ; Lavenia, wife of Charles Bnrk ; Cora, wife of Angus 
Blakey : Laura, wife of Andy Bassett ; Charles D., Enos R., Frank 
and Smith. 

HENRY CURTRIGHT, 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville). 

Mr. and Mrs. Curtright are members of the Christian Church, at 
Granville, believing that the views held by that church are nearest in 
accord with the true teachings of the Scriptures. They have been 
members of the church for years, and by their lives endeavor to illus- 
trate, as nearly as the weakness of flesh and contiguous conditions will 
allow, the great principles of faith and hope and good works which 
they profess. Mr. Curtright, as was his wife, was brought up by 
Christian parents, and had instilled into his youthful mind the lessons 
of piety, charity and religious truth, which he has never forgotten. He 
was born in Bourbon county, Ky., December 21, 1843. His father 
was Hezekiah M. Curtright, named after that great and good king of 
Judah, who suppressed idolatry in Jerusalem and re-established the true 
religion. He also cleansed and repaired the temple and held a solemn 
passover. A more extended account of his life appears in Isaiah 
xxxvi. Mr. Curtright's mother, a good and most excellent lady, was 
formerly Miss Cynthia A. Stipp, and both the father and mother were 
native Kentuckians. Irt 1844 the family removed to Missouri and 
located in Monroe county. Here the father bdught the farm where 
the son now lives, which was partly improved, and the improvement 
of which he completed. Besides being a man greatly interested in the 
church, he was deeply concerned for the palilic good, and took a lead- 
ing part in opening roads throughout this part of the county. He was 
for a number of years road overseer and made nearly all the roads of 
Clay township. He died in February, 1866. His wife died in 1871. 
Henry, after he grew up, served in the Southern army under Col. 
Porter for a while and was in the battle at Kirksville, where he was 
wounded in the side, under the arm. He was taken prisoner and con- 
fined at St. Louis and Alton for about 18 months. He then took 
the oath and was released, and came back to the home place. 
December 26, 1867, he was manied to Miss Elizabeth Clay, a daughter 
of C. S. Clay, of this county, whose sketch appears on another page 
of this volume, one of the sterling, good men of the county, a pioneer 
settler here from Kentuck}'. After his marriage Mr. Curtright con- 
tinued on the home place for two years. He then rented land and 
farmed until 1871, when he rented the home place and lived on it for 
two years afterwards. After his mother's death he bought the other 
children's interests as they became of age, and now owns the old 
homestead. He has 140 acres in this farni, all under fence, an 
excellent homestead, substantially and comfortably improved. He 
has just built a new dwelling and is constantly adding to the value of 
the place. Mr. and Mrs. Curtright have six children: Leonard E., 
Hezekiah, Charles M. and Maggie L., twins, and Travis L. and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 443 

I 

Martha A. Mr. Ciirtright is a man of great peraoual worth and is 
held ill high respect by his neighbors and all who know him. 

JAMES DYE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville). 

Before Monroe county had " a habitation or a name," away back in 
the wiklerness-days of the country, the Dye family came to Missouri. 
Tliis was long before the subject of the present sketch was born, he 
having been born in Ralls county, December 20, 1829. His parents, 
Faiintleroy and Elizabeth (Young) Dye, were from Kentucky to this 
State, but his mother was originally from North Carolina. When 
the territory, now in half a dozen counties, was known as Ralls 
county, then an almost uninhabitable wild, Avith a settler here and 
there, a day's journey apart or more, they came to Ralls county and 
located in that part of it which is still included in the original county 
of that name. James Dye was born after hjs parents had been living 
there a number of years, and the following year they moved to what 
is now known as Monroe county. There they located on Big Indian 
creek, now in Indian Creek township, where they entered land in the 
timber, for no one thought the prairies were tit for cultivation then, 
where they opened a farm and lived some ten years. Selling out, 
however, in 1840, they crossed over into Shelby county, where they 
improved another farm and lived until their death. The father died 
November 28, 1870, at an advanced age. James Dye was prmcipally 
reared in Shelby county, and when twenty-one 3'^ears of age went to 
Texas, in 1851, then an almost terra incognita to the civilized 
world, where he spent about a year engaged in trade, and also taught 
school in a neighborhood of settlers who went there with the -^neas 
Italice of the Lone Star State, Col. Sam. Houston. Returning to 
Missouri, he resumed farming, and on September 1, 1853, was married 
to Miss Anna Bozarth, a daughter of Elias Bozarth, of Monroe 
county, but formerly of Kentuck3\ After his marriage he returned 
to Texas, l)ut remained only a short time, coming back in 1855 and 
settling in Shelby county, where he improved a farm, and resided in 
Shelby county, engaged in farming, until 1864, when he removed to 
Monroe county and located about four miles south of Paris, in Jack- 
son township. Mr. Dye lived in Jackson township for nearly 20 
years, but something over a year ago sold his place there and bought 
the farm where he now resides, at Greenville, to which he at once 
removed. Here he has a place of 125 acres, on which he has good 
homestead improvements, including besides the buildings, fences, etc., 
a good ice-house and an orchard of about 100 bearing trees. August 
21, 1862, he had the misfortune to lose his lirst wife, who left him three 
sons: Fauntleroy, Elias and Jacob D., who have grown up to man- 
hood, and the two oldest are married and have four children in the 
aggregate. They and their wives are members of the Christian 
Church. To his present wife he was married in 1863. Her maiden 
name vvas Miss Mary Woods, and she was a daughter of John Woods, of 



444 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

this county, but formerly of Kentucky. They have reared a daughter, 
Mary E., now the wife of William J. Glascock. Mrs. Glascock has 
an infant child, Bessie Lee. Mr. Dye and wife and daughter are 
members of the Granville Christian Church. 

'SQUIRE WILSON T. FIELDS 

(Parmer and Raiser and Shipper of Stock, Post-office, Granville). 

'Squire Fields, who served as judicial magistrate of Clay township 
for 16 years consecutively, subsequent to 18(i0, and who is one of the 
substantial property holders and leading, influential men of this town- 
ship, comes of the Maryland branch of the Fields family, a family 
that has given to the country some of its ablest and purest men in 
public life, and a number of distinguished characters in other depart- 
ments of activity, including the professions and the arts and sciences. 
The 'Squire's father, John Fields, was in tender years when the latter' s 
parents became pioneer settlers in Kentucky from Maryland. He 
grew up in the future famous Blue Grass State, and was married there 
to Miss Elizabeth Wiseheart, of Nelson county. The 'Squire was born 
in Washington county, January 21, 1827, and the family continued to 
reside there until after he had attained his majority and married. He 
married Miss Caroline Bell, a daughter of Col. William Bell, of 
Washington county, and a most estimable and intelligent lady, Decem- 
ber 22, 1853. Reared a farmer, he pursued that occupation in Ken- 
tucky for some five years after his marriage, when he with his family, 
in company with his father's family, removed to Missouri, and settled 
on the land where he now resides, which he had previously bought. 
It was raw land and he went to work here and improved a good farm. 
The father died June (3, 1865. Previous to this 'Squire Fields had 
lost his wife. May 17, 1863. She left him four children, namely: 
Letitia, wife of James E. Brengle ; John H., Logan M. and Elizabeth, 
wife of R. D. Phillips. 'Squire Fields was married to his present wife 
April 14, 1864. She was formerly Miss Mary B. Wilson, a daughter 
of William H. and Maria B.(Hoge) Wilson, originally of Virginia. The 
'Squire is blessed with six children by this union: Washington, Oscar, 
Maude, Lillie, Robert and Burr. 'Squire Fields has been a large land- 
holder in the township, but has given to his children and sold off until 
he now has less than a half section, over a quarter of a section ot 
which is improved. He has a good homestead, and is a hospitable, 
plain, frank old gentleman whom it is always a pleasure to meet, par- 
ticularly at his own home. His life has been one of industry and 
strict uprightness, and he therefore meets every honest man with an 
open countenance and a hearty, generous greeting. He was elected 
magistrate in 1860, and held the office as long as he would accept it, 
for 16 years. He could have had other positions, but never had any 
desire for public life, always preferring the quiet and comforts of home 
and the society of his neighbors and friends to the worry and annoy- 
ance and empty parade of prominent official station. The 'Squire 
ships annually about four car loads of stock, two of cattle and two of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 445 

hogs. He and wife and five eldest children are all members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a prominent member of the 
Masonic order. 

JACOB H. FORD 

{"Farmer, Post-OflSce, Granville). 

Mr. Ford, now 63 years of age, is a native of Monroe county, born 
August 21, 1821, and is thought to have been the first white male 
child born in the limits of the county. His father. Pleasant Ford, 
was a pioneer settler in Missouri, coming to this State as early as 
1818, and was the first sheriff ever elected in this county. Mr. Ford's 
mother was a Miss Ellen Harris before her marriage. The family 
first located in Howard county, but in 1820 removed to Monroe county 
and settled at Middle Grove, where Jacob H. was born. His father 
served two terms as sheriff, and in 1825 returned to Howard county, 
but came back to Monroe five years afterwards and settled near Paris. 
He resided here until his death, which occurred in 1844. Jacob H. 
was reared in the county and when 22 years of age, January 17, 1844, 
was married to Miss Mary W. Abernathy, a daughter of James R. 
Abernathy, formerly of Keutucky and the first treasurer of Monroe 
county. After his marriage Mr. Ford lived on his father's farm one 
year and then removed to Boone county, but soon came back and 
bought a farm three miles north of Paris. He lived there until the 
spring of 1861, when he moved to a place which he had bought 
adjoining the one on which he now resides, where he lived for twelve 
years. He then sold that place and bought his present homestead. 
This contains 260 acres of land, and is well improved. He devotes 
most of his land to meadow, finding it to be a paying crop. He also 
has another tract of land in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Ford have 
reared six children : D. Ella, wife of C. S. Wood ; William H., also 
married; Arzelia, wife of Joseph Brierly ; Tirey L., Zerelda, wife of 
L. M. Webb, and Hugh W. Mr. and Mrs. Ford and all their family 
except one son, who has not yet joined, are members of the Granville 
Christian Church. 

TIREY FORD 

(Farmer, Post-Offlce, Granville) . 

Mr. Ford is a brother to Jacob H, Ford, whose sketch precedes 
this, being three years the hitter's junior, and was in infancy when his 
parents came to Missouri, having been born in Madison county, 
January 21, 1818. His father was from Virginia, but was brought 
out to Kentucky by the latter's parents when he was but six years of 
age, the family being pioneer settlers in Madison county of the Blue 
Grass State. Pleasant Ford was married, after he grew up, to Miss 
Ellen Harris, originally of South Carolina, but whose parents werr 
also pioneers in Kentucky. After their marriage they came to Mis- 
souri, as stated in the sketch of Jacob H. Thev came to this county 



446 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

in the spring of 1821. In 1832 the father was elected sheriff of the 
county and re-elected in 1834, serving in all four years. He died here 
in 1844. He was in well-to-do circumstances considering the times 
and the opportunities to make money, and gave his children as good 
school advantages as could be had here at that time. Tirey Ford had 
instruction in the higher branches, including algebra and surveying, 
and became a successful and popular school teacher. He taught 
school for about 10 years, including one term in Paris. May 1, 1845, 
he was married to Miss Elizabeth Collins, a daughter of James Collins, 
formerly of Kentucky. After his marriage he located on a farm near 
Greenwood, and the following season bought a part of the land where 
he now resides, where he improved a farm. He subsequently added 
to this until he had a large place. He has sold off considerable land, 
however, but still has nearly 300 acres ; 240 acres of his place are in 
cultivation, pasturage and meadow. His place is comfortably improved. 
In 1854 Mr. Ford was elected justice of the peace and has served 
three terms in that office with great satisfaction to the public and 
entire efficiency in the discharge of his duties as a magistrate. 'Squire 
and Mrs. Ford have four children : Pleasant T., who is married and 
resides on the home place; Elgie, wife of D. Kippen, of Granville; 
Pierce and Joseph C. They have lost two, Sarah E., wife of David 
HoUingsworth, who died in 1881 leaving four children, and Bessie, 
who died in 1877 at the age of 21. 'Squire and Mrs. Ford are 
members of the Christian Church. The 'Squire is one of the sub- 
stantial men of Clay township, and is highly respected by all. 

JOHN R. HANGER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbiua). 

Mr. Hanger, partly reared in Monroe couiit}^ was 24 years of age 
when the war broke out. A native of Virginia, not unworthy of the 
historic State that gave him birth, he promptly identified himself 
with the cause of his country — the South. During the first months 
of the war he enlisted in the State service, and then at the re-organi- 
zation became a regular Confederate soldier in the Second Missouri 
Infimtry, under Col. Frank M. Cockerill, now United States Senator 
from this State. He served under Col. Cockerill, afterwards Gen. 
Cockerill, until the close of the war, and contributed his full share to 
the services of that command which gave its commander such a name 
and reputation as a soldier that he was afterwards elected to the 
United States Senate, a command that bore a gallant and conspicuous 
part in many of the hardest fought battles of the war. 

" Fortune's wheel is on the turn, 
And some go up and some go down. " 

The South went down in defeat and many of her bravest sons now 
sleep beneath her sod. Nor did Mr. Hanger make anything by the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 447 

war — indeed, he lost all he had, and had to commence life anew, 
penniless and broken in health. But — 

" Except wind stands as never it stood, 
It is an ill wind turns none to good. " 

The private soldiers who did the fighting and the starving and under- 
went all the hardships and dangers of the war, received none of the 
credits or rewards of the struggle, where credits and rewards were to 
be distributed, but all went to the officers. Such seems to be the 
order of things in general in this majestic world. A life-seat in the 
Senate at $6,000 a year for the services which others performed, is but 
another illustration of this apparently inevitable law of merits and 
rewards. Mr. Hanger participated in the battles of Lexington, F^k 
Horn, Champion's Hill, Baker's Creek, Blackwater, the '"siege of 
Vicksburg, Altoona, Franklin and other engagements. At Franklin, 
Tenn., he was disabled by a wouad in the leg and taken prisoner. He 
was held at Camp Douglas for about two months and then paroled. 
In June, 1865, he returned home and obtained a situation in a store 
at Shelbina. After this he engaged in farming, and in 1870 was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Fannie Barry, widow of William C. Barry, who was 
killed while in the Confederate army. After his marriage Mr. 
Hanger located on the old Hanger homestead in Monroe county, 
where he has since resided. He has a good place of 160 acres, where 
he has long been engaged in farming and stock-raising, and with 
excellent success. A man of good business qualifications and popular 
address, as well as of unimpeachable character, and a life-long Demo- 
crat, in 1876 he was nominated by the Democrats for asses'sor and 
was duly elected to that office, which he held for three years. He 
aquitted himself of the duties of his offifte with efficiency and to the 
general satisfaction of the public, making one of the best"^assessors the 
county ever had. Mr. and Mrs. Hanger have two children : Lucy B. 
and Carrie R., and two are deceased, Charlie B. and an infant. Mrs. 
Hanger is a member of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Hanger is a 
hospitable, social gentleman and is quite popular with all who know 
him. He was a son of Robinson and Virginia T. (Kennerly) Hanger, 
formerly of Virginia, and was born in Augusta county, that State, 
December 18, 1836. The family removed to Missouri in 1851, and 
settled in Monroe county, where they now reside. 

ALJOURNAL HANGER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville). 

It was when Aljournal was 10 years of age, in 1857, that his 
parents, Peter and Elizabeth A. (Bear) Hanger, turned the front of 
the immigrant wagon towards Missouri, where they expected to make 
their future home. Their ancestors had long been settled in Virginia, 
and it was the State of their fathers that they were leaving. Aljour- 
nal was born there (in Augusta county ) April 6, 1847. They all landed 



448 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

safe and sound in Monroe county in the fall of 1857, and settled on 
the land on which Aljournal now resides. Here they made an excel- 
lent farm, a comfortable home, and here the father lived out the 
remainder of a useful and blameless life. He died May 31, 1873, 
deplored by all who knew him, for he was a man of many friends and 
no known enemies. Aljournal grew up on the farm, as most boys 
in the country do who are raised on farms, assisting in work on the 
place and attending the neighborhood schools. In obedience to one 
of the great fundamental laws of humanity, a law that is as natural as 
that the fruit shall fall when it is over-ripe, he was married after he 
attained his manhood. This happy event was celebrated, as in such 
cases made and provided, on the 20th of September, 1876. It was 
then that Mrs. Lizzie A. Beller, relict of William Beller, and a most 
estimable and excellent lady, became his wife. She was a daughter 
of James D, Maupin, one of the houored old pioneers of this county 
from Virginia, and she had one child by her first marriage, Willie 
Mary. Already Mr. Hanger had been actively engaged in farming for 
himself, and by his industry and good management had laid the foun- 
dation for a competency. He continued his farming operations with 
unabated vigor and enterprise, and has long held a position as one of 
the substantial farmers of Clay township. He has nearly 200 acres 
of land, over half of which is well improved. His place has a good 
two-story residence and other buildings and improvements to corre- 
spond. Mr. and Mrs. Hanger have three children: Robert Lee, Alma 
F. and John Marshall. Mrs. H. is a worthy member of the M. E. 
Church South. 

ISAAC S. HEATHMAN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville). 

Mr. Heathman's father, Martin Heathman, was for many years 
before his death, as the son now is, one of the thorough-going 
farmers and worthy, respected citizens of Monroe county. The 
father was from Kentucky, where he married Miss Nancy Stipp, 
and came to Missouri with his family in 1839. He entered and 
bought land here and improved a good farm, on which he resided un- 
til his death, in 1878. Isaac S. was born in this county, October 16, 
1841. He was brought up to farm work and received a fair common 
school education. January 29, 1868, he was married to Miss Mar- 
garet Heathman, a cousin, and daughter of Elias Heathman, also 
formerly of Kentucky. Her father died here in 1859. After his 
marriage Mr. Heathman farmed with his ftither for four years and 
then located on his present place. He has 180 acres. His idea of 
farming is that one should turn everything on his place to the best 
advantage and whatever else he does he should lose no time un- 
necessarily through the cropping and harvesting seasons. He is an 
eneruretic man and entirelv successful as a farmer, as he would be in 
any business where industry and good management are the conditions 
for success. Mr. and Mrs. Heathman have five children : Frederick 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 44i> 

G., Virofinia, W. Lewis, J. Tippie and Alonzo T. He and wife, be- 
lieving that the Christian Church more nearly than any other repre- 
sents the true teachings of* the Bible, after mature reflection, joined 
that church and have ever since continued worthy members. 

THOMAS B. LOYD, M.D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Granville). 

Among the prominent physicians of Monroe county, the subject of 
the present sketch occupies an enviable position. He is a practitioner 
of thorough general and professional education and of long and suc- 
cessful experience. Dr. Loyd has been engaged in the practice in 
Monroe county for over 20 years, and since the summer of 1865 he 
has been located at Granville. It is almost supererogation to say that 
vs^ith his skill and ability as a physician and his high character and 
popular manners as a man and citizen, he has succeeded in build- 
ing up a large practice and has made a career of more than ordinary 
success in his profession, considering the field in which he has worked. 
Dr. Loyd is a native of Alabama, born in Jackson county, September 
1, 1839. He was a son of Martin H. and Nancy (Garrison) Loyd, 
his father a native of Virginia, and his mother from Kentucky. 
When he was 12 years of age his parents removed to Greene county, 
Mo., where the father died in 1857. The family were in compara- 
tively easy circumstances considering the condition of the country 
and the people. Thomas B. had the best school advantages the 
country afforded. After preparatory instruction he matriculated at 
the State University, where he completed his education. Meanwhile, 
he had been engaged in teaching to a considerable extent, and from 
first to last taught some five winter terms of school. He began the 
study of medicine under Dr. A. S. Clinton, a leading physician of 
Greene county. In due time he entered the Missouri Medical College 
of St. Louis, from which he graduated with distinction in 1861. 
During the intervals of his terms at medical school he had prac- 
ticed with his preceptor. Dr. Clinton, and now after his graduation he 
entered regularly into the practice in Greene county. In a short time, 
however, he removed to Cedar county, and two years later came to 
Monroe county, where he has since lived. In 1867-68 Dr. Loyd took 
a supplementary course at the Missouri Medical College, and three 
years after locating at Granville, November 3, 1868, he was married 
to Miss Belle Crutcher, a daughter of William and America Crutcher, 
of this county, but formerly of Kentucky. Dr. Loyd is a prominent 
member of the Masonic order and his wife is a member of the Christian 
Church. 

CHARLES A. McKINNIE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Holliday) . 

Twice during the war Mr. McKinnie was severely wounded while 
bravely doing Isattle for the preservation of the Union. He was first 



450 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

wounded at Drury's Bluff, Vu., being shot through the left side, and 
for eight months was unable for service. Resuming his place again in 
the ranks after his recovery, he w^as wounded the second time at Fort 
Greofo;, where he was shot throuo;!! the rio:ht shoulder. After his 
recovery from this wound, still undeterred from the performance of 
his duty, he again resumed his place in the ranks and bravely kept 
step to the music of the Union, in march and bivouac and on the field 
of battle, until at last the old flag floated in triumph over a reunited 
country, from the lakes to the gulf, and from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific. He went out at the first call of his country for volunteers 
and came back only after the last cloud of war had floated away and 
the whole land was again radiant with the sunshine of peace. To the 
service of such men as this brave soldier, we owe the preservation of 
this magnificent republic, the heritage bought by the blood of our 
fathers and consecrated by the heroes of the Union during the late 
war, a heritage made doubly sacred to us, to preserve and defend. 
Mr. McKinnie enlisted in Co. I, Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, in 
1861, and was honorably discharged in the spring of 18()5. After 
his discharge from the army he returned home to McLean county, 
111., where he had been born and reared, and resumed farming, 
the occupation to which he had been brought up. He was married 
in that county September 6, 18(36, when Miss Mary E. Land, a 
daughter of John S. Land, formerly of Kentucky, became his wife. 
Mr. McKinnie continued farming in McLean county with good success 
until 1873, when he removed to Missouri, and settled where he now 
resides. Here he bought his present farm, and has continued farm- 
ing with steadily increasing success. Reared in Illinois, he learned 
those methods of farming which have made that State the greatest 
agricultural Commonwealth, population considered, on the globe. In 
short, Mr. McKinnie is a first-class Illinois farmer, and conducts his 
place on thorough-going, business-like principles. He has a good 
two-story residence, a large barn, a handsome young orchard and 
other improvements to correspond, and his place contains 220 acres 
of fine land. Mr. McKinnie has a herd of 22 young steers to be fat- 
tened for the markets, and he makes something of a specialty of 
handling stock. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church and 
he is a meml)er of the Granville Lodge, A. F. and A. M. Mr. and 
Mrs. McKinnie have four children : Rebecca, Nettie, William T. and 
Jessie. Mr. McKinnie was a son of Andrew and Martha McKinnie, 
originally of Kentucky, but who removed to Illinois as early as 1824. 
They first settled in Sangamon county, where his. father helped to 
build the first court-house at Springfield. He lived in Sangamon 
county for 27 years and removed to McLean county in 1851, where 
he died four years afterwards. Charles A. McKinnie was born in the 
latter county, March 8, 1837. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 451 



JUDGE PEESLEY MOORE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Granville). 

Judge Moore, whose lite has been one of more than ordinary 
activity, not unattended with substantial results iu the matter of the 
goods of this world, is a worthy represeutative of one of the pioneer 
families of Central Missouri, his father. Judge Robert Moore, having 
/ come to this State as early as 1819. Judge Moore, pere, was a native 
of North Carolina, but his parents, while he was yet in tender years, 
were early settlers of Kentucky. He was therefore reared in the 
latter State, and after he grew up, was married to Miss Mary Powell, 
of another pioneer family. Prior to his marriage, however, in 1819, 
he had been to Missouri, and had determined to make this State his 
future home. He, therefore, brought his wife out to Missouri and 
located in that part of Cole county now included in Moniteau countv. 
There he entered a hirge body of land and improved an extensive 
stock farm. Entirely successful as a farmer, and a man of strong 
character and fine intelligence, he became a leading citizen of Moni- 
teau county. Among other positions of public trust, he served as 
count}'^ judge, a position that his son, the subject of this sketch, after- 
wards held, and also represented the county in the State Legislature. 
He is still living, a venerable old sfentleman of dio;nitied bearinor and 
marked presence, but has retired from all the activities of life, and 
now spends his time with his children at their respective home, where 
his presence and society is greatly prized. His good wife was called 
to her final rest some ten years ago. Judge Presley Moore was born 
m Cole (now Moniteau) countjs December 2(3, 1826. He was reared 
on his father's farm in that county. Early displaying a taste for the 
mechanic art, he was permitted to gratify his inclination in that direc- 
tion, and went to learn the blacksmith's trade, which he acquired in 
due time, and also wagon making. In 1852 he Avas married to Miss 
Nancy G. Clay, a daughter of Green Chiy, related to the eminent 
Kentucky family by that name. She survived her marriage, however, 
only a short time, leaving him a daughter at her death, Nancy E.. 
who is now the wife of Thomas Davis, of Linn county. Judge Moore, 
fils, was greatly depressed by the loss of his wife, and sought relief as 
best he could in travel. He spent about three years in the West and 
South, principally in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, the Indian Terri- 
tory and Kansas. He worked at his trade during most of the time of 
his absence from home. Returning with the determination to begin 
life anew and to put everything of the past behind him, but the mem- 
ory of the loved and lost, which he still cherished as a sweet dream, he 
now engaged in farming in Moniteau county and followed it with 
steadily increasing success in that county until he removed to Linn 
county in 1864. Meanwhile, on the 11th of March, 1856, he was 
married to Miss Lydia A. Boggs, a daughter of Owen Boggs, a 
prominent citizen of Boone county. Judge Moore resided in Linn 



452 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

coimtv for 18 years and became one of the leading men of that county. 
He was frequently honored by the people with positions of public 
trust, and held nearly every office in county affairs from constable up 
to judge of the county court. In 1882, however, he sold his farm in 
Linn county and removed to Nevada City, in Vernon county. But 
not liking town life, the following spring he came to Monroe county 
and bought his present farm. Here he has since resided and will make 
his permanent home. His place contains 240 acres and is comfort- 
ably improved. Judge Moore is a man of high character, sterling 
intelligence, good business qualifications and popular manners, and 
although personally he has had all the public service he desires, it is 
not improbable that the citizens of Monroe county may decide to ask 
him to give them the benefit of his experience in public life in some 
position worthy of his name and high standing. Judge and Mrs. 
Moore have five children: Kobert O., Golbert N., S. Jackson, Mary 
J. and Henry Clay. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, 
and he is also a member of the Masonic order, 

WILLIAM POWELL 

(Farmer, Raiser of and Dealer iu Stock, Post-offlce, Shelbina). 

In the work of sketching the lives of the citizens of Monroe county, 
there is of course much similarity in the facts given, particularly 
among farmers. But occasionally one is met with whose life varies 
not a little from those of the generality of men around him. Here is 
a case of that kind. Mr. Powell lives in a community composed 
almost exclusively either of Missourians by nativity, or Kentuckians or 
Virginians. But he is a Pennsylvanian by birth, a Northern man by 
nativity and bringing up. In harmony with the characteristics of 
Northern farmers generally, we find in him a man of conspicuous 
industry and enterprise and of superior intelligence — one more than 
ordinarily successful as an agriculturist. Such men are of great 
advantage to a community and their presence is greatly to be coveted. 
They build up a country, develop its resources, advance it along the 
onward march of civilization, contribute greatly to make it rich and 
prosperous. Mr. Powell was born in Fayette county. Pa., October 
10, 1827, and was a son of James Powell of Delaware, and Susan 
nee Beckett, of North Carolina. They made their permanent home 
in the Keystone State. William Powell was reared in Fayette count}^ 
and in 1864 came West to Illinois, settling in La Salle county. Of 
course, raised in the North, he learned the successful methods of 
farming of that section of the country, and he followed farming with 
success in La Salle county until 1869, when he came to Missouri. 
Meanwhile he had accumulated considerable means and on coming to 
Monroe county bought 300 acres of fine land. This he went to work 
with energy and resolution to improve, and in a few years had the 
satisfaction of seeing that he had one of the best farms in the town- 
ship. Not satisfied with raising grain and hay alone, he went to rais- 
in"- stock and to feeding stock for the wholesale markets, and buying 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 453 

and shipping them. He gave his attention principally to hogs and 
sheep, as being upon the whole the most profitable lines of his stock 
business. These he has continued to handle and to good profit. He 
feeds and ships annually about 100 head of hogs and sheep each, but 
sometimes as high as 600 or 700 head. He has about 200 head of 
sheep and 80 head of hogs, besides considerable other stock. Feb- 
ruary 6, 1851, Mr. Powell Avas married to Miss Nancy Pouudstone, a 
daughter of John Poundstone, of Fayette county. Pa. Mr. Powell 
and wife have three children: Allen, married; F. M., John T., J. 
Ewing, married, and Mollie E. They have lost two in their infancy,' 
and Elvira in 1868, at the age of 17. Mrs. Powell is a member of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Powell is highly esteemed 
in Clay township and wherever known. He has served as clerk of 
school district No. 10 for a number of years. 

DAVID A. SPEINKLE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Granville). 

Mr. Sprinkle's parents, Charles and Mary (Barclay) Sprinkle, were 
early settlers in Missouri, coming to this State away back in 1820, in 
the territorial days of the country. The father was from Virginia, 
but the mother was of Tennessee, where they met and married, "com- 
ing thence to Missouri. They first stopped near old Franklin, but in 
1821 located in what is now Columbia, being one of the first three 
families that settled there. They subsequently improved a farm, three 
miles from Columbia, where they lived until their deaths, and where 
David A. was reared. At the age of nineteen he learned the plaster- 
er's trade, and four years afterwards, in 1844, went to Hannibal, 
where he worked for some years. He was there married to Miss Jane 
Chnrch, formerly of Ohio, but she survived only a few years, leaving 
him a son at her death, William C, now a prominent physician of this 
county. From Hannibal he went to Madisonville, and was eno-ao-ed 
in merchandising there until about 1852. Returning to Hannibal rhe 
ived at that phice from first to last, about twelve years and built three 
houses while there. He now removed to Monroe county and settled 
on the farm where he has ever since resided. In 1856 he was married 
to Miss Fannie J. Bartley, of Boone county, a daughter of Major John 
Bartley, formerly of Kentucky, but a pioneer settler of Boone county. 
She presided over his home for nearly a quarter of a century, a good 
and true woman and a wife and mother who Avas devotedly" loved by 
husband and children. She died in 1880, leaving him six children: 
George L., and Robert L., both of Montana ; Charles E., J. Leslie, 
Linnie May and Eddie B. Mr. Sprinkle was married to his present 
wife, whose maiden name was Mollie E. Bartley, January 25, 1882. 
^j^J'^rn^ *'^^^^' ^" ^'^^ ^^'^^ wife. He and wife are meiubers of the 
M. E. Church South at Granville. As a farmer Mr. Sprinkle's life 
has been one of untiring industry and satisfactory success. He has, 
as the truits of his toil, besides havinij reared in comfort a worthy 
family of children, all of whom he has^ helped more or less to start 



454 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

themselves in the world, a fine homestead of nearly 400 acres of land, 
all fenced and excellently improved, including a good two stor3''-resi- 
dence and other buildings and improvements to correspond. Above 
all he has so lived that no tarnish of reproach has fallen upon his good 
name. 

THOMAS E. STEELE 

(Farmer and Fine Stoek-raiser, Post-office, Granville) . 

Mr, Steele's parents, David and Jane (Jordon) Steele, were early 
settlers in Howard county, removing there from Kentucky in 1822. 
The fiither was a stone mason by trade, and followed that occupation 
at Fayette for about 10 years. He then removed to Monroe county 
and entered land about four miles from Paris, where he improved a 
farm and resided until his death, in 1850. Thomas E. was the young- 
est in his lather's family of three sons and a daughter, and was born 
in Monroe county December 9, 1825. He was, therefore, principally 
reared on a farm near Paris. His tastes always having been for farm 
pursuits, he adopted farming as his permanent calling. However, in 
1849, he went overland to California, during the general rush of gold 
seekers to the Pacific coast. He was engaged in gold mining out there 
for nearly three years with varj'ing success, sometimes good and some- 
times bad. He returned by way of the Isthmus and New Orleans, 
and having been away from the fair sex so long they had become the 
constant angels of his dreams, he of course married soon after com- 
ing back. The 6th of January, 1853, he was married to Mrs. Susan 
J. Austin, a young widow lady, a daughter of Sanford Wilson, for- 
merly of Kentucky. He at once bought land in Monroe county and 
improved a farm, where he lived for two years. However, during this 
time, he made a second trip to California, taking a drove of stock, but 
returned right away, coming again by water. In 1855 he bought the 
place where he now resides. Here he has 160 acres of good land, 
which is well improved, and is one of the choice homesteads of the 
township. Mr. Steele makes a specialty of raising fine cattle, and has 
an imported Palangus taurus at the head of his herd. In 1863 Mr. 
Steele had the misfortune to lose his first wife. She died in August 
of that year, leaving him two children, both of whom are grown up : 
Henry A. and Mary^E., the wife of W. C. Ridgeway. June' 22, 1865, 
he was married to Mrs. S. E. Parrish, relict of T. C. Parrish, of Owens- 
ville, Ky., and daughter of Enos Kerr, of Louisville. Mrs. Steele is 
a lady of fine mind and mental culture, a regular graduate of Clover 
Port Institute. He and wife are members of the Christian Church. 

NATHANIEL M. THRELKELD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Threlkeld, whose homestead includes 260 acres of land, in 
addition to farming in a general way, as other farmers do, makes a 
specialty of feeding cattle and hogs for the wholesale markets. He 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 455 

has found this a profitable pursuit, and feeds annually about 75 head 
of cattle and some 200 head of hogs. Mr. Threlkeld is one of those 
stirring, enterprising men who make a success of anything to which 
they give their time and attention, where industry and good manao-e- 
ment are the conditions to success. He has made a success of fanii- 
mg, and would have made a success equally as decided of any other 
practicable calling. Like many of our best farmers, he is a native of 
Kentucky, born in Henry county, December 30, 1831. His parents 
lived until their death in that county. Nathaniel M. was married in 
his native comity, in the fall of 1854, to Miss Sarah Ford, a dauo-h- 
ter ot Jeremiah Ford, of that county. Two years after his nfar- 
riage he removed to Missouri, and located near Granville, in Clay 
township. He followed forming there with good success until 1863 
when he came to his present place. Mr. Threlkeld has been the 
architect ot his fortune, and has achieved his success in life by his 
own exertions. Mrs. Threlkeld, his first wife, died April 25, 1864. 
Two children survive her, Alonzo and Edwin. September 2, 1867 
Mr. Threlkeld was married to Mrs. Tabitha Hanger, relict of David 
Hanger, and daughter of James Maupin, an early settler of this 
county, from Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Threlkekl have seven children • 
Emma, Jennie, Cattie, Mary L., Frank, Cap and Clarence. Mr T 
IS a member of the Baptist Church, and his wife of the M. E South 
denomination. Mr. Threlkeld lost two children of his first wife ; Eli- 
jah, a young man of bright promise, died at Oxford, Ky., in 1881, at 
the age ot 22, and Anna, a daughter, 15 years of age, greatly beloved ' 
by all who knew her for her many estimable qualities, died durino- 
tlie fall ot the same year, 1881. These were heavy afflictions to Mr"! 
Threlkeld, and but for the sustaining power of faith and of trust in 
the merciful and loving Redeemer, they would have seemed too hard 
to bear. But he is ever reminded that the Lord giveth and the Lord 
taketh away, all in his own good wisdom, and for the best of all both 
here and hereafter. What a blessed thing is s'uch a taith ! 

SAMUEL D. WALLACE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville). 
Mr. Wallace was born in Monroe county, Mo., April 27, 1835, and 
was reared on a farm, to that free and independent life which has been 
considered from time out of mind as most conducive to fhe develop- 
ment ot true sterling manhood, both physically and mentally. Coming 
up in the country, removed from the temptations and vices of town 
mid city life, and used from boyhood to the labors of the field and the 
duties of attending the flocks and herds of his father, he naturally 
formed that taste for agricultural life, which, when he came to start 
outm the world for himself, influenced him to adopt the pursuit of 
the tiller of the soil as his permanent occupation. At the a^^e of 
22 however, in order to fix more enduringly in his mind the instruc- 
tion he had received in the schools and his services being souo-ht 
after as a teacher, he concluded that it would not be time raisspmit 

24 



456 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

which should be devoted to instilling into the youthful mind, as had 
been instilled into his, lessons from the books of practical utility for 
after-life. He accordingly engaged in teaching, which he followed 
for some time. He then went to Illinois, but returned later along to 
Monroe county, where he has since resided. He followed farming 
while there for a period of five years, preceding 1870. Since then he 
has been one of the thorough-going farmers of Clay township. His 
place contains 120 acres, a neat homestead. October 8, 1863, Mr. 
Wallace was married to Miss Aquila Boyd, a daughter of Robert Boyd, 
and Nancy, nee Mays, of McDonough count}'. 111., originally of 
Washington county, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have had seven 
children : JohnB., James S., William W., Thomas D., Allen, deceased, 
Anna B. and Alta D. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace are members of the 
Christian Church. He was a son of Walker P. and Emiline (Wills) 
Wallace, early settlers of this county. While he resided in Illinois 
Mr. Wallace was assessor of Hancock county for one term. His 
father, Walker P., lives on the old homestead, his mother being 
deceased. 

GEORGE W. WEBB 

(Justice of the Peace, and Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office Granville). 

In 1878 Mr. Webb was elected to his present office, magistrate of 
Clay township, and, after serving four years, his administration was so 
satisfactory to the public that in 1882 he was re-elected, and is now 
serving his second term. 'Squire Webb has been known to the people 
of Clay township from boyhood, and considering his early opportuni- 
ties to fit himself for the business activities of life, it is a result of no 
ordinary credit that he has risen to his present enviable position as a 
successful farmer and prominent citizen of the township, as well as 
that he should by common consent be picked out as the most avail- 
able man for the office of magistrate. He was reared in this county, 
and, as good schools were not the common thing then, his school 
opportunities were limited to a single grammar term of three months, 
and this after he was nearly grown. But notwithstanding, having the 
qualities that develop intelligent and useful citizenship, he applied 
himself at home as closely as at school to study, and succeeded in 
acquiring an ample knowledge of books for all practical purposes. 
A man of an inquiring mind and improving all his leisure time by read- 
ing, he has become more than ordinarily well posted on most subjects 
that generally engage attention, such as politics, affairs in court, gen- 
eral principles of law, business transactions, agriculture, etc. In a 
word, he is justly regarded as one of the leading men of the town- 
ship, whilst as a magistrate all respect his opinions and have absolute 
confidence in his unswerving integrity. He will probably hold the 
office of justice of the peace as long as he will consent to serve. 
'Squire Webb is a native of Virginia, and a son of Bird S. and Mary 
E. (Beard) Webb, subsequently for many years esteemed residents of 
this township. He was born in Franklin county, December 25, 1829, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 457 

and when he was in his tenth year his parents came to Missouri and 
settled in Monroe county. His father entered hmd in the same neigh- 
borhood in which the 'Squire now lives, where he improved a farm 
and resided until his death, in 1871. The 'Squire, after he grew up 
in the county, September 12, 1850, was married to Miss Susan S 
Chinn, a daughter of Christopher C. Chinn, a pioneer settler of the 
county, from Kentucky. The second year after his marriage 'Squire 
Webb bought the land included in his present farm, which he at once 
went to work to improve. He made a comfortable homestead here, 
on which he has since continued to reside. He has about a quarter of 
a section of good land in his farm, on which, besides other improve- 
ments, there is an exceptionally fine orchard of some 400 apple trees 
and a large number of other trees, and fruit and shrubbery The 
'Squire and Mrs. Webb have five children : Mary E., Leslie M. (mar- 
ried), George H. (married), John H. (married) and Theodore W 
The 'Squire and wife are members of the Old School Baptist Church, 
and he is a member of the Granville lodge of the A. F. and A. M. 
The 'Squire has never been absent from hoiiie any considerable time 
since he came to the county a mere boy, except while he was in the 
Southern army during the war. In 1861 he enlisted in the State 
service, and after the expiration of that time in the reo-ular Confeder- 
ate service. He was under Col. Porter in Price's army, and served 
until the winter of 1863-64. During nearly all of his service, how- 
ever, he was in Maj. Pinnell's battalion, under Gen Price. In the 
fall of 1863 he was taken prisoner, and held in duress vile for some 
six months. He was then exchanged, at Cedar Point, and served 
until the latter part of 1863, when he returned home on a visit and 
was captured and made to take the oath not to take up arms ao-ainst 
Mr. Lincoln again. ® 



WOODLAW^ TOWNSHIP. 



JOHN W. ADAMS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville) , 

Mr. Adams is a native Missourian, born in Monroe county Novem- 
ber 3, 1835. Pursuing the even tenor of his way which destiny seems 
to have marked out for him, he was reared on the farm and has con- 
tinued to follow the pursuit of farming. Obedient to one of the 
great laws of nature, the one on which the perpetuitv of humanity 
depends, on the 9th of July, 1861, he was married. Miss Elizabeth C 
Dry becoming his wife. She was a daughter of William F. and 
Laura Dry, originally of Kentucky. Though this happy union was 
nominally siccanious, it proved not actuallv so. Mr. and Mrs. Adams 
are blessed with five children, namely: Laura E., Samuel T., Mary 



458 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

M., Willie M. and Ernest B. Mr. Adams settled on a farm soon after 
his marriage and went to work to establish himself comfortably in 
life. But already the heavy and ominous cloud of war had settled 
like a dark and fatal pall over the country, and ever and anon were 
heard the roaring peal of cannon and the rattle of musketry which 
meant death to many a brave man and sadness and sorrow around 
many a hearthstone, whilst the lurid flash of battle lit up with its terrible 
light many a former peaceful scene and green landscape where all 
nature was wont to smile with budding flowers and green meadows in 
the bright sunshine. He marched bravely off to the war to do for 
his country all that, duty required and, if necessary, to die. He 
enlisted in the Southern service, under Col, Porter, and under the 
burning ravs of the summer's sun and the dark shadows of night 
marched and fought at every signal word of command, until at last 
he was stricken down by the palsying hand of disease and rendered 
hors de combat for further service, being honorably discharged on 
that account. But in the meantime, he had bravely borne himself on 
more that one field of battle, rallying around the tribarred baimer of 
the South, whose bright folds floated gallantly above the din and 
smoke of conflict, beautiful and talismanic, like a rainbow of hope 
athwart the sky, and there under its star-decked cerule might his 
gleaming bayonet be seen heroically glistening in the front rank of 
the charge. After bis discharge Mr. Adams resumed farming, which 
he has since continued. He has 120 acres of good land which he has 
comfortably improved. Mr. Adams is looked upon as one of the 
sterling men of the township. His parents were George and Eleanor 
(Randol) Adams, early settlers of Monroe county from Kentucky. 
His father died in 1866, but his mother is still living. Mrs. Adams' 
mother died in 1872, and her father less than two months afterwards, 
in December of the same year. 

Z. M. ATTERBERY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Woodlawn). 

No history of this county would be complete which failed to include 
a biographical sketch of one or more members of the pioneer families 
of which the subject of the present sketch is a worthy representative. 
The Atterberys came originally from South Carolina, where the family 
had settled prior to the revolution. About the close of the last cen- 
tury the father of the subject of this sketch, with his family, removed 
to Kentucky, and in 1829 he went to Tazewell county. 111., but 
remained there only about five years, coming west again, and this 
time settling permanently in Woodlawn township, of Monroe county. 
This was when the country was in its infancy, away back at a day 
when the whole State was hardly more than a wilderness. The father 
lived here until his death, and when Elijah Atterbery died many a 
brave-hearted old pioneer who had faced the greatest dangers in the 
wilds, stood round his bed and wept generous tears over his departure, 
for he was a man who possessed more than the average of those 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 459 

qualities of head and heart which bring around one near and dear 
friends, friends who prize him as a brother, kind and true, to be relied 
upon in every emergency. He had borne his full part in the great 
work of transforming the virgin forests and the horizon-bound prairies 
of Missouri into smiling harvest fields, and the abodes of an intelligent 
and prosperous and happy people. Let not the memory of such men 
fade from the minds of posterity, for to their courage and brawn we 
owe the beneficent civilization in the great West that we now enjoy. 
His good wife, Mary Atterbery, a daughter of Isaac Taylor, of South 
Carolina, and a woman in every wa}^ worthy to have been the life com- 
panion of such a man, such a bold pioneer and generous hearted 
Christian, nobleman of nature, she, too, has passed away in the ful- 
ness of time, the ripeness of years, and now sleeps peacefully by his 
side in the quiet little family graveyard, where they shall rest in peace 
until the resurrection morn shall dawn to call them to their 
eternal inheritance of bliss in Paradise. Z. M. was born while his 
parents lived in Kentucky, February 2, 1825, and was therefore nine 
years of age when the smoke of their camp-fire curled for the first 
time above the virgin prairies of Monroe county. He was reared in 
this county and obtained such an education, only, as could be had in 
the primitive schools of the period. But he learned enough for the 
ordinary practical purposes of life and grew up to be a farmer, an occu- 
pation he has always followed. In 1854, he was married to Miss 
Josephine Dabney, a daughter of Biuford and Rebecca (Vickery) 
Dabney, oi-iginaily of Kentucky. Four children have blessed this 
union : Elijah, Rebecca, the wife of J. H. Dawson ; Lou, the wife of 
Walter Dickson, and Mattie, femme libre, at home. Mr. Atterbery 
has a good farm of 292 acres, which is comfortably and substantially 
improved. In 1865 he had the misfortune to lose his first wife, a 
most estimable lad}'', greatly loved in her family, and esteemed by all. 
To his present Avife he was married in 1866. Her maiden name was 
Parris; she was a daughter of Elizabeth Parris, of Kentucky. He is a 
member of the Baptist Church, and his wife is a member of the 
Christian Church. 

CAPT. FRANKLIN BURNHAM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Woodlawn) . 

Capt. Burnham, one of the prominent citizens and substantial men 
of Woodlawn township, is a native of Maine, born in Oxford county, 
January 31, 1808. His parents were Jeremiah Burnham, originally 
of Massachusetts and Mehetal)le, nee Sanborn, born and reared in 
Maine. In 1817 the family removed to Athens county, Ohio, where 
the subject of this sketch was reared. On attaining his majority he 
started out for himself as a farmer, which he followed with success for 
ten years. He then went into the mercantile business, and also 
speculating in produce and pork, following these for about seven 
years. In 1855 he removed to Illinois where he resumed the occupa- 
tion of a farmer, which he has since continued. In 1866 he removed 



560 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

to Missouri and located in Woodlawn township, of Monroe county, 
where lie still resides. Here he has. a good farm of 260 acres, com- 
fortably and well improved. In Ohio in the old muster days, 
Capt. Burnham served as captain of militia for some time. He also 
held numerous local offices in that State and was postmaster for a 
number of years. In 1829 he was married in Ohio to Miss Orpha 
Lord. She was a daughter of Holtem Lord and Almira, nee Phelps, 
both originally of New York and of two well known New England 
families. Both the Lords and Phelps on coming to this country 
during its first settlement settled in Connecticut, and of the Lord 
family Rev. Benjamin Lord, a distinguished divine who flourished 
between 1694 and 1784, was a well known representative. He was a 
native of Connecticut and an able and voluminous theological writer. 
Then there was Hon. Frederick W. Lord who removed from Con- 
necticut to New York, an accomplished scholar and for a number of 
years a representative in Congress. He died in 1860. Following him 
was Hon. Scott Lord, a leading Democrat in Congress from New York 
up to a few years ago. The Phelps family have had so many men 
eminent in public life that it is needless to mention them. Mr. and 
Mrs. Burnham have had nine children: Horace L., now of Kansas 
City, Mo. ; Olive C, is yet living, the wife of Matthew Wilson ; M. 
D., who died in 1882; Oscar F., who died in Illinois in 1882; 
Dorothy, Lois A., William W., who died in this country in 1880; 
Hiram H. and Jarvis H. Horace L. was a gallant officer in the Union 
army during the war and by his conspicuous bravery rose to the rank 
of major. He was severely wounded, being shot in the right 
shoulder, from the eff'ects of which he lost the use of his right hand. 
William W. was a lieutenant in the army and was wounded, being 
shot through the left thigh. Hiram H. was also a lieutenant and a 
brave defender of the Union in the hour of its greatest peril. Capt. 
and Mrs. Burnham are members of the M. E. Church. They are both 
highly respected as neighbors and friends by those among whom they 
live and, indeed, by all who know them. 

CHARLES V. CLAY 

[Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 19, Post-ofRce, Shelbina). 

Mr. Clay, related l)y consanguinity, as well as name, to the well 
known Clay family of Kentucky, is himself a native Kentuckian, born 
in Bourbon county, December 25, 1824. When four years of age he 
was brought to Missouri by his parents, Charles and Polly (Hathe- 
man) Clay, who emigrated to this State in 1828, and settled in Mon- 
roe county, where they still reside, venerated and respected residents 
of the county. In 1857 Mr. Clay was married to Miss Amanda Hun- 
in^er, a daughter of Samuel Huninger and Sarah, nee Totten, both orig- 
inally of Virginia. Ten children have been the fruits of this union : 
Luc}^ C. now the wife of H. H. Cunningham ; Susan L., now the wife 
of S. L. Stalens ; Margaret E., Caroline, Morton F., Julia, Missouri B. 
Irene M., Mattie G. and Baby. Mr. Clay has a large farm, contain- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 461 

ino- 300 acres of excellent land, and is one of the prominent and suc- 
cessful farmers and stock-raisers of Woodlawn township. He has a 
more than ordinarily handsome residence, commodious and neatly 
built, and his other buildings are substantial and tastily constructed. 
In short, his farm is one of the well improved places of the township. 
He is to quite a considerable extent engaged in raising stock, and has 
some excellent grades of cattle and hogs on his place. He is a man 
of enterprise and progressive ideas, energetic and public spirited, both 
as a farmer and citizen. He stands high in the community and has 
the confidence of all who know him. He and wife are members of 
the Christian Church at Otter Creek, and he is a member of the Good 
Templars order, and takes an active interest in the promotion of 
the cause of temperance. He has been school director for several 
years, as he still is. 

REV. JAMES CLAEK DAVIS 

(Pastor of the Christian Church, Woodlawu). 

Rev. Mr. Davis is a native of Kentucky, born in Clark county. May 
19, 1809. At the age of 13 he went to Maysville, Mason county, to 
learn the dry goods business, and continued at that place for six years, 
or until he was 19 years of age. By this time he had learned the 
practical part of retail merchandising thoroughly, and was accounted 
a more than ordinarily active, efficient and popular salesman and 
young business man. But he had done more than this ; of steady 
habits and a studious mind, he had devoted his leisure to the acqusi- 
tion of an education, and had succeeded in securing more than an 
average knowledge of books for a young man of his age. Quitting 
the store ; he taught school for a year and then attended an academy 
of local repute in Clark county for two terms of ten months. This 
prepared him to enter upon higher studies, and in 1824 he matriculated 
at the able and eminent Transylvania College at Lexington, in which 
he took a hard and thorough course of study for three years, coming 
out a scholar of fine culture and attainments. He was now greatly 
needing an active life to restore his health, and he accordingly accepted 
a clerkship on a stearabont, which he filled with great satisfaction to 
his superior officers and all concerned for two years. Returning to 
Clark county, he remained there until 1833, occupying his time to 
advantage in different pursuits, but never ceasing to be a student, a 
careful and judicious reader of the best books and a painstaking 
investigator of all the great problems and questions that present 
themselves to a thoughtful and sober mind, including those of the 
sciences, philosophy, history, public aflairs, theology, etc. From 
Ckrk county Mr. Davis went to Montgomery county, Ky., where he 
became master of an academy. While there young Hood, afterwards 
the distinguished officer, Gen. John B. Hood, who commanded so 
brilliantly'at the battle of Peach Orchard, was one of his pupils. In 
1844 Mr. Davis was solicited to take charge of Funk's Seminary, a 
Masonic institution, being elected head of the seminary by the Grand 



462 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Lodge of Kentucky. In 1845 the seminary, by act of the Legislature, 
became a college, and J. Randolph Finley was elected president. In 
1846 he resigned his position there to accept a more desirable and 
lucrative offer in Louisville, Ky., but tiring of the confinement and 
hard work of the school-room, in 1847 he went to Louisiana and 
engaged in merchandising at Plaquemine, 100 miles above New Orleans. 
From Plaquemine he went to the city of New Orleans, and in 1851 
joined Lopez's expedition to Cuba, but the ship on which he took 
transportation being attacked by a Spanish man-of-war, his vessel 
was compelled to return. From New Orleans Mr. Davis went to 
Hinds county. Miss., but later along was elected principal of the 
Masonic High School of Raymond, Mi>s., a position he held for seven 
years, making the high school one of the best and most popular pre- 
paratory institutions in the State. After this he returned to mer- 
chandisino; and was successfullv enofaffed in that business at Utica, 
Hinds county, when the war broke out. A Southern man by birth, 
sympathies and convictions, lie showed the courage and patriotism of 
the Revolutionary ancestor from whom he sprang, and promptly threw 
himself into the conflict in behalf of identically the same principles — 
independence and the right of local self-government, for which his 
father had fought more than three-quarters of a century ago. He was 
active and zealous in enlisting volunteers for the South, and was 
elected captain of Co. C, Sixteenth Mississippi Volunteers, having 
himself enlisted as early as January, 1861. For four years and three 
months he followed the bright banner of the Confederacy through 
battle and march, and hardship and danger, until all was lost for 
which the heroism of the bravest people who ever fought and failed 
had struggled so long. He was in many of the most lurid-lit and 
death-dealing battles of the war, including the deadly struggle at 
Cold Harbor and the fatal conflict at Malvern Hill, as well as the 
engagements at Winchester, Savage Station, Frazier's Crossing, 
Cross Keys, Fort Republican and many others. After the war Capt. 
Davis returned to Mississippi, and after being engaged in different 
pursuits, bought the Mississippi Springs property, for which he paid 
$10,000, where he established a high school, and this he conducted 
for two years. In 1867 he returned to Kentucky. In the meantime 
he had studied for the ministry and been duly ordained in the Christian 
Church, and had also done considerable work in the pulpit. For the 
next five years after returning to Kentucky he was engaged in the 
school-room and the pulpit at different points. In 1872 he came to 
Missouri, locating at Shelbina, but the following year he removed to 
Madison, where he was engaged in teaching and preaching for three 
years. From Madison he came to Woodlawn, and has since had charge 
of the Christian Church at this place. Rev. Mr. Davis is a man of 
wide experience in the world, profound learning in the books, partic- 
ularly in theology, an accomplished general scholar, a man of sincere 
and earnest piety, and an able, and eloquent minister of the Gospel, a 
worthy representative of Him who taught faith, humility and good 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 46o 

works. September 20, 1832, he was married to Miss Sabrina Lin- 
ville, who lived to cheer him and brighten his home for nearly 40 
years, dying March 10, 1871. She had borne him four children, all 
of whom are deceased. February 28, 1872, he was married to Mrs. 
Martha Thacker, nee Orr, relict of John Thacker, deceased. They 
have had six children : James (deceased), Martha A., Mary E., John 
A., Lulelia J. and Lee O. Rev. Mr. Davis has been a member of the 
Masonic order since 1831. He was a son of Septimus and Mary 
(Clav) Davis, his father a native of Pennsylvania, but his mother a 
Virginian bv nativity. His father was an officer in the Revolutionary 
army, and came to Kentucky in 1783, locating in Fayette county, 
where he was the friend and associate of Daniel Boone for a number 
of years, the two living in the same fort, in fact, for some time. He 
married Miss Clark, May 29, 1801, and reared eight children. She 
was a member of that old and now wealthy and aristocratic Clark 
family, for which Clark county, Ky., is named. 

JAMES DUNCAN 

CFarmer, Post-office, Duncan's Bridge"). 

It was for Mr. Duncan's father, David Duncan, that Duncan's Bridge 
was named, and he, the father, was one of the sturdy pioneers of 
Missouri. He came to this State with his family away back in the 
territorial days of the country. His wife was a Miss Elizabeth Finney 
before her marriage and they reared a worthy family of children. On 
coming to Missouri they tirst located in Howard county, then a sort of 
center for settlers. But later along they removed to Randolph county 
and iSnally settled permanently in Monroe county. Their family was 
the only one for considerable time throughout all the region round 
about Duncan's Bridge, and it was a great stopping place for people 
passing this way. They were old-fashioned, great-hearted, hospitable 
people, always with plenty to eat, a big fire in the winter time and warm, 
thick feather beds, and their latch string was always on the outside 
for every worthy person who chose to partake of the hospitalities. 
These good old people have long since passed away, but the memory 
of their kind and g-enerous lives hovers like a beautiful halo in the 
mmds of those who knew them, and )ningled with them at the places 
that now know them no more, around their own fireside, at the homes 
of their neighbors, in the old-fashioned log churches and at neighbor- 
hood gatherings. Let them not be forgotten while the truer and 
better qualities of head and heart are cherished among men. James 
Duncan, the subject of this sketch, was born in Kentucky, August 1, 
1814, but was principally reared in Missouri. He was brought up to an 
honest, hard-working, farm life, which has continued to be his occu- 
pation with but little interruption. Away back in 1835, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary V. Taylor. She lived 27 years after she wore her 
bridal wreath, and became the beloved mother of seven children, but 
three of whom are now livins: : Greenburv, James and Francis. John 
W. died after his marriage, the others, young and unmarried. In 18(i2 



464 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Mr, Duncan was married to Miss Elizabeth Capp. Thej have seven 
children : Caroline, Elisha, Willard, Thrasher, Josephine, Urna and 
two are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan are members of the Chris- 
tian Church. His farm contains 120 acres, and is comfortably 
improved. Aside from atrip to California in 1850, his whole life has 
been spent in Monroe county up to this time and from the first settle- 
ment of his father's family at Duncan's Bridge. 

SOLON H. FARRELL 

(Of Farrell & Woods, Dealers in General Merchandise, Woodlawn). 

The present business was established in 1880, though Mr. Woods 
did not become connected with it until the spring of 1883. Mr. Farrell 
established the business originally and has since been connected with 
it. A good trade has been built up and an excellent stock of general 
merchandise is kept constantly on hand. Both are gentlemen of 
well known integrity of character and genial, accommodating manners 
and are quite popular with the public, both for their personal worth 
and excellent business qualifications. Mr. Farrell was born and reared 
in the Blue Grass State, where, after attaining his majority, as before, 
he followed farming and stock-raising until his removal to Missouri in 
1878, and with good success. Here he dealt in stock mainly, buying 
and shipping to the wholesale markets, having located in Monroe county, 
until he began merchandising at Woodlawn, in 1880. He was mar- 
ried August 14, 1870, to Miss Susie Luck, who has been all good luck 
to him. Mr. Farrell was born in Madison county, Ky., January 30, 
1847, and was a son of Daniel and Spicie (Irving) Farrell, both Ken- 
tuckians by nativity. Mr. Farrell is a member of the Christian 
Church, as is also his wife. Their only child, Alma, a bright little 
girl, died when in her eighth year, in 1881. 

MILTON FORSYTH 

CFarmer, Post-offlce, Woodlawn"). 

Farming has been Mr. Forsyth's occupation from boyhood, and 
being a man of clear intelligence and industrious habits, on the rich 
soil of Monroe county, blessed as it usually is with favorable seasons, 
he has been entirely successful, as would seem to go without saying. 
Fixedness of pursuit and perseverance in any given line of useful employ- 
ment will innine cases out often bring success, and Mr. Forsyth's career 
is but another illustration of this fact. He now has a fine farm of nearly 
300 acres of land with good buildings on his place, excellent fencing, 
large fields and pastures, and, in fact, everything in unexceptionable 
shape. Mr. Forsyth, like many of the best farmers and citizens of 
Monroe county, is a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Harrison 
county, August 31, 1827. He was reared in his native county, and 
there learned those methods of farming and of handling stock which 
have made Kentuckians noted the country over for their success as 
farmers and stock-raisers. At the age of 29 he came to Missouri, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 465 

desiring to avail himself of tlie fertile lands to be had in this State at 
comparatively nominal prices. He located in Monroe county, where 
he has since resided. On the 2d of February, 1851, he was married 
to Miss Burzilla Milner, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Lail) 
Milner, of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Forsyth have been blessed with 
13 children, namely : Sarah F., Charles F., Nancy N., James H., 
John W., Elizabeth M., Mary S., William L. ; all the above are mar- 
ried; Anna A., Minnie F., Joseph M., Katie S. and Elsie R. Mr. 
and Mrs. Forsyth are members of the Christian Church, as are also 
all their children above the age of 10. He is a member of the A. F. 
and A. M. at Granville. Mr. Forsyth's parents were Augustus and 
Fannie (Sparks) Forsyth, the father a native of Maryland, and the 
mother of Virginia. Mr. Forsyth has been school director of district 
No. 4, of Woodlawn township, for a number of years. He has also 
been a deacon in the Christian Church for 25 years, and is now an 
elder. 

JOHN HENDRICKS 

(Saw and Grist Miller, Post-office, Duncan's Bridge), 

Mr. Hendricks' parents, Daniel and Elizabeth (Thrasher) Hen- 
dricks, came to Missouri from Kentucky awav back in 1819 and settled 
in Marion county, which was then a part of Ralls county, and with 
the exception of a few pioneer cabins here and there, nearly a day's 
journey apart, was an uninhabited wilderness, the bear and the panther 
and the savage still being denizens of its great forests and horizon- 
bound prairie. Mr. Hendricks, now himseff an old man far beyond 
the allotted age of three score and ten, was then a ottling boy around 
his father's knee. He grew up in this new country and was educated 
in the school of hardships and privations and dangers common to those 
times. In 1852, then grown up, he went to Shelby county and fol- 
lowed firming there for 13 years. Returning to Monroe county in 
1860, he located at Duncan's Bridge and commenced milling, which he 
has since followed, for a period now of nearly a quarter of "a century, 
and neither has the old mill gone to decay long ago, nor is the miller 
lying sleeping where the gentle breezes "'blow, near the stream that 
ripples by the mill, but both Mr. Hendricks, still well preserved in 
health, and almost as vigorous as of yore, and his mill are vet going, 
and by the blessing of Heaven will continue to go on tlirough 
years to come, grinding and sawing for the honest good men in and 
around Duncan's Bridge. When he put the mill in operation he gave 
this place the name of Leesburg. Mr. Hendricks has an excellent 
mill, a mill that does good work for all comers, and he himself is a 
man whose name has stood for more than a generation without 
reproach, a man respected and esteemed for his sterling worth, his 
generous heart and honest and useful life he has led. Away back in 
1837 he was married to Miss Frances Daugherty, and for over 36 
years she was spared to rear their children, and to make their home 
one of singular happiness and contentment. But at last the dark 



466 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

shadow of death entered their door, and beneath his pall her spirit 
took its flight to its home beyond the skies. She had borne him 10 
children, namely : Paulina, the wife of William Ray ; Martha A., the 
wife of John Ridgeway ; William P., Samuel C, Marion M., John I., 
Daniel Franklin, Frances M. and Mary E., deceased, and George G. 
Mr. Hendricks is a member of the M. E, Church South. 

THOMAS HIGHTOWER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Granville). 

The 12th of June, 1884, was the forty-fourth birthday of the subject of 
the present sketch. He is a native of Shelby county, Mo., and was 
brought up on his father's farm in thatcounty. He was in his thirty-first 
year when the war broke out, and as soon as he became settled that there 
was really going to be a fight, he went to the front to do his full part in 
the struggle. He enlisted in July, 1861, and for 14 months was a 
faithful soldier of the South. But at last he was captured and made 
to take an oath not to bear arms any further on the Southern side 
during the war, and being a man of conscience, he felt bound to keep 
his plighted obligation. He therefore took no further part in the war. 
Meanwhile on the 6th of March, 1862, he was married to Miss Mary 
E. Dill, a daughter of Henry and Rebecca Dill, of Shelby county, and 
his stay at home during the great struggle was therefore not as disa- 
greeable as it might otherwise have been. On the contrary it was 
quite the reverse, and barring occasional annoyances from the restless 
spirits of either army, was all that could have been desired, for his 
wife, a good and true woman, made and still makes his home a happy 
one. About the close of the war he engaged in railroading, becoming 
section foreman, and which he followed with success for about 10 
yearst He then removed to Monroe county and engaged in farming, 
which he has since followed. He has a place of about 100 acres of 
land, which is fairly well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Hightower have 
had six children: Benjamin, Eleanor, deceased; Minnie, Austin, 
Thomas and Laura, deceased. He and wife are members of the M. 
E. Church South. Mr. Hightower was a son of William and Mary 
E. (Utz) Hightower, early settlers of Shelby county. 

JAMES C. JACKSON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Woodlawn), 

Ellis Jackson and wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Houden, 
were early settlers in Monroe county. Here the father became a 
responsible farmer and respected citizen, and he and his wife won the 
esteem and high regard of all who knew them. They reared a worthy 
family of children, and among these was James C, the subject of the 
present sketch. He was born December 7, 1850, and was brought up 
to farm work, having an opportunity, however, to obtain a good com- 
mon school education, which he did not fail to improve. At the age 
of 20 he struck out in the world for himself, and, feeling a little lonely 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 467 

after leaving the old family hearthstone, he concluded to have a hearth- 
stone of his own and somebody to sit by it, whose grace and beauty 
would be a feast for his eyes and heart. Accordingly, on the 6th of 
March, 1871, he was duly united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss 
Anna R. Webb, a lady whose charms were more'enrapturing than the 
beauty of all the stars, and whose lovely tresses swept in the summer 
zephyrs like the Milky Way that floats serenely in the sky. She was, 
indeed, a lady of rare beauty of form and feature, her loveliness of 
person only being exceeded by the beauty and gentleness of her mind 
and the excellence and tenderness of her heart. This union has 
proved one of great happiness, and Mrs. Jackson still presides over 
the home that she was brought to be queen of with that grace and 
refinement that are possible only to one of the most ladylike sensibili- 
ties. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson have been singularly unfortunate in the 
loss of their children, having buried four of the nine with whom 
heaven blessed them, but the Lord giveth all we have, and in His 
good wisdom He taketh away. Let the svill of the Lord be done. 
The five living are: Ernest, Reid, Minnie, Bobl)ie and Sunie. Those 
deceased were: Maggie, Eli, Lloyd and Cephas. Mr. Jackson has 
been farming, and still is following that occupation. He is an indus- 
trious man and, above all, a good husband, eminently worthy of the 
queenly wife who adorns his home with her lovely presence. 

WILLIAM R. LEGRAND 

(Fanner, Post-office, Woodlawn) . 

Mr. Legrand, who, as his name implies, is of French descent, was 
16 years of age when his parents, Henry and T. (Seamenter) Legrand, 
immigrated to Missouri from Kentuckv in 1848, havino; been born in 
the latter State October 1, 1832. They located in Schuyler county, 
where they made their permanent home. William R. was married in 
that county January 4, 1855, when Miss Eliza J. Chanic, a daughter of 
Thomas Chanic, originally of Kentucky, became his wife. Twenty- 
three years of age when he was married, he had already begun farm- 
ing for himself. This he kept up in Schuyler county with good success 
until after the outbreak of the war. He then enlisted in the Confed- 
erate service and served with courage and fidelity as a soldier until 
the time when he returned home, then resuming farming. While 
in the service he participated in the battle at Kirksville, and some 
other engagements of less importance. Resuming farming, he now- 
continued it in Schuyler county until 1866 and then removed to Mon- 
roe county. Here he bought a place on which he at once settled and 
went to work. His career as a farmer in this county has been one of 
satisfactory success. He has a good place of 200 acres of land, 
improved with good buildings, excellent fences, etc. Mr. and Mrs. 
Legrand have eight children : Henry T., Martin L., Samuel C, John 
W., Christie A., Mary J., James R. and Lucy M. Mr. Legrand is a 
practical carpenter and does considerable business in that line, his 
work being sought after by those who know him, for he has the repu- 



468 HISTORY OF MONROE COUMTY. 

tatioii of being a careful, painstaking and capable workman. He and 
wife are members of the Baptist Church at Oak Grove, and he has 
filled the chairs of warden and deacon in the A. F. and A. M. lodge 
of which he is a member. 

TRAVIS MILLION 

(Farmer, Post-office, Woodlawu) . 

It was in 1838 that Mr. Million's parents, Joel and Mary (Sanders) 
Million, left Madison county, Ky., for Monroe county. Mo. They 
settled in what afterwards became a part of Shelby county, where 
they lived until their deaths, peaceful, contented and respected lives. 
The father died at the age of 79, and the mother at 65. They reared 
a family of 10 children, seven sons and three daughters, and one, 
besides, died in infancy. Nine of the ten, all but a brother who killed 
himself, accidentally, at the age of 56, are living. All are married 
except one brother, who resides in California. Travis Million was 
born in Madison county, Ky., October 10, 1819. He was therefore 
19 years of age when his parents came to Missouri, and he continued 
to live with them until he was 24 years of age, then went to work for 
himself and soon entered a piece of land, the tract now included in 
his farm, which he shortly began improving. In 1846 he was married 
to Miss Emerald C. Wright, a daughter of Thomas L. Wright, of 
Kentucky. He then having erected a cabin on his place, went to 
housekeeping, and his wife stood by his side, the brave and good and 
true woman that she was, for over 30 years, and bore her full share 
of the hard struggle of fixing themselves comfortably in life. While 
he was busy in the field, she was busy at the wheel, and thus they 
worked on happy and contented, seeing that the seasons prospered 
them with abundant harvests, and heaven with a worthy family of 
children. But at last the angel of death came and the spirit of his good 
wife passed through glory's morning gate and found its rest in Para- 
dise. She had borne him nine children : Mary T., who died after her 
marriage to Daniel Purcell ; Laurinda, the wife of Andrew C. Haden ; 
Townsend, Missouri A., who died in infancy; Haden, also deceased ; 
Tabitha, who died whilst the wife of Jacob P. Vaughan, and George, 
who resides in Montana. February 18, 1879, Mr. Million married 
Mrs. Elizabeth Million, nee Holman, widow of W. S. Million, deceased. 
She was a daughter of John and Nancy (Martin) Holman, both 
deceased, but originally from Kentucky. By this union Mr. Million 
has no children, but he and his excellent wife are rearing two orphans, 
Allen F. Lucas and Mary Trussell. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church. Mr. Million's farm contains 270 acres and he is 
very comfortably fixed. Neither Thomas L. Wright, Mr. M.'s first 
wife's father, nor John Holman, his present wife's father, ever left 
their native State or county, but were born, lived and died in Madison 
county, Ky. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 469 



GARLAND C. MITCHELL 

(Farmer, Post-office, Holliday). 

Every one who remembers the closing events of the war has a 
distinct recollection of the sinking of the steamer Kentucky, in 
June, 1865, on its way from the South after the general surrender, 
freighted with ex-Confederate soldiers returning home. It was loaded 
down almost to the water's edge with l)rave veterans of the South who 
for more than four years had gone through the hardships and dangers 
of one of the most terrible wars of which history gives any account, 
and who were now on their way back to the loved ones from whom 
they had been separated so long, and who were watching and waiting 
at each doorstep to see the care-worn form of the absent ones appear be- 
fore them. But many of these brave men, after escaping death on many 
a hard-fought field and in the more deadly morasses and everglades of 
the South, were destined never to see home again. Whilst they were 
on the boat, their hearts swelling up with fond anticipations as they 
I neared closer and closer to those who were watching for them, the 
unhappy boat went down amid a mighty rush of waters, and soon all 
was quiet again, but 700 brave soldiers were buried beneath the waves 
never more to see home or loved ones, for their spirits had taken their 
flight from the earth forevermore. Garland C. Mitchell, the subject 
of this sketch, a brave ex-Confederate soldier, was on the fatal boat 
at the time it went down, but as by miracle, almost, escaped with his 
life. He, too, had been gone for four years and had done his full duty 
as a brave soldier from the beginning. He enlisted in Capt. Crow's 
company, formed in Monroe county early in the war, and remained 
out until the close of the struggle, taking part in all the terrible 
death-duels of the war, where duty called. Eeturning to Monroe 
county, he resumed the occupation of a farmer, to which he had been 
brought up, and which he has since continued to follow. November 
15, 1870, he was married to Miss Jennie Bierly, a daughter of 
Christopher Bierly and Mary (Butts) Bierly. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell 
have three children: Eddie C., Mary F. and Effie R. He and wife 
are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Mitchell is a native 
of Kentucky, born in Oldham county, April 10, 1841. His parents 
were Charles P. and Rebecca (White) Mitchell, who removed to 
Missouri, settling in Monroe county, when Garland C. was 16 years 
of age, where they still reside. 

W. S. OVERFELT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Dimcaa's Bridge). 

Born in Virginia and reared in Monroe county. Mo., Mr. Overfelt 
was 23 years of age when the tocsins of war sounded in 1861, which 
called many a brave spirit from the earth. He gallantly plighted 
himself as a soldier under the banner of the Confederacy, and 



470 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

marched off to the war, tearhig himself away from the arms of a loving 
young wife, and quitting for the hard march, the tented field and the 
lurid fleath-wailing battle scene, a peaceful, quiet, happy home, the 
tender caresses of wife, and the welcome and loving prattle of children. 
For four long years and more he bravely kept step to the music of 
the Southern drum and wherever duty called there might his gleaming 
bayonet be seen glittering in the sunlight amid the shadow and pall 
of battle, the sentry of a brave man's devotion to his conscience and 
to the cause that he believed right, a cause of Southern independence 
and the great and eternal principles of State sovereignty and local 
self-government, principles which, like the names of the men who 
fought and bled for their maintenance, were not born to die. After 
the war young Overfelt returned to Monroe county, where he has 
since resided, and proving that a brave soldier makes a good citizen, 
he has since lived a quiet and industrious farm life. He was born in 
Old Virginia, and the 23d of February, 1838, was the day the light of 
the earth, or rather, of the solar center of the universe first shot 
athwart his visual globules. He was a son of Barry and Martha 
(Darvis) Overfelt, his father a descendant of sturdy ancestors from 
beyond the Rhine, and his mother of Celtic origin, in the mountain 
reo-ions of Wales, where the Romans nor the Saxons nor the Normans 
ever penetrated the brave country that has maintained its autonomy as 
a principality to this day and constitutes the title of the heir-apparent 
to the British throne, a power whose drum-beat like the morning light 
circles the earth, and whose flag floats on every sea from the Bay of 
Biscay to the gulf of Carpentaria, and from the yellow waters ofi" the 
coast of Corea to the green waves that dash against the shores of the 
Patao-onia. The family came to Missouri when young Overfelt was 
still in tender years, and located in Monroe county. Mr. Overfelt has 
been twice married. His first wife, formerly Miss Eliza Jackson, died 
less than two years after their marriage. To his present wife he was 
married October 14, 1860. She was a sister to his first wife. They 
have eight children: Jeff" Davis, Thomas E., James W., Benjamin, 
Christopher, Barry, Delia and Joe L. Mr. and Mrs. Overfelt are 
members of the Old School Baptist Church. He has a good farm and 
is a verv successful stock dealer. 

GEORGE RAUK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Duncan's Bridge). 

From beyond the poetic and vine-clad waters of the Rhine, cele- 
brated in song and story from time out of mind for the scenes of noble 
courage and grand achievement, and of happy loves and gentle wooing 
they have witnessed, came George Rank, the subject of this sketch. 
He was born in the land of the Nibelungen Lied, January 6, 1835. 
and was a son of Erkwein and Eve (Modt) Rank, whose families had 
been settled in Germany since before the time that Caesar attempted 
to conquer the brave spirits of her dark forests. Young Rank was 
reared in the noble fatherland and in 1853 shipped for the New 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 471 

World on this side the mad-capped waters of the Atlantic. He landed 
in New York and continued in tlie Empire State for two years. He 
then migrated across the blue-mist peaks of the AUeghanies, and over 
the sea-like valleys of the Ohio, to the distant shores of Lake Michigan, 
settling on the rich, luscatine soil of Wisconsin, where he remained 
pursuing the rural labors of Cincinnatus for live years. From the land 
of the Avolverines he came to Missouri, and settled in Monroe county, 
where he has since resided. Here he has followed farming and has 
been known as one of the industrious, hard working men of the town- 
ship, respected by all for his honesty and industry. During the late 
war he served for some time in the militia. On the 20th of January, 
1869, he was married to Miss Betsey Baird, a daughter of Thomas 
Baird from ancient Caledonia. They have no children. Mr. and 
Mrs. Eauk are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. E-auk is one of 
the sterling, substantial, enterprising farmers and stock-raisers of this 
part of the country, a man progressive and liberal in his ideas and of 
marked intelligence, one of the useful and valuable citizens of his 
community. Such men develop a country and add more to its pros- 
perity and advancement than a score of inactive, inert men, who sit 
around and grumble at the seasons, the soil, the markets, and their 
bad luck, instead of going to work and accomplishing something for 
themselves, their family and the prosperity of the country. 

WILLIAM G. SANDERS 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Woodlawn). 

Mr. Sanders, a venerable and time-honored citizen of Woodlawn 
township, a man who has resided in Monroe county for half a century, 
and one whose life throughout has been industrious and active and 
witholit reproach, and who, for a spotless character and many esti- 
mable qualities, is greatly esteemed and venerated by all his neighbors 
and acquaintances, — this good and true citizen is by nativity a 
worthy son of the Old North State, born in Wake county, September 
28, 1807, but was reared in Madison county, Kentucky, where his 
parents removed whilst he was quite young. His father, Wiley San- 
ders, was a native of the Old Dominion, but his mother, whose maiden 
name was Celia Pruitt, was born and reared in North Carolina. In 
1834 the family came to Missouri and " Uncle Billy, " as he is now 
called, but then a young man, came with them. He had married 
threw years before. Miss Paulina Heathman, a daughter of Benjamin 
Heathman, having become his wife February 3, 1831. They all set- 
tled in Monroe county, and here tbe parents died, the father in 1848, 
and the mother in 1866, at the advanced age of eighty-five. Mr. 
Sanders' first wife died in 1838, May the 18th, leaving him three chil- 
dren : Benjamin F., Wiley J., who died at the age of 35, and Jose- 
phus, who died in tender years. On December the 11th, 1838, Mr. 
Sanders was married to Miss Elizabeth Gains, a daughter of Thomas 
Gains. She lived but a short time, leaving one child, William M., 
who died quite young. On July 4, 1842, he was married to Miss 

25 



472 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Frances Gains, a sister to his second wife. She died on September 1, 
1844. January 12, 1845, he was married to Miss Anna R. Alexander, 
a daughter of Archibald Alexander and Isabelhi Patton, her father of 
the old Alexander family of Kentucky. She was born in Kentucky, 
May 9, 1818. They have five children; Paulina, the wife of J. R. 
Cury ; Sarah F., who died in infancy ; Amanda E., the wife of John 
W. Holder; John H., and Archibald F., deceased. Mr. Sanders has 
a farm of nearly 300 acres, with good substantial improvements. He 
is comfortably situated and now in the serene afternoon of a well 
spent life, in which he can look back and see but little to regret, he is 
able to enjoy with ease and a pure conscience the fruits of his long 
years of toil and the good opinion of the many kind friends and neigh- 
bors that live around him. Loved in his own family and esteemed 
and venerated by all, his situation, now that the shadows of old age 
are settling around him, is one that we may all look forward to and 
envy, hoping that the evening of our lives maybe as favored and blest 
as is his. 

JOHN H. SANDERS 

• (Farmer, Post-office, Woodlawn.) 

Of an old and respected Missouri family Mr. Sanders is a repre- 
sentative, his parents having come here away back in the early days 
of the country. They were from Kentucky, and settled in Monroe 
county, where they have been long known as worthy neighbors by all 
among whom they live. Both parents, William G. and Anna R. 
(Alexander) Sanders, were native Kentuckians, and the fam'ilies of 
which they came were each from Virginia. John H. the subject of 
this sketch, was born January 13, 1852, and was reared on his father's 
homestead in Monroe county. At the age of 21, or rather in his 
twenty-first year, September 12, 1872, he was married to Miss Jose- 
phine F. Newby, daughter of John W. and Martha (Wright) Newby, 
both also originally of Kentucky. Mrs. Sanders was born in Madison 
county of that State, July 3, 1855, and came with her parents to Mis- 
souri in 1866. They now reside in Randolph county. After his 
marriage Mr. Sanders remained at home on the farm till January 17, 
1873, when he then went to farming for himself, which he has since 
continued. Mr. Sanders is an industrious, energetic farmer and 
highly respected in the vicinity as a neighbor and citizen. Since 1881 
he has been a school director in district No. 5 of Woodlawn town- 
ship. He and wife attend the Christian Church at Woodlawn. 

SIDNEY A. SANDERS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Woodlawn) . 

Wiley Sanders and wife, whose maiden name was Lucinda Jennings, 
came to Missouri with their parents in an early day, and were mar- 
ried in this State and soon settled in Woodlawn township, Monroe 
county, where they lived until their deaths. The father, however. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 473 

died in 1855, leaving his wife and two cliildren, Sidney A. and Julia 
A., the latter now the wife of William Wilson. Some years after the 
father's death the mother married Rev. James Barton, a Baptist 
minister, but they continued to reside on the old family homestead. 
She died in the M\ of 1881. Sidney A. was born on the homestead 
December 27, 1840, and was therefore 15 years of ao-e at the 
time of his father's death. He remained with the family until he was 
21 years of age, at which time he received a distributive share of the 
estate and settled on his part of the land and went to work for him- 
self. On the 22d of March, 1863, he was married to Miss Frances 
Burton, a daughter of Lucius Burton, his wife being still living to 
brighten his home. They have been blessed with five children: 
Adolphus, deceased ; Ada, the wife of John Webb; Lucius D., Sid- 
ney W. and Julia L. Mr, and Mrs. Sanders are members of the 
Missionary Baptist Church, and he is a member of the Masonic lodo-e 
at Madison. Mr. Sanders has a good place of 165 acres and is com- 
fortably situated. 

WALTEE S. WEBB 

CFarraer, Post-ofRce, Grauville). 

Two hundred and forty acres are included in Mr. Webb's farm, and 
it is one of the well improved places of the township. His buildino-s 
are substantial and comfortable, his fences of a good class and his 
lands are in excellent condition. Mr. Webb is one of those enero-etic 
thriving men who never ftiil of success when their opportunities* are 
anything near satisfactory. Mr. Webb is a native Monroean, born 
October 4, 1852. His parents were early settlers in this county 
where they lived until their deaths. His father was William B. Webb 
well known to all old citizens of this part of the countv- His mother 
before her marriage, was Miss Margaret Shropshire," a lady o-reatlv 
beloved in her family and highly prized by all who knew her as a 
neighbor and friend. Walter S. was brought up to habits of industrv 
and sterling principles of uprightness on the farm, and when 18 years 
of age, being anxious to accomplish something for himself, he went 
out in life on his own responsibility and has since been the architect 
and builder of his own fortune. January 1, 1880, he was married to 
Miss Anna S. Sytes, a daughter of William and Amanda (Shropshire) 
Sytes. Mr. and Mrs. Webb have two children, William S. and Mollie 
Etta. Mr. Webb has spent his whole life from boyhood in the oc- 
cupation of agriculture, and is rapidly coming to the front as a suc- 
cessful farmer. Regardful of his interests in this world, he is wisely 
not blind to the future, but is a worthy member of the Christian 
Church at Granville, as is also his pious-hearted and excellent wife. 

WALKER WRIGHT, Jr. 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, etc. , Duncan's Bridge). 

Mr. Wright, an enterprising and popular young business man of 
this place, is a native Missourian, born in Monroe county, February 



474 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

1, 1856. His parents, Walker and Jane (Grear) Wright, were orig- 
inally from Virginia, and came here in an early day. Young Wright 
was reared on the farm in this county and had good school advantages. 
He completed his education at the State Normal school in Kirksville. 
He carries a neat stock of fresh and well selected drugs and has made 
a special study of pharmacy, so that he is a successful and capable 
druugist. December 27, 1881, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Ro- 
sena Bennett, a daughter of John S. Bennett, of this county. Mr. 
and Mrs. W. have no children. He is a member of the A. F. and A. 
M. and of the I. O. O. F. He is a young man of popular manners, 
and is rapidly coming to the front not only as a business man, but as 
a public-spirited and influential citizen. 



JEFFERSOK TOWISrSHIP. 



HEATON J. CLAPPER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofllce, Stoutsville). 

Mr. Clapper's father 'Squire Poicell Clapper, a substantial Virgin- 
ian, and a man of sterling intelligence and high character, immigrated 
to Missouri with his famity in 1838, and bought land at Florida, in 
Monroe county, where he improved a small farm. He resided there 
until his death, one of the solid citizens of the township and a man 
greatly respected by all who knew him. He served for a short time 
as iustice of the peace, and always exercised a marked influence for 
o-ood upon those among whom he lived. He died in 1854. Heaton J. 
Clapper, the subject of this sketch, was but four years of age when his 
parents came to Missouri, having been born in Loudoun county, Va., 
May 26, 1834. Reared in Monroe county, he received a fair common 
school education, and at the age of 18 apprenticed himself to the carpen- 
ter's trade, at which he worked as a novice for three years. He then 
followed carpentering as a master workman some six years. March 10, 
1861, he was married to Miss Martha J. Thompson, a daughter of 
John L. Thompson, of this county, but formerly of New Jersey. 
About this time Mr. Clapper settled on the farm where he now 
resides. His first wife died September 25, 1873, leaving him two 
children : Anna M. and John H ; two, besides, died in infancy. Mr. 
Clapper continued on his farm and about three years after his 
first wife's death, August 12, 1877, he was married to Mrs. 
Naomi P. Starrett, relict of Charles R. Starrett (who died leav- 
ing one child, Jacob S.), and daughter of Jacob Painter, of this 
county, from Virginia. Mrs. Clapper had been a teacher before 
her first marriage, and after her first husband's death she entered 
the high school at Shelbyville, in order to further qualify her- 
self for teaching. She took a thorough course and was awarded a 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 475 

diploma for proficiency in the common and higher English branches, 
having attended and studied with great assiduity for two years. She 
then resumed teaching and taught with marked success in Missouri 
and Illiuois for about six years, and until her marriage to Mr. Clap- 
per. She is also accomplished in music, and gave instructions on the 
piano for several years. Mrs. Chipper is a lady, as the facts above 
show, of a high order of culture, and as all know who have the pleas- 
ure of an acquaintance with her, she is a woman of many estimable 
qualities of character, refiued in manners, kind and gentle in disposi- 
tion, and a generous, hospitable neighbor, and a most companionable 
friend and acquaintance, always agreeable aud entertaining in conver- 
sation, and ever as sensitive for the feelings of others as she is for 
her own. Mr. and Mrs. Clapper have had two children, but both, alas ! 
have been called away to the Heaven from whence they came. Both 
died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. C are church members, he of the 
Presbyterian and she of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Clapper has 
a fine farm, his tract of land including about 500 acres, all of which 
is under fence and about 260 acres are used for farming purposes, aside 
from stock-raising. Mr. Clapper has a large two-story dwelling, good 
new barn and other improvements to correspond. He is one of the 
well-to-do citizens of the township, and bears with worth the name 
and character he has inherited from his honored father. 

MARTIN J. CLARK 

(Farmer, Breeder and Dealer in Thoroughbred Cattle). 

Mr. Clark is a native of Montgomery couifty, Ky., born eTune 7, 
1825. His father, James Clark, one of the pioneers of that State, 
served in the Indian War and with honor in the War of 1812. He 
married Eliza Burroughs, a native of Culpeper county, Va. He then 
removed, in 1852, from his home in Kentucky and settled in Mon- 
roe county, where he died in 1863. He had grown to be a large 
stock-dealer. Martin's j^outh was spent on the farm. He was edu- 
cated fairly well in the district schools. As he grew to manhood he 
began himself to trade in stock. In 1850 he removed to Menard 
county. III., where, March 23, 1851, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary E., the lovely daughter of Alvin Ringo, one of Menard 
county's staunchest farmers. From Illinois he removed, in 1853, to 
Missouri, locating, first, in Pike county, afterwards, in 1854, in Mon- 
roe county, and finally on the farm where he now resides. From a 
place of little value he has by assiduous toil and diligent labor made 
one of the finest stock farms in the county. He owns as much stock 
as any man in the county, making a specialty of thoroughbred horses 
and graded sheep. Mr. C.'s farm consists of 680 acres of land, 
fenced in, improved and in a high state of cultivation. His residence 
is an elegant structure, surrounded by a number of modern improve- 
ments. He has three children: James A., Alice R. and Joseph L. 
Two others, Charles W. and an infant, are deceased. Mrs. Clark at- 
tends the Christian Church. Mr. Clark is one of the highest members 



476 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

of the Ancient Order of Odd Fellows. To Mr. Clark's indomitable 
energy and notable ambition is due one of the finest farms in this 
county, and by his worthy example, has the introduction of thorough- 
bred stock placed Monroe county prominent in the rank of North-east 
Missouri. Mr. C. is a child of nature. With the advantages of 
a common school he has by profitable experience become marked as 
one of the leaders of public opinion by all who know him. Abroad 
a man of large views and personal influence, at home he is an indul- 
gent parent and husband. 

THOMAS CLEAVER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

This enterprising and intelligent gentleman was born in Grayson 
county, Ky., in March, 1807. His father, Gen. Stephen Cleaver, was 
a Virginian by birth who emigrated when a young man to Kentucky. 
He married there Miss Rebecca Smith and moved, in 1817, to Mis- 
souri. He entered and bought for himself and other Kentuckians a 
large quantity of land in Ralls county and improved a farm, upon 
which he spent the remainder of his life. He died in 1846. He was 
a man of much public importance and was chosen a delegate to the 
constitutional convention. He served, holding a General's commis- 
sion, in several Indian campaigns, in one of which he was taken pris- 
oner and not released for two years. He was also a soldier in the 
War of 1812, and was in the battle of New Orleans. Mr. Cleaver 
was twice married, having four children by the first and three by the 
second marriage. Of both families but two children are living : T. 
C. and Mrs. Eleanor Cobb, now of Texas. The former grew to man- 
hood in Ralls county, having good educational advantages, though the 
greater part of his studying was done after he reached his majority. 
The first school-house in Ralls county was built on his father's farm. 
He married, December 16, 1835, Miss Margaret J. McComb, also a 
native of Kentucky, and a daughter of John McComb. Mr. Cleaver 
farmed in the same county until 1849, and then, in company with 
Capt. Brolasky, of St. Louis, and others, about 100 in number, he 
went to California. They were absent about 18 months, were in the 
mines for a few weeks and then engaged in cattle and mule trading. 
In 1851 Mr. C. returned, lived in Ralls until 1858 and then moved 
to his present farm. This consists of 520 acres of land, and that be- 
lonsino- to his son, who lives with him, swells the amount to 728 acres, 
all fenced and all in grass, plow land and timbered pasture. The 
farm is well improved, with good residence, barns, etc. Mr. and Mr«. 
C. have six children: John S., married and living in Ralls county; 
Louise, wife of Dr. R. H. McKee, of Clarke county; Susan E., wife 
of George W. Stewart, of Audrain; Nannie May, wife of Irving E. 
Hickman; Harry H., married and with one child, Mary A.; and 
Ruth E., wife of Leslie M. Combs, of Wichita, Kan. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cleaver and all their children belong to the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 477 

JACOB W. CONRAD 

(Proprietor of the Stoutsville Pottery) . 

Success in whatever they undertake is a clmracteristic of German- 
Americans, and Mr. Conrad, a native of the Fatherland, is no excep- 
tion to the general rule of his nationality in this country. He is an 
adapt in pottery, and came to Missouri in the fall of 1877, since 
which he has succeeded in building up one of the largest and most 
successful manufactories in this line in North Missouri. He manu- 
factures about 120,000 gallons annually, and such is the reputation of 
his pottery that he has constant demand for far more than he can sup- 
ply. He burns about 30 kilns a year, and is steadily increasing the 
capacity of his works. Mr. Conrad was born in Bavaria, June 16, 
1842, and was a son of Jacob and Mary (Sprow) Conrad, each of 
whose ancestors had been settled in that country for a period, in the 
language of Blackstone, " Whereof the memory of man runneth to 
the contrary." In 1845 the family emigrated to the United States, 
and lived for 14 years in New York City. They then removed to 
Pennsylvania and settled in Jefferson county, where they still reside. 
Jacob W. assisted his father in timbering in Pennsylvania until 1864, 
when he enlisted in the service, becoming a member of Co. B, Two 
Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania Infantry. In February, 1865, he was 
attached to the Twenty-fourth corps of Sharpshooters, and on the 2d 
of April was wounded in the left shoulder and fore arm, at Hatcher's 
Run, Va., being thus disabled until the close of the war. He was 
honorably discharged July 24, 1865, and returned to Pennsylvania. 
In 1866 he engaged in farming in that State, but the following year 
removed to Ohio and located at Limaville, in Stark county, where he 
learned the pottery business. Remaining there for two years, he 
then went to Alliance, where he worked for some 18 months. In 
1871 he went to Atwater, in Portage county, where he worked at his 
trade until 1877. Mr. Conrad then came to Missouri, as stated above, 
and established his pottery near Stoutsville. April 3, 1866, Mr. Con- 
rad was married to Miss Mary Sohlinger, of Limaville, Ohio, a daugh- 
ter of John Sohlino-er. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad have five children : 
William E., Maggie, Nettie, John B. and Fred. Mr. C. is a member 
of the Ancient Order of Odd Fellows. 

JOHN R. CROSWHITE, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Stoutsville). 

One of the most brilliant young physicians whose rising star ever 
cast a flood of light over the medical horizon, is Dr. John R. Cros- 
white. Though not yet arrived at the meridian of life, he has achieved 
a success which grey hairs need not despise. Of most unusual force, 
he keeps well up with all the newest discoveries in his profession, and 
his large and steadily growing practice bears witness to the skill and 
ability with which he applies his learning, showing a practicability of 
mind that in no calling is more useful. He is every day more thor- 



478 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. , 

ouglily establishing himself in the confidence of his fellow-citizens, 
and in time will no doubt be at the head of the fraternity which his 
talents so adorn. He was the son of John E. Croswhite, a farmer 
and stock-raiser of Kentucky, who was born in Clark county in 1807, 
and moved in 1833 to Audrain county. Mo. Twenty years after 
(1855) he was chosen as the most able representative of the county 
in the legislative hall. His wife, formerly Miss Eosa Mosley, was 
also born in Kentucky, in 1811, and is still living in Boone county. 
Dr. J. E., born March 27, 1852, resided with his father until his edu- 
cation was completed, then was for a number of years in the drug 
business at Sturgeon. He then, in 1874, commenced the study of 
medicine at the Missouri Medical College, graduating in 1877. He 
returned to Sturgeon, practiced there one year, then moved to Stouts- 
ville, in Monroe county, where he now enjoys the most flattering 
success. He is a live and wide-awake man, and has already made a 
name which will be the proudest inheritance of his children. Dr. 
Croswhite loves his profession as the artist his brush, and striving to 
penetrate ever deeper and deeper into its mysteries, he purposes at- 
tending in the near future a course at the Bellevue College, in New 
York. The Doctor married, June 21, 1882, Miss Minnie L. Searcy, 
the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Col. J. J. Searcy. They 
have one son, Eoy S., who inherits the combined intellect and attract- 
iveness of both parents. Dr. Croswhite is a member of the Paris 
Union Lodge No. 19, A. F. and A. M., also the Chapter No. 16, 
and Parsifal Commandery No. 44. 

EOBEET H. CEUMP 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Florida). 

Mr. Crump is a native of the township of which he has long been a 
substantial citizen, and was born October 4, 183(5. He was reared to 
a farm life in this township, and, receiving a good education, he early 
became a school teacher, and made that his profession for a number of 
years. Even upon to a few years ago, he alternated teaching and farm- 
ing. He long had the reputation of being one of the most successful and 
popular teachers of the county. On the 15th of March, 1866, Mr. 
Crump was married to Miss Josie Morrow, the accomplished daughter 
of Allen Morrow, of Cass county, 111. She died, however, three years 
afterwards, April 11, 1869. There are no children living by this 
union. April 19, 1870, Mr. Crump was married at Eushville, 111., to 
Miss Hannah Wheelhouse, daughter of George Wheelhouse, of Schuy- 
ler county. 111. Mr. Crump located on the farm where he now resides 
in 1866. He has a place of 160 acres, substantially improved. He 
also has two other good farms situated in the vicinity — in all aggre- 
2;ating about 600 acres. Mr. Crump is a successful stock-raiser and 
breeder of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. His father, William W. 
Crump, was one of the early settlers of this county. He came here 
from Virginia in 1830. He entered and bought land and improved a 
farm, on which he lived until his death, in 1875, at the age of 75. His 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 479 

wife, whose maiden name was Susan Jordan, also of Bedford county, 
Va., died in 1880. 

ALBERT G. DILS 

(Mail-carrier between Stoutsville and Florida). 

Mr. Dils was born July 30, 1846, in Coahoma county, Miss. He 
was the fourth child in a family of ten children. His father, Albert 
G. Dils, was a Virginian, and his mother, Nancy Rowud, a native of 
Maryland. They were married in Ripley county, Ind., October 15, 
1833, and the husband giving up his position as pilot between Cincin- 
nati and New Orleans, moved to Mississippi and became a planter. 
In 1849 he returned to Indiana, and in 1857 moved to Ralls county. 
Mo., where he was a successful farmer and stock-raiser up to the 
time of his death, which occurred November, 12, 1870. Mrs. Dils is 
still living at Stoutsville. Albert G., Jr., grew up and was educated 
in Ralls county. On coming of age he went to farming, but after a 
year, with unusual ambition and independence, returned to school and 
pursued his studies uiUil he felt himself prepared for the conflict with 
the world. On the 23d of December, 1869, Mr. Dils married Miss 
Lulu Boren, a native of Marion county. Mo. He then resumed his 
interrupted farming operations, also raising stock. In 1880 he went 
West with a view of making it his future home, but disappointed in 
his expectations, he returned to Stoutsville in December of the same 
year and accepted the position of contractor for the Hannibal Lime 
Company, shipping wood. He was next, for awhile, connected with the 
livery stable of Dils Brothers, and in 1883 began carrying the mail 
between Stoutsville and Florida, in which occupation he is now 
engaged. Mr. Dils is an active and energetic man and will always be 
successful in anything he undertakes. He has five children: Albert 
P., Minnie V., Centennial, George H. and Darthula. He is a mem- 
ber of the Florida Union lodge, A. F. and A. M., No. 23. His 
mother and three sisters belong to the Missionary Baptist Church. 

JUDGE HENRY DOOLEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, and General Business Man, Stoutsville). 

It was a saying of Kant, the greatest of German philosophers, and 
without question one of the greatest minds humanity has ever pro- 
duced, that the abilities and character of men should be measured 
with reference particularly to their opportunities or environments. 
He often said he estimated the force of a man by the distance he had 
come, the difficulties he had to overcome, and the individuality that 
marked his efl'orts. One, in favorable surroundings and forwarded 
by altruistic help, may attain to a high degree of success in life, and 
still be essentially devoid of the stronger and better qualities of a 
successful manhood ; while another, who may not reach so high a 
station as the former, may show, by the rise that he does make, far 
greater strength of mind and character than the first, having come 



/ 



480 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

up without assistance from those around him, but by his individual 
exertions and personal worth. These views of Kant, old and well 
known as they are, are vividly brouo^ht to mind by contemplating 
the record Judge Dooley has made. Without any early opportunities 
whatever, and in the face of the greatest difficulties, he has risen to a 
position by his own efforts and mental force, alone, equaled even by 
that of but few citizens in the county, or throughout the surrounding 
country, whose advantages were of the best. Not a man of State 
prominence, or whose name has been sounded by the trumpet of 
fame, he is yet a man of such solidity of character, such strength of 
mind and sterling intelligence, and such vigor and success in affairs, 
that by the intelligent observer he can not but be recognized as a 
man of a remarkable and superior individuality. The impression at 
a glance is unavoidable that if his earlier opportunities had been at 
all favorable, eminence would have come to him as a matter of course. 
Left an orphan in childhood and practically friendless, and brought 
up where schools were not in reach, long after his marriage he was 
able neither to read nor write ; yet to-day, he is, and for years 
past has been, accounted one of the most successful men in Monroe 
county, indeed, the most successful, as well as one of the leading 
property holders in North Missouri, his landed estate numbering over 
2,50.0 acres, and for a number of years he occupied with ability the 
bench of the county court, esteemed one of the most capable and 
efficient judges who ever sat upon the bench, showing the same vigor 
and forcible comprehension of duties in administering the affairs 
of the countv that he has always shown in the management of his own 
interests. Whilst he has exhibited the mental force and the perse- 
verance to accumulate a handsome fortune from worse than no begin- 
ning, he has at the same time not neglected the improvement of his 
mind, and has become, first, through the instruction of his wife and 
the teaching of a hired hand on his farm, and then by his own reading 
and untiring investigations, a man of wide and thorough general 
information, and a business man of superior qualifications. Nor has 
he become successful in the accumulation of property or in advance- 
ment among men of education and information, by selfishness or a 
sordid care only for his own personality. On the contrar}^ he has ever 
shown his heart to be as large and his generosity as unlimited as his 
mind is broad and liberal and his industry untiring. There are many 
to bear witness to the kindness of his heart and liberality of his hand. 
The smallest voice of distress or the most diffident plea of the worthy 
find in his breast a responsive echo and his hand is not less generous 
to help such a one than his heart is sympathetic. Among the many 
instances which illustrate this noble and humane quality of the man, is 
one where a little girl came to him penniless, and with tears asked 
him to buy her a book that she might attend the neighboring school. 
His heart was touched. He not only bought her a book, but sent her 
to school and educated her, paying her board and other expenses 
throughout, although he himself, had never learned a letter within 
the walls of a school-room. And the record of his candidacies show 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 481 

in a generous light how he is regarded by those who have known him 
for a lifetime. Although the candidate of the opposite party for the 
office of judge was considered one of the strongest men in the county, 
Judge Dooley was elected almost unanimously. Of a large vote in his 
own township he received all but four, and his re-election to the same 
office was even more complimentary to him. The life record of such 
a man as this is certainly eminently worthy of an enviable place in the 
history of the county where his long and worthy record has been 
made. Judge Henry Dooley was born in Madison county, Ky., Jan- 
uary 20, 1831, and two years afterwards his parents removed to Mon- 
roe county, settling in Jefferson township. The father died when 
Henry (the Judge) was quite young, he being the youngest in the 
family of children. From this forward his future Avas to be only what 
he himself could make it. But generous nature had o-iyenhim a good 
mind and a vigorous constitution, and above all an inflexible purpose 
to rise in the world by honest methods, untiring industry, blameless 
habits and good management. He had no chance to attend school 
but had to work from early morn till dewy eve at farm labor, and 
when nio-ht came he was wise enouirh to know that refreshino- hours 
of sleep would be of more value to him in the end than what little 
knowledge of books he could pick up when wearied with the day's 
work. Coming up to farm employments, he of course became a 
farmer, and subsequently married Miss Nancy Nolen, who was 
born in Kentucky. He soon became able to buy a small piece of 
land, which he improved, and with this as a nucleus he afterwards 
made a lar<je farm. With farmino- he combined stock-raising and 
feeding. In 1854, now thirty years ago, he was able to start a small 
store, carrying a stock of general merchandise and his business, like 
his farming, greatly prospered. His house became one of the leading 
establisliments of Paris. In 1883 he built a fine brick hotel in Paris, 
a handsome structure, which is a substantial improvement to the 
town. Judge Dooley has always taken a commendable interest in 
public aflairs. Years ago he accepted the office of constable and 
discharged its duties to the great satisfaction of the public. After- 
wards, as has been noted above, he was elected county judge, holding 
the office for several years from 1874, being re-elected. He has been a 
delegate to county conventions a number of times and also to State 
senatorial and congressional conventions, and for over 20 years he 
has served with more or less regularity on the grand and petit juries 
of the county. Judge Dooley has never })een identified with any 
church, but believes earnestly in the great fundamental principles of 
religious truth. He is bound to no sect, and in the confusion of 
jarring doctrines, where — 

" You can and you can't, 
You will aud you won't ; 
You'll be damn'd if you do, 
You'll be damn'd if you don't," — 



482 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

he prefers to take the phiiii road to Heaven marked out by his own 
conscience — 

" Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, 
But looks through nature up to nature's God." 

Judge and Mrs. Dooley have eight children living, namely: JohnW., 
Aloiizo G., James H,, Lulu M., Annie L., Eva L., Charles E. 
and Samuel Tilden. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M. 

UNDEEWOOD DOOLEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Stoutsville). 

Mr. Dooley' s grandfather, Jacob Dooley, a native of Virginia, was 
a gallant soldier under Washington in the War for Independence, and 
his son. Job Dooley, the father of the subject of this sketch, was a 
soldier in the American army during the War of 1812, and afterwards 
drew a pension on account of disabilities received whilst in the service 
of his country. The Dooleys became pioneer settlers in Kentucky, 
and Job Dooley married Miss Lucy Searcy, of the well-known family 
of that name in Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, and several other 
States. Underwood Dooley was born of this union in Madison county, 
Kentucky, May 6, 1809, and was reared in his native State. After he 
grew up he spent four years in the stock trade between Kentucky and 
North Carolina. In the fall of 1838 he was married to Miss Martha 
Dooley, a daughter of his uncle, Jacob Dooley, of Kentucky. But in 
the meantime both he and his father's family had come out to Missouri. 
He came here in 1832 and entered land and improved a farm on Otter 
creek, in Jefferson township, of Monroe county, and his father's 
family came out the year following, where they also opened a farm. 
The father died here in 1854, and the mother May 15, 1874. Mr. 
Dooley lived on his first farm for a number of years, but since then 
he has bought land and improved three other farms in this township. 
He came to his present farm which he improved in 1854, and has 
therefore been residing on it continuously for 30 years. This place 
contains 270 acres, and, indeed, constitutes two farms, having two 
sets of improvements. His house is a substantial two-story building, 
and the other house is a one-story building of three rooms. Both 
places are well improved. Mr. Dooley's first wife died September 3, 
1855. By her he reared a family of seven children ; Angeline, who 
died after becoming grown ; Thomas N., Christina, Perry W., Cicero 
and Alexander, twins, and Lizzie, the second child, also deceased. 
To his present wife Mr. Dooley was married May 26, 1858. She was 
formerly Miss Arzelia Renfro, daughter of John Renfro, of this county, 
but originally of Madison county, Ky. There have been four children 
by this union : John W., deceased ; James P., Sallie and Laura. Mrs. 
Dooley is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 483 

JOHN ELLIS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Stoutsville) . 

England gave to this countiy its original white population, and 
above all those ideas of free government and personal liberty under 
the aegis of which has been built up one of the first nations of the 
earth, a nation that is destined to surpass all others in wealth and 
population and power, in intelligence and learning and in the onward 
march of civilization. The parent country is still contributing its 
brave sons to help the great Republic forward in its splendid career, 
and every ship that comes over brings Englishmen to unite their ener 
gies with ours in the great work going forward. Every State and 
every county in this country can point to its citizens who are natives 
of the Empress Isle of the seas. Among this class of citizens in Mon- 
roe may be mentioned the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Ellis 
was born in England, August 15, 1832, and was a son of William and 
Alice (Crawford) Ellis, his father an Englishman by nativity, and his 
mother, also a native of that country. In 1837 the family came to 
America and settled in Courtland county, N. Y. December 25, 1854, 
he was married there to Miss Alexina Beattie, a daughter of Alexander 
and Allen Beattie, originally of Dunbreeshire, Scotland. Mrs. Ellis 
came to the United States with her mother and grandparents, her 
father having previously died, when bhe was four years of age, and 
was reared in Courtland county, N. Y- Mr. and Mrs. Ellis have five 
children: John B., Rachel, wife of O. S. R. Honeyman; Jane, Mary 
and Robert E. Mr. Ellis continued farming in Courtland county, 
N. Y., to which occupation he had been brought up, until the spring 
of 1866. He then removed to Missouri and located in Monroe county, 
where he resumed farming, wdiich he has since continued. In 1869 
he bought his present place and settled where he now resides. He 
has a place of 160 acres with good improvements. He and wife are 
highly esteemed residents of the neighborhood where they reside. 
Mr. Ellis is a man of great industry and is steadily coming to the 
front as a successful farmer and influential citizen of the township. 

BENEDICT GARWOOD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Stoutsville). 

Mr. Garwood is one of the thrifty Northern farmers and worthy citi- 
zens who, with their wives have settled in this county since the war, and 
contributed by their brain and energy to build up the county and 
develop its resources. He has an excellent farm of 180 acres, all 
under fence and in cultivation and pasturage, the principal branch of 
cultivation being wheat-raising. Stock-raising is another branch 
of industry in which Mr. Garwood takes great interest. He is one of 
those business-like farmers who have shown the acumen to see that 
stock-raising is one of the most profitable industries in which a man can 
engage. His farm is well improved and finely watered, and is one of 



484 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

the choice homesteads of Jefferson township. Mr. Garwood is a 
native of Pennsylvania, born in Fayette county, about 30 miles from 
Pittsburg, February 4, 1832. His father was of the same given 
name, and his mother, formerly a Miss Hannah Swindler, was a native 
of Maryland. Mr. Garwood, Jr., was reared in Fayette county, and 
received a good common school education. He came to Ohio in 1856, 
and followed farming in Carroll county until the year 1862. October 
10, 1861, he was married in that county to Miss Elizabeth Maple, a 
daughter of Jacob Maple, of Carroll county. Five children are the 
fruits of this union : 1st. Matilda J., now the wife of A. D. Paynter, 
of this county; 2d, a daughter, Mary A., died in infancy; then 
two sons were born to them, William T. and John H., and lastly a 
daughter, Cora S. Mr. Garwood removed to Illinois the second year 
after his marriage, and located in Pike county, near Kinderhook. 
Four years later he with his wife and family came to Missouri, where 
they have since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Garwood and their eldest 
daughter, Mrs. Paynter, are members of the M. E. Church. 

JAMES GOODIER, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Florida). 

Dr. Goodier was reared in North Missouri, and a sketch of his 
life shows what difficulties young men with an ambition to accomplish 
something in the world, had to meet and overcome in this section of 
the country at that early day in order to succeed. Generally they had to 
educate themselves, and with but very limited opportunities for doing 
that. Means were not as easily to accumulate to defray expenses, 
or for any other purpose then, as they now are. By hard study, prin- 
cipally at home, and without an instructor, he succeeded in gaining a 
sufficient knowledge of books to teach school. He then taught at the 
small salaries paid in those days for means with which to complete his 
education, and finally to take a regular course at a medical college. 
In this way he became not only a man of excellent general education, 
but a thoroughly accomplished physician. Dr. Goodier, though reared 
in this country, is a native of England, having been born in Lanca- 
shire June 3, 1825. In 1831, his parents, James and Alice (Willett) 
Goodier, immigrated to the United States and located in Philadel- 
phia, where they lived for six years. They then came to Missouri and 
made their home in Marion county for several years, but finally set- 
tled permanently in Ralls county. The father improved a good farm 
there on which he lived until his death, an active, upright and respected 
life. The facts of Dr. Goodier's early career have already l)een out- 
lined above. He completed his general education at the Hannibal 
Collegiate Institute. His preceptor in the study of medicine was Dr. 
R. N. Anderson, a leading physician of Hannibal. He completed 
his medical education at the Missouri Medical College, of St. Louis, 
under the presidency of Dr. McDowell, in which he took a regular 
course of two terms, graduating with distinction among the first in 
the class of '51. He now returned to Ralls county and entered 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 485 

actively into the practice, his ability and acquirements as a physician 
being such that he was invited to become a partner in the practice with 
Dr. Tyre Rodes, an old and established physician of Ralls county, 
with whom he formed a partnership. A year later, however, he came 
to Florida and has since been engaged in practice from this point, for 
a period now of 32 years. It is unnecessary in this connection to 
speak of his unqualified success and high standing as a physician, for 
he is well known to the people throughout this whole section of country 
as one of the ablest physicians who has ever practiced in their midst. 
Dr. Goodier was married away back in the winter of 1853-54, in Jan- 
uary, to Miss Martha E. Holmes, a daughter of Amanca W. Holmes, 
for some years sheriff of Monroe county, and originally from Virginia. 
Dr. and Mrs. Goodier have two children: Robert H. and Alice. 
Robert H. is a practicing physician, and was graduated from the St. 
Louis Medical College with distinction in March, 1883. Miss Alice is 
a young lady of rare culture and refinement, still at home with her 
parents. Dr. Goodier and family are members of the M. E. Church 
South, and young Dr. Goodier is a prominent member of the Masonic 
order. 

ROBERT G. HANNA 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

This enterprising and reliable farmer is the son of Robert Hanna, 
of Augusta county, Va., who came to Missouri in 1828 a young man 
full of bright and glowing hopes aud dreams. Behind he had left that 
purest and strongest incentive to a man to brace every nerve in the 
struggle with life's perplexities. A tender heart counted the moments 
until he should return to claim his own. A pure and lovely maiden 
waited to crown his life with her love. After a year of patient 
endeavor, Mr. Hanna was able to return to Virginia, and Miss Jane E. 
Berry, also of that State, plighted to him her troth and accompanied 
him, in 1830, to Monroe county, where he entered land and improved 
the farm upon which his son, Robert G., now lives. He gradually 
added to his property until he owned upwards of 1,000 acres, and 
spent the rest of his days in peaceful prosperity. He died in 1867. 
Mr. Hanna's first wife dying in 1845, he married again, and had five 
children in all, four by his first and one by his second marriage. Of 
these, William A., the eldest son, was killed in the Confederate serv- 
ice, in 1863, at the battle of Corinth. Robert G., the second son, 
grew up on the farm he still owns, which was willed to him by his 
father. He received a good common school education, and upon 
reaching years of discretion became a farmer. He married, October 
30, 1867, Miss Victoria E., daughter of Hiram Wommack, of Monroe 
county, formerly from Virginia. Mrs. Hanna was born in Lincoln 
county, and was almost a woman when she came to Monroe. There 
are five sons by this marriage : Albro, Eddy P., Hiram W. and Ben- 
jamin J. and Perry B., twins. Mr. Hanna has always lived on the 
home place, which contains 420 acres, 380 fenced and in meadow 



486 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

pasture and plow land. The farm is supplied with every convenience 
and improvement, and reflects unbounded credit on the systematic 
management and industrious energy of its owner. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hanna are members of the Presbyterian Church at Perry, Ralls county. 
They are among the most highly honored citizens of Jefferson town- 
ship. 

WINFIELD S. HAWKINS 

(Farmer). 

Mr. Hawkins was born in Culpeper county, Va., on St. Valentine's 
Day, 1821. His father, Benjamin Hawkins, was a soldier in the War 
of 1812, and married Miss Susan Green, both natives of the Old 
Dominion. Mr, Hawkins, Sr., in later life emigrated to Kentucky, 
where he finally ended his days. Winfield S. lived in his native county 
on the home farm until he was 17 years of age, attending the common 
schools. In 1837 he moved to Missouri, learned the carpenter's trade 
and worked at the same through the counties in the eastern part of the 
State for 10 years. He then came to Monroe and for some time fol- 
lowed carpentering in and around Paris. In 1850 he went to Cali- 
fornia, worked in the mines there for a year and a half, and returned 
by Central America and New York. In 1854 he began farming in 
Audrian county, which he continued until the close of the war, then 
returned to Monroe county and bought the farm he still occupies. He 
has 160 acres ot fine land, 140 fenced and in a good state of cultivation ; 
has a comfortable residence, good buildings, fine orchard, etc. It 
may be safely said that there is no more correct and estimable man, 
as well as reliable and intelligent farmer in the township. Mr. H. 
went up, in 1840, on the first four-horse coach that e\ er made the trip 
from St. Louis to Palmyra. He has always been identified with every 
movement tending to promote the general good, and in him the county 
possesses a faithful and valuable citizen. Mr. Hawkins has been twice 
married. His first wife, whom he wedded January 26, 1849, was Miss 
Sarah P., daughter of Braxton Pollard, of Florida. She died January 
15, 1871, leaving eight children, viz. : James William, married and 
living in Henry county; Mary E., wife of Bela Hughes, of Monroe; 
Charles B., in Illinois; Virginia L., Hugh B., George N., John W. 
and Henry M. Two children died in infancy, and one, Benjamin F., 
died in May, 1873, aged 25 years. On the 12th of October, 1871, 
Mr. H. married Miss Mary E., daughter of Wilkinson Crump, one of 
the early settlers of Monroe, who emigrated in 1844 from Bedford 
county, Va. By this marriage there was one child, who bloomed but 
to fVide. Mr. Hawkins is a member of the Presbyterian Church, while 
his worthy and superior wife worships according to the faith of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 487 

J. G. HICKMAN 

(Post-oflSce, Florida) . 

Mr. Hickman, a son of Hugh A. Hickman, was born in November, 
1837, in Monroe county. Mo. Having some taste for learning, he 
acquired a fair classical education, and has always manifested some 
interest in matters of thought. He was married to Miss M. K. 
Campbell, in April, 1863. Two children are living, a son and daugh- 
ter, the former 17 and the latter 19 years of age. He is proprietor of 
the Excelsior Mills, north of Florida, which he hopes to make a suc- 
cess. 

PHILANDER W. HICKMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Mr. Hickman is a native of Monroe county, born in South Fork 
township, July 15, 1847. His parents, Anderson and Susan (Cow- 
herd) Hickman, were from Kentucky. P. W. grew up in the county, 
spending his youth on the farm and receiving a good common school 
education. Upon reaching his majority, it was natural that in his 
choice of a calling he should be swayed by his early associations 
and training. Having, therefore, been brought up on a farm, among 
farmers, and feeling that he was well fitted to make a success of 
agriculture, he embraced it as his own field of action. He farmed 
with his father up to the time of his marriage, then settled on a 
farm he owned near by, and lived there for three years. In March, 
1882, he took possession of his present farm. Mr. Hickman owns 
160 acres, all fenced and in meadow pasture and plow land. He has 
a handsome residence, new buildings and fine young orchard. His 
home is further adorned by the presence of a beautiful and charm- 
ing young wife, to whom he was united March 21, 1878. She was 
Miss Ella, daughter of Darius and Martha Poage, of Monroe county, 
where Mrs. H. was born and raised. One noble boy blesses the 
married life of this interesting and attractive young couple, Elbert 
A., born August 28, 1883: — 

A royal guest with flaxen hair, 

He rules by his divine right of helplessness, 

And the light of love shines over all. 

Mr. Hickman is quite young, and life blossoms before him like a 
garden wooing his plucking hand. With such a mind, heart and 
temperament as his, he can not fail to wreathe a garland of fairest 
beauty. He and his wife belong to the Presbyterian Church. 

THOMAS W. HURD 

(Farmer, Post-office, Stouts ville). 

Mr. Hurd, though a native of Kentucky, born in Harrison county, 
October 17, 1820, was principaliv reared in Missouri, his parents 

26 



488 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

havino- removed to Monroe county in an early day, whilst he was still 
a lad. Coming up in those tiines, his opportunities for an education 
were, of course, limited, but, as was said of Sir William Jones, that 
he might have been sewed up in a sack and placed on the most bar- 
ren spot in England to die, yet he would have found a way to get 
out and accomplish something in the world, so there are some who 
can not be kept down, it matters not in what circumstances they are 
placed, and Mr. Hurd is one of these. He found a way to educate 
himself, almost entirely regardless of school and of instruction from 
others, and has become one of the well informed men of the county. 
Not only this, but as a farmer he has been entirely successful. By his 
own exertions and sterling intelligence he has placed himself among 
the substantial farmers of ^he county. He has an excellent farm and 
is comfortably situated in life. Above this he is one of the public 
spirited citizens of the township, having an intelligent appreciation 
of the needs of the people and the country to make them prosper- 
ous, and is ever ready with counsel and to assist with his own efforts 
and otherwise to help along any movement designed for the general 
o-ood. Mr. Hurd was a son of Judge Thomas Hurd, of this county, 
a pioneer settler of the county, and previously a citizen of Harrison 
county, Ivy. He was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and after- 
wards a judge of the county court in Kentucky. He came to Mon- 
roe county with his family in 1832, and improved a large farm here. 
He served as justice of the peace in this county for a number of 
years, and died May 1, 1861. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Martha Stevenson, died March 6, 1860. They had a family of 16 
children, 14 of whom grew to maturity. Thomas W. was one of 
seven sons, three of whom are living, and only three daughters are 
livino-. Thomas W. Hurd was married February 20, 1845, to Miss 
Maro-aret I. Kerr, a daughter of John and Susan Kerr, originally 
of Virijinia. Her father also had a family of 16 children, 14 of 
whom attained majority. He was twice married, and had 12 chil- 
dren by his first wife and four by his last wife, the mother of Mrs. 
Hurd. Mr. and Mrs. Hurd have seven children, namely: Susan J., 
wife of John H. Clapper; John W., Martha E., relict of Frederick 
Clapper ; James P., Robert B., Laura E., wife of John M. Jones, and 
Thomas F. Mr. Hurd settled on the farm where he now resides 
immediately after his marriage. This is one of the oldest places in 
the county, the land having been entered at the first land sales in the 
State, at St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. H. are members of the Regular 
Presbyterian Church. 

WILLIAM H. POAGE 

(Retired Farmer). 

Mr. Poage is the son of a gallant Virginia gentleman, Maj. James 
Poage, of tlie militia of that State. His wife, Jane Poage, was also 
born in Virginia, and was reared on the south branch of the Potomac. 
The family "emigrated to Kentucky in about 1805, and were among 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 489 

the pioneer settlers of Green county. In such a wild condition was 
the country at that time that bear still roamed in unrestrained freedom 
through the forests, sometimes causing the farmers much annoyance 
by their depredations among the stock. So bold were these that 
often they would chase the hogs into the very farmyard. In 1882 
Mr. Poage moved with his family to Missouri, and farmed until his 
death in 1850, on a place four miles east of Paris. William H. was 
born in Greenup county, Ky., August 15, 1815, and accompanied 
his parents to Missouri. He was reared on a farm and educated in 
the common schools. In 1849, with the adventurous spirit of youth, 
he took a trip overland to California, where for a year he worked in 
the mines, golden visions of the future dancing before his eyes. 
Realizing with the sober judgment of growing experience that fortune 
smiles only on patient and long continued efforts, he returned in 1850 
to his home and the life to which he had been brought up, making the 
journey by way of the Isthmus and New Orleans. Previous to this 
little episode in his history, Mr. Poage had assumed the responsibility 
of a wife. In February, 1843, Miss Elizabeth Ann, daughter of B. C. 
Pollard, of Florida, Mo., formerly of Kentucky, stood with him 
before God's holy altar and vowed to be to him that most priceless of 
all treasures, a true and faithful wife. Mrs. Poage was born in 
Kentucky. Her father was well known as having the first tanyard in 
Monroe county, at Florida. Mr. Poage farmed until 1852 near 
Austin Station, in March of that year changing his residence to his 
present location. He first bought 500 acres of land, a part of which 
he has since disposed of. His place is all fenced, with 240 acres in 
cultivation. His improvements are good and his whole farm presents 
an appearance of smiling prosperity. He is not only a successful 
farmer, but one of the most esteemed citizens of the township. His 
household is enlivened by the sunshiny presence of seven children : 
James A., Samuel B., Charles W., Sarah C, wife of Albert Henderson ; 
Mary Jane, wife of B. F. Vaughn; Amanda C, wife of James 
Yowell, and Ruth E. Mr. and Mrs. Poage and their family belong to 
the Presbyterian Church. 

JUDGE JAMES M. POLLARD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Stoutsville). 

Judge Pollard has been a resident of Missouri for nearly half a cen- 
tury, from youth up to approaching old age, and during his entire 
career as a citizen of this State, his life has been one of continued 
activity and usefulness. Judge Pollard is a native of Kentucky, l)orn 
in Owen county, October 17, 1826, and was a son of Thomas Pollard, 
a leading citizen of that county, and sheriff of the county, and Nancy, 
nee Marsh. His father was a Kentuckian by nativity, but his 
mother came with her parents from North Carolina, and was married 
in Kentucky. In 1840 the family removed to Missouri and settled 
where the Judge now resides, the father having improved his farm 
from raw laud. He died here in 1864, and his wife died the follow- 



490 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

ing year. Of their nine sons and two daughters, only two brothers 
and a sister are living. When 21 years of age, young Pollard went 
to the town of Florida, where he learned the wagon making and 
carriage trade. When he came to Missouri he was old enough to have 
left a sweetheart behind, a school-mate, whose form and features were 
never for a moment eflaced from his mind. Accordingly, in 1851, 
being then 24 years of age, and having a trade as a means of making 
a living, he went back to claim the hand, as he had already won the 
heart, of her with whom he parted in Kentucky, 11 years before. 
They were married in Owen county, April 23, 1851. She was a 
daughter of Turner Gentry of that county, Miss Malinda Gentry, 
as true as she was fair, and as pure in thought and word as angels are. 
Bringing his happy young wife out to Missouri, he now located at Platte 
City, and went to work at his trade with the courage of Trojan and 
heart as light and free as the balmy zephyrs of May : — 

" But all that's bright must fade, 
The brightest still the fleetest." 

Hardly more than a year had circled around when the pall of death 
settled over their happy little home, and the spirit of his fair young 
wife was borne away to Heaven. She died July 15, 1852. Judge 
Pollard bore his heaviest of all bereavements with the courageous 
resignation that only the brave and true man that he was, could. He 
accepted the decree that rol)bed him of all that was near and dear and 
continued on to work out the thread ©f his destiny. He remained at 
Platte City until 1855, and then returned to this county. In 1857 he 
removed to Shelby county, where he followed farming until 1863, 
when he engaged in selling goods in Hunnewell, in that county. But 
on account of war troubles he soon left and moved his family to Illinois, 
where he remained until the restoration of peace. Meanwhile, on the 
11th of October, 1853, he was married to Miss Mary J. Blackburn, a 
daughter of Samuel Blackburn, of Shelby county, but formerly of 
Kentucky. This has proved a union of great happiness and is blessed 
with five children : Samuel Thomas , Viola, wife of O. A. Marr ; 
James C, Henry M. and William Lee. Returning from Illinois 
after the war, the Judge settled on the old Pollard homestead in this 
county, where he has ever since continued to reside. This place con- 
tains nearly 300 acres, over half of which is improved with good 
substantial and comfortable improvements. Judge Pollard was 
elected presiding justice of the county court in 1878, and served with 
ability and to the general satisfaction of the public for four years. 
Prior to that he had filled other positions of public trust, including 
that of magistrate, an office he held while a resident of Shelby county 
for five years. He has always taken an intelligent and somewhat 
active interest in public affairs, though entirely disinterested so far as 
his own advancement is concerned, for he has never sought office, and 
has only entered the public service when called by the votes of his 
fellow-citizens, unsolicited by him. He has been a member of numer- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 491 

ous conventions, town, township, county, etc., and, indeed, has 
always occupied a leading- position in affairs in oeneral. He and wife 
are worthy members of the Baptist Church at Stoutsville, and he is a 
prominent member of the Masonic Order. He has ever been a faith- 
±ul worker m the temperance cause, and a friend to the poor and 
needy. '■ 

MARCUS M. POWERS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Florida). 
Mr. Powers has a hirge stock farm of nearly 500 acres, and he 
makes a specialty of raising and handling stock, producino- uo cxrain 
whatever, except for feeding purposes, on the farm. Re is one of 
those clear-headed, practical men who do evervthing of a pecuniary 
nature from a common.sense business point. According to his ideas 
and figures if it pays at all to raise grain and grass, it pays twice as 
well to feed them to stock and put them on the markets in the shape 
ot cattle, hogs, sheep and other farm animals. At least, this is his 
policy as a farmer, and his success in it shows that it is a sound one. 
Mr. Powers has led a very active life and one not devoid of sub- 
stantial results. He was eight years of age when his parents came 
to this county then Ralls county, in 1830, having been born in Green 
county, Ky., January 22, 1822. He grew up in the county and had 
the benefit of one of the old-fashioned puncheon floor educations, 
ciistributed by the occasional itinerant old-field Vir<ri„ia school 
teachers who taught school here in those days, when the^ timber was 
sohard frozen that they couldn't make boards. Still of a studious 
mind, young Powers studied at home and succeeded in obtainino- a 
very good knowledge of books, quite sufficient to -et alono- with^in 
tlie world. January 16, 1844, he was married to Miss Mary Terrell 
a daughter of Robert Terrell, of Randolph county, but formerly of 
Kentucky. After his marriage, Mr. Powers engaged in farming in 
Jackson township, and was getting along first-rate^ until the Califoniia 
gold excitement broke out. He then caught the general fever to 
cross the plains and get rich in a little while dicrgi„o-"crold Accord- 
ingly, he went overland to the Pacific coast in^ 1850 in company 
with his brother, Tom Reavis and others, and spent nearly three 
years oii the shores washed by the Pacific. He was principally eno-ao-ed 
m milling and freighting out there, and while there, his brotlfer, 
Robert, died. Mr. Powers returned to Missouri by water in 1853 
and having made some money he bought a farm in South Fork town- 
ship, where he resided for about 17 years, successfully eno-acred in 
farming. Whilst there his first wife died in 1864. ^She^left him 
eight children : Robert C, Richard E., Cyrus B., Orville H., George 
M. James W., Harvey T. and Arthur L. Three of these are man- 
ned and have families of their own. Mr. Powers was married to his 
present wife, March 11, 1866. She was previously Mrs. Anoeline 
Nesbitt, relict of Nicholas Nesbitt, and a dauditer of James Field 
formerly of Kentucky. There are two childreirby this union, Minnie 
and iieulah C. Mr. Powers' second wife died November 15, 1880 



492 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Meanwhile, in 1870, he sold his farm in South Fork township to his 
two youngest brothers, and bought the old Powers' paternal home- 
stead in Jefferson township, consisting of 475 acres. This is one of 
the best stock farms in the township and all the improvements are 
substantial and well arranged, both as a home and for stock-raising. 
Mr. Powers is a genial, whole-souled man, hospitable and generous, 
and is as pleasant to meet or to spend an evening with at his own home 
as it is to have your shirt-front blown open by a gust of cool wind in a 
harvest field of a sultry day in July. Mr. Powers has been an exemp- 
lary member of the Presbyterian Church for the past 43 years, and is 
one of the sterling men of that denomination in Florida. Mr. Powers 
was a son of R. D. and Harriet (Poage) Powers, his father origin- 
ally of Virginia, but his mother a native of Kentucky. They were 
married in Kentucky and came to Missouri in 1830. The father 
bought and entered over 700 acres of land here and improved a fine 
farm. He became one of the prominent citizens of Jefferson town- 
ship and served as magistrate some years. He died in 1859, wide and 
sincerely mourned. He was twice married. There were eight chil- 
dren by his first wife and four by his last, Marcus M., being the 
eldest by his first marriage. Four sons by his first marriage are still 
living, and all the children by his second wife. 

THERON B. POWERS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Feeder and Dealer) . 

Mr. Powers was born in Monroe county, Jefferson township, Feb- 
ruary 23, 1834. He is a brother to Mr. M. M. Powers, whose 
memoir adds greatly to the interest of these pages. Theron B. 
received a good education in the common schools, and at the age of 
20 went overland, in company with James and John Terrell, of Ran- 
dolph county, to California, taking a large herd of cattle. He was 
four months making the trip. Its tediousness, however, was amply 
compensated for hy the success which met him upon his arrival. He 
was engaged for 15 years in freighting upon a large scale from Sacra- 
mento to difi'erent places in Nevada. Longing for home after so many 
years, Mr. Powers returned by way of the Isthmus, New York and 
Chicago in 1869, after which, for five years, he was engaged with 
his brother, J. N. Powers, at Long Branch, in farming and the stock 
business, which seems always to have had a fascination for him, and 
of which he has made a complete success. In 1870 Mr. Powers 
became enamored of the fresh charms of one of Monroe county's fair- 
est daughters. Miss Lucy M., daughter of Joseph Hocker, formerly 
fron) Kentuck}', and one of the earliest settlers of the county, and on 
the 23d of Febrnarv, of the same year, " they twain were made one 
flesh." Naturally enough he was drawn through this influence to 
Monroe county, to which he moved in the spring of 1874. He now 
has a beautiful place of 620 acres of land, all fenced, except one tract 
of 80 acres, which is in timber. The home farm is almost all in 
meadow and pasture and contains every comfort and convenience. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 493 

Mr. Powers makes a specialty of raising and feeding cattle for the 
wholesale market, and ships as fine specimens as ever crossed the 
boundaries of Monroe county. In November, 1880, he shipped 27 
head, making three car loads, and averaging 2,145 pounds in weight. 
The following year he fed 18 head that averaged 1,885 pounds. Mr. 
Powers is one of the most experienced and skillful stock-raisers in the 
county. His judgment is always good, and possessing unbounded en- 
ergy and, withal, a strong taste for his chosen business, he has made his 
place a model stock farm, and his utterances on the subject of cattle 
are received as those of an oracle by all for miles around him. He is 
a leading man in the connty, and strives ever to elevate his profession 
by his uniting efforts and example. Mr. and Mrs. Powers have six 
children : Mary Emma, Cassie V., Hattie R., Homer N., Oscar B. and 
Charles O. Mr. P. is a member of Florida Lodge, A. F. and A. M., 
and he and his wife belong to the Baptist Church. 

THOMAS M. REAVIS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Florida) . 

Mr, Reavis' grandfather, Mark Reavis, an early settler in Kentucky 
from North Carolina, became a pioneer settler in Saline county. Mo., 
but finally made his home near Columbia, in Boone county, Avhere 
he resided until his death. He moved from Virginia to Buncombe 
county, N. C, and from there moved to Warren count}', Ky., in or 
about 1800. After a residence in Kentucky of some 18 or 20 years 
he came on to Missouri in 1820, locating at first in Saline county 
St. Charles, Cote Sans Dessein and Old Franklin were then small 
landings or villages on the river. In the upper part of Saline county, 
his uncle, Ned Reavis, discovered a valuable salt spring and decided to 
engage in the manufacture of salt. He accordingly procured kettles 
in St. Louis or some other place where they could be obtained, and 
other utensils necessary for that purpose. He made salt in that 
county until after steamers began to navigate the Missouri, in "1819. 
They made the cost of transportation so cheap that salt could be 
brought up the river from other and larger works at a distance and 
sold for less than it could be made for in Saline county or this part 
of the country. The manufacture of salt was therefore discontinued. 
Mr. Reavis, the subject of this sketch, remembers hearing his father 
relate what an excitement the advent of the first steamboat up the 
Missouri created. The father went some distance to see it, and knew 
of many who went miles to view the great wonder. Saline county then 
being too far away even from the outposts of civilization, the family 
moved back and settled near Columbia, Boone county, where the 
grandfather spent the remainder of his days, one of the highly 
I'espected old citizens of that county. 

Mr. Reavis' father, Jones B. Reavis, the son of Mark Reavis, w^as 
about six or seven years of age when the family moved to Kentucky 
from North Carolina. He enlisted in the War of 1812 from that State 
and served from 1814 till its close under Gens. Adair and Thomas, 



494 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and embarked in flat boats at Smithland, Ky., and went down the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. After the war they marched 
back to Kentucky on foot, where they were honorably discharged. 
Jones B. Keavis in a few years after came out to Missouri, the year 
previous to his parents, in 1819, to Saline county, and finally moved 
to Boone county. He was married in Boone county in 1823 to Miss 
Hannah Morton, who was on a visit to see relatives, of Woodford 
county, Ky. In 1830 he removed to Monroe county, where he became 
a farmer and stock-raiser, and resided here until his death, which was 
in 1858. He was a man of industry and intelligence and was highly 
respected in this county. His wife died in 1871. They had a family 
of 11 children, five now living: Thomas M. Eeavis, of Monroe 
county ; James O. Reavis, Mrs. Bartlett Russell, David M. Reavis, 
Andrew Reavis, of California. 

Thomas M. Reavis was born in Boone county, March 7, 1826. He 
was therefore four years of age when the family removed to Monroe 
county. Reared in this county, in the winter of 1847 he enlisted 
under Lieut. John H. Hawkins as recruit for Price's army in New 
Mexico, and served till the close of the war. He was honorably dis- 
charged at Independence, Mo., in the fall of 1848. Subsequently he 
made several trips to California, but finally settled down permanently 
at farming in this county. At the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, 
he enlisted in the Missouri State Guard, Southern service, as a pri- 
vate under Col. Brace, and afterwards was promoted to the position 
of first-lieutenant in Capt. Grigsby's company, at Springfield. After 
the close of his term in the State service, he enlisted in the regular 
Confederate army and was out until the close of the war. After the war 
he returned to Monroe county and engaged in farming, which he has 
since followed. 

JOSHUA RICHMOND 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

Mr. Richmond was born in Frederick county, Md., November 14, 
1815. His parents, natives of the same State, were Francis and 
Susanna (Stottlemyer) Richmond. The father held the commission 
of first lieutenant in the War of 1812. He moved to Missouri in 1837 
and settled near Hannibal on a farm, where he died in 1844. He was 
twice married, his second wife drawing a pension until her death, in 
1881. Joshua R. lived in Maryland on a farm until he was past boy- 
hood, receiving a good common school education as he grew up. At 
the age of 17 he came West and fixed on Dayton, Ohio, as the 
scene of his struggle with life. He began learning the brickmason's 
trade, but after vvorking at this for three years, the strong associations 
of childhood drew him with restless power to his own home. After 
a visit of one year with renewed resolution and courageous hope he 
again set his face toward the setting sun. He settled in Hannibal, 
Mo., where he worked at his trade most profitably for 16 years. 
In 1854 he removed to Monroe county, bought some raw land and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 495 

improved the place upon which he now lives. He owns 240 acres 
of land, 160 of it is fenced, and about 120 improved. He has a com- 
modious residence and good buildings, also a fair orchard. In farm- 
ing, as in all else he has undertaken, Mr. Richmond has brought to bear 
qualities which can not fail of success. Pluck, energy and patient iu 
dustry never have but one result, and this has crowned Mr. R.'s labors. 
He fell a victim, in 1844, to a fever that sooner or later must scorch 
the being of all weal mortals with its burning breath, love; that 
tyrant, restless as death, bound him in his chains, those chains so 
fair, so sweet, so alluring, that we voluntarily clasp them round our 
chained hearts, and which, when we feel the bitter pain of their mer- 
ciless power, we struggle vainly to tear away : — 

Time flies. Thie swift hours hurry by 
And speed us oa to untried ways; 
New seasons ripen, perish, die, 
And yet Love stays. 

On the 17th of June, 18 — , Mr. Richmond wedded Miss Aurelia 
Torry, a bright young school teacher from Massachusetts. Three 
years later she was torn from his despairing arms by the Death Angel 
who envied his joy. January 16, 1849, Miss Angeline M., daughter 
of Hiram Cook, of Hannibal, formerly of Massachusetts, became Mr. 
R.'s second wife. Mrs. Richmond was born in Massachusetts, but 
came to Missouri at the age of nine years. Seven children have 
made the poetry of their married lives: Lizzie C, wife of Harmon 
Vaughn, of Ralls county ; Charles F., now at Westminster College, 
Fulton, Mo.; Angeline A., a teacher in Colorado; Cora L., also 
a teacher of Monroe county; Hiram C, Adella and Joshua are liv- 
ing. Ella J, died in 1876, aged 20 years, and one flower fell from 
the stalk ere its first leaves were opened. Mr. R. and his family 
are members of the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a 
deacon for 25 years, 

LE GRANDE ROUSE 

(Dealer in Drugs, Groceries, Etc., Florida). 

Mr. Rouse is a business man of long experience, and has an estab- 
lished trade in and around Florida which he has built up by close 
attention to business, fair dealing and his accommodating way of 
treating customers. He has been engaged in business more or less 
continuously for over 20 years, and at Florida, without any interrup- 
tion whatever, for the last 18 years. He carries a general stock of 
drugs and groceries and keeps everything in these lines to be found in 
a village store of a place even much larger than Florida. He is well 
known to the people of elefi'erson township and, indeed, of the eastern 
part of Monroe and the western part of Ralls counties, and commands 
a good trade throughout the entire territory tributary to this point. 
Mr. Rouse was born in Boone county, Ky., March 4, 1832, but was 
reared in Monroe county, this State, his parents, Maj. Jeremiah 



496 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and Nancy (Barlow) Eoiise, having immigrated to this county in 1836. 
His father received the title of Major in the old Muster days, which 
ever afterwards clung to him. He bought and entered land in this 
county and improved a farm, on which he lived until his death in 1866. 
He and wife were both originally from Virginia. Le Grande Rouse's 
opportunities for an education consisted of an occasional three months' 
school in the winter time, which was attended usually about every 
other day, or, iu other words, wheu the snow was not blowing in at 
the cracks at the school house or not melting on the roof and leaking 
through, or the weather was not so cold but that the room could be 
kept warm by a log fire iu the stick chimney at the end. Those were 
the good old days of spelling matches at the schools, and the boys 
and girls had any amount of fun, if their only books were Pike's 
Arithmetic and the Life of Marion, interspersed now and then, by way 
of variety, with an interesting chapter in the Scriptures. Mr. Rouse 
succeeded in acquiring a sufficient knowledge of books to move along 
very well in business affairs, and afterwards, by study and reading, 
made himself a man of good, fair general English education and lib- 
eral information in affairs, business, political and otherwise. June 
24, 1858, he was married to Miss Polly Scobee, a daughter of Capt. 
John Scobee, formerly of Kentucky. He then located on a farm in 
Jefferson township, which he improved from raw land. He lived 
there for about five years and then engaged in merchandising in Ralls 
county. A year later he resumed farming in Jefi:erson township and 
in 1866 sold the firm he then owned and l^ought another place, where 
he farmed for a while. He then sold that and bought the old Rouse 
homestead. Later along he traded that for his present property and 
business at Florida. He owns his business buildinir here and also his 
residence. One of his sons is now in business with him. Mr. and 
Mrs. Rouse have five children: Jeremiah F., Elvira, wife of Josiah 
Heavenridge ; Sarah E., Robert J. and John C. They have lost 
three: James W., John A. and Lucy L., all between two and four 
years of age. Mr. Rouse is a member of Florida Lodge No. 23, A. F. 
and A. M. 

ROBERT SCOBEE, Sr. 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Mr. Scobee is a native of Monroe county, born October 21, 1821. 
His father, Stephen Scobee, was horn and raised in Kentucky, and 
there married Miss Sarah S. Ely, also otKentucky. The family moved 
to Missouri in 1821, and settled in what was then Ralls, but is now 
Monroe county, where Stephen Scobee entered land to the amount of 
7,000 acres. He was a large and prominent stock-dealer and farmer. 
He died in St. Louis in 1855. Roi)ert S. was raised on the farm in 
Jefferson township where he still lives. Upon arriving at his majority 
and after his marriage Mr. S. settled in Ralls county and improved a 
farm, which he made his home for 20 years. He then sold it and 
bought the old homestead, endeared to him by a thousand tender 
associations, and sweeter in his eyes than any home on earth could 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 497 

ever be. He moved to the county in 1859, and now owns 280 acres 
of land, mostly in meadow, pasture and plow. He has a handsome 
residence and all other necessary improvements. His property was 
even larger than at present, but he has sold a portion and has also 
given with lavish generosity to his children. Of these he has eight: 
Martha Ann, wife of Isaac P. Bibb, of Randolph county ; Stephen T., 
Elizabeth J., wife of S. H. Scobee ; R. G., married and living in Adair 
county ; J. D., also married ; D. A., a young man at school at College 
Mound, McGee College; M. B. and James W. Besides his own 
goodly flock, Mr. Scobee has taken into his noble heart and hospita- 
t3le home two fatherless little ones, Robert D. and Katie E. Norman, 
upon whom he bestows the same affection and parental care which fell 
to his own children. If nothing else were known of this good man 
beyond the above recorded fact, that alone would stamp him forever as 
living in a moral atmosphere as far above that breathed by mankind 
generally as are the pure, white stars above the senseless clods of the 
earth's clay. " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, 
ye have done it unto me," Christ hath said, and he to whom these 
words have been more than empty sounds, can have but little to fear 
at the last trnmp. Mr. Scobee is an intelligent and industrious 
farmer and stands as high as any man in the township. His wife, a 
woman well worthy of a place by his side, to whom he was married 
January 24, 1843, was Miss Dulcinia, daughter of Saunders and Eliz- 
abeth Norman, formerly from Boone county, Ky. Mrs. S. was born in 
that county in 1824, but was brought to Missouri when a tiny maid of 
three summers, and has spent the rest of her life in Monroe county. 
She and her husband present a beautiful example of Christian life. 
Thev are both members of the Baptist Church. 

STEPHEN H. SCOBEE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Mr. Scobee was born in Monroe county, July 20, 1845, of Frances 
Wood, of South Carolina, and Capt. Stephen Scobee, a native of'Ken- 
tucky. The latter served as captain of militia during the drill times. 
He moved to Missouri when a young man, entered land and improved 
a farm in Monroe county, where he lived until his death in November, 
1876. He was one of the earliest settlers of the county. Of thel 
children who grew to maturity, Stephen H. was the fourth son. He 
has always lived in Monroe county and is now one of its model 
farmers. He owns 360 acres of land with 260 in meadow pasture and 
plow land. His improvements are first-class and his orchard is 
especially fine. Dnring the war Mr. Scobee served for about nine 
months in Col. Pinnell's regiment. He was on duty in Louisiana and 
Texas but was in no engagements. Upon the cessation of the hos- 
tilities he returned to his home and in January, 1866, married Miss 
Bessie, daughter of Robert and Dulcina Scobee, of Monroe county. 
After this important event he went to work in earnest as a farmer, and 
has met w^ith the brightest success. Every opening vista of life has 



498 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

been but a fresh and fair surprise. He enjoys tlie cordial respect and 
good will of all who know him. Mr. and Mrs. Scobee have six living 
children: Cena J., Minnie L., Thomas, Katie F., Sallie S. and 
Christy C. Two died in infancy, and Robert, aged 18 months and 
Mattie aged three months. Mr. and Mrs. Scobee are members of the 
Missionary Baptist Church. 

DENNIS THOMPSON 

(Dealer in Drugs and Groceries, Stoutsville). 

Mr, Thompson, a business man of long experience, was the pioneer 
merchant of Stoutsville, having opened the first stock of goods here ever 
brought to the place. He came to Stoutsville in 1867 and has been 
here merchandising continuously ever since, a period now of 17 years. 
He carries a good stock of drugs and groceries, commodities not only 
to make well but to make fat his fellow creatures, and being a man 
without reproach and of popular address he, of course, seeing the 
commendable lines which he is in, does an excellent business, for all 
the goods he keei)S are for the good and nothing for the hurt of 
humanity. Mr. Thompson is one of the sterling business men and 
public-spirited citizens of Stoutsville and has contributed his full share 
to the prosperity of the place. He is a man whom all respect and 
have confidence in and whose influence in the community is only for 
good. He is a native Missourian, born in Ralls county, September 
29, 1824, and a son of Hiram T. Thompson, who came to this State 
away back in 1818. His father married here, having lost his first 
wife, to Miss Elizabeth Dale, who became the mother of the subject of 
this sketch. She came to Missouri when a child with her parents in 
1807, when the white men of the interior of the State could almost be 
numbered on one's fingers, but when the Indians and the wolves and 
the wild beasts of the field and forest were hardly less numerous than 
the blades of grass that waved before the summer breezes on the 
boundless prairie like the waters of a horizon-bound sea. Mr. Thomp- 
son'sparents removed to Monroe county, near Stoutsville, in 1827, 
where they resided for 20 years. The father died in Texas in 1863, 
whence he had removed a year or two before. Dennis Thompson, 
after he grew up, followed stock trading for about eight years and 
then sold groceries at Florida, in this county, for a short time. He 
subsequently followed either farming or the grocery trade until 1867, 
when he came to Stoutsville, as stated above. January 30, 1845, he 
was married to Miss Sarah F. Yowell, a daughter of Ephraim Yowell, 
of this county, but formerly of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson 
have three children: Clarissa A., wife of Shedrack Woodson ; Eliza- 
beth J., wife of William Carter and George W. Mr. Thompson 
served eight years as justice of the peace of Jefferson township and is, 
therefore, generally called by his neighbors and acquaintances 'Squire 
Thompson, for in this country, although a man may quit an office, the 
title of the office never quits him, unless it is for one a little moi'e 
high sounding. Hence the country, in these piping times of peace, is 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 499 

filled with generals and colonels and captains, but never a corporal is 
seen, Private Dalzell being the only private thus far heard from. 

JOHN W. YANDEVENTEK 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Merchant). 

Mr. V. was born in Monroe county, February 27, 1844, on the 
same farm which is still his home. He was the son of William Van- 
deventer, who came to Missouri from Virginia, in 1831. He was a 
young man and settled in Monroe county, afterwards marrying Miss 
Sarah Conrad, a native of Kentucky. He entered and bouofht land 
to the amount of 800 acres, and improved a splendid farm, upon 
which he lived until his death, Deceml)er 26, 1866. J. W. grew to 
manhood on the home farm, and at the age of 20 enlisted in the Con- 
federate army. He took a brave part uutil the close of the war, beino" 
under Col. McDaniel. In 1865 Mr. Vandeventer came home, and once 
more taking up his old life as a farmer, married, Januarj' 15, 1875, 
Miss Mary Buchanan, daughter of Robert Buchanan, of Monroe countv, 
formerly of Virginia. Mrs. V. was born in the county. Of this 
marriage were born three children: Antha L., Hattie B. and Ma^o-ie 
H. Mr. Vandeventer owns, in partnership with Mr. Goss, upwards 
of 1,200 acres of land, nearly all fenced and in grass. They are large 
dealers and feeders of cattle and hogs and ship annually about ten car 
loads. The firm of Goss & Vandeventer also own the Florida Flour- 
ing Mills and in addition carry on an immense mercantile business at 
Florida, this branch of enterprise being erected under the immediate 
supervision of the other partner, Mr. Goss. This is one of the 
staunchest and most reliable firms in Monroe county, and do a trade 
second to none. The brightness of their prosperity is largely due to 
the capable management and untiring energy of Mr. Vandeventer, 
who possesses to an eminent degree every characteristic most neces- 
sary to success. He and his family are also shining additions to the 
society of the township. Mrs. V. is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church. 

CAPT. BENJAMIN F. WHITE 

(Farmer, Stock -raiser and Dealer) . 

One of the oldest of those heroes who fought, bled, and risked 
death for the preservation of Southern fights is the subject of the 
present sketch. Capt. White is a son "whom Missouri proudly 
claims as her own. His parents, James M. and Nancy White, canie 
from Kentucky in 1832, and settled in Jefferson township, Monroe 
county. Benjamin F. was born in Monroe county, July 2, 1838, and 
spent the early years of his life on his father's farm, having fair edu- 
cational advantages. In 1861, being of a suitable age, and his heart 
full of zeal and enthusiasm in the cause of the land of chivalry, Mr. W. 
enlisted in Col. Brace's regiment of Calvary, Co. B, State Guard. 
His intelligence and natural capacity to rule elevated him at once to 
the rank of lieutenant, in the spring of 1862, he enlisted in the 



500 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

regular Confederate service, Col. Porter's calvary, and fought with 
brilliant gallantry until the close of the war. He was captain of 
Co. F. Mr. White was wounded three times : first, at Monroe City, 
through the hand and arm, losing the end of one finger, also re- 
ceived a flesh wound in Newark, and on another occasion had two 
ribs broken. He took part in many battles, among them, Lexing- 
ton, Kirksville, Little Rock, Arkansas, Camden, and skirmishes 
innumerable through Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. 
When peace once more 

Lay like a shaft of light across the la.nd, 

Ca)>t. W., who had lived to see his beloved banner trailed in the dust, 
wended his mournful way homeward, and taking up his plow, endeav- 
ored in the peaceful life of a farmer to find repose and happiness. 
March 15, 1866, he led to the altar Miss Sarah J., daughter of William 
S. Briggs, of Ralls county, but formerly of Kentuck3\ Capt. White 
came to his present farm in 1877, and is now one of the well-to-do 
men of the township. He has 480 acres of land all fenced and almost 
all in cultivation, meadow and pasturage. His buildings are neat and 
substantial and mostly new, and his farm presents a very attractive 
appearance. He has been no less deserving as a citizen than as a 
soldier, and bears a reputation of which his family may justly feel 
proud. He has three children living: Joseph T., Benjamin T. and 
Robert M. Mr. and Mrs. W. are connected with the Christian Church, 
and he is a member of Florida Lodge of the A. F. and A. M., in which 
he fills the responsible position of treasurer. 

WILEY M. WILKERSON 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, Tlorida) . 

Mr. Wilkerson was born in Monroe county, June 15, 1833. His 
father came from Kentucky when a young man, away back in 1822, 
and was married here to Miss Phoebe Dean, formerly of Lawrence 
county, Ind. He settled in this county and remained here until 1850, 
when he went to California, crossing the plains. He remained there 
two years and died at Havana, Cuba, while on his way back by the 
Isthmus route. Wiley M. was reared on the farm, and in 1850 he, 
too, went to California, reniiiining for four years, engaged in mining. 
Returning in 1854, he engaged in farming on the home place, which 
he continued for several years. But in 1858 he engaged in the gro- 
cery business in a small way at Florida, which he continued until 
1861, when he enlisted in the Southern service. He was out for 
about two years, participating during that time in fights at Kirks- 
ville, Walnut Creek, and numerous other ens^ao'enients. Returnins^ 
in 1863, he went to Carrollton, where he remained until after the 
close of the war. He then came back to Florida and resumed mer- 
chandising at this place, which he has since continued. He has built 
up quite an extensive business, and now carries a large and well 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 501 

selected stock of dry goods, clothing, hardware, farm implements, 
groceries, queen' s-ware, glassware, etc. He has a large trade, which 
is steadily increasing. Mr. Wilkerson is one of the leading business 
men of tliis part of the county, June 14, 1859, he was married to 
Miss Amelia J. McQuary, a daughter of Robert McQuary, of this 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkerson have two children, William E. and 
Exie May. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church at this 
place. Mr. Wilkerson is in easy circumstances, and owns his busi- 
ness building, his residence property, and does exclusively a cash 
business, at least so far as buying is concerned. His career as a busi- 
ness man has been one of entire success, and personally he is highly 
esteemed and popular with all who know him, for he never sought to 
prosper by the injury of any one, but, on the contrary, to live an up- 
right life and accumulate what he could by honest methods. 

HIRAM WOMMACK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Mr. Wommack was born in Tennessee, Sumner county, April 5, 
1811. His parents, Richard and Catherine (Street) Wommack, moved 
from Virginia to Tennessee at an early day, and were among the 
pioneer settlers of Sumner county. There the father was ruthlessly 
torn from his family by death in 1812. After this dread calamity 
the bereaved ones, no longer able to bear the scene of such a misfor- 
tune, moved to Missouri and settled in Lincoln county. Hiram was 
the youngest of a family of eight children, all of whom grew to matu- 
rity. He was raised in Lincoln county, on the farm, and had but 
limited advantages in schooling, but his natural intelligence triumph- 
ing over all accidents of circumstances, he acquired an unusual store 
of information, and his mind is now well trained and stocked with 
a more than ordinarily wide range of reading. In September, 1833, 
Mr. Wommack married Miss Louisa, daughter of Judge G. W. Zim- 
merman, of Lincoln county, formerly connected with a mercantile 
house in Falmouth, Va., of which State Mrs. Wommack is a native. 
After his marriage Mr. Wommack settled on a farm in Lincoln county 
and farmed with much profit to himself until 1867, wlien he sold his 
place, and, moving to Louisiana, in Pike county, there embarked in 
the wholesale and retail grocery business, in which trade he continued 
for four years. At the end of that time he again sold out, moved to 
Monroe county and bought his present farm. Mr. Wommack has 300 
acres of land all fenced and in a good state of cultivation, on which 
he has placed improvements of the very best order. He is, in every 
sense of the word, an enlightened farmer, and his example is of great 
benefit to those around him. Before the war Mr. Wommack was quite a 
laroe slave owner. He and his wife have had nine children : Cath- 
erine, wife of Dr. Brown, of Audrain county ; Ann, who died in 1878, 
the wife of A. J. Reed ; Washington, now in Denver; Mollie, wife of 
E. F. Matthews, of Louisiana, Mo. ; Victoria, wife of R. G. Hanna ; 
James M., married and living at Laddonia, Audrain county; Zulina, 



502 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

widow of William G. Proviance ; Alice, wife of Dr. Bledsoe, of Perry, 
Ralls county, and Lillie, a young lady and teacher of instrumental 
music. Mr. Wommack and family are members of Perry Presby- 
terian Church. 

DRURY L. WOODSON 

(Farm&r aad Justice of the Peace, Post-office, Stoutsville). 

'Squire Woodson, a substantial farmer and leading citizen of Jeifer- 
son township, is a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Edmonson 
county, December 29, 1825. Both his tather, Shadrach Woodson, and 
his mother, whose maiden name was Betsey Haines, were originally 
from Virginia but were married in Kentucky. When Drury L. was 
less than a year old his parents removed to Missouri, and settled in 
that part of what was then Ralls county, which is now included in 
Marion county, near Hannibal, where the father entered land and im- 
proved a farm. He died there in 1863. He had been twice married, 
Drury L.'s mother being his second wife. There was a son and 
daughter by his first marriage, and three sons and three daughters by 
his second marriage, all of whom lived to reach their majority except 
one daughter, but only four are now living. Drury L. is the youngest 
of the family and was reared on the farm near Hannibal, receiving a 
good common-school education as he grew up. He then engaged in 
teaching school, and continued to study while teaching, following 
teaching desultorially, alternated with either farming or merchandis- 
ing, up to within tenor twelve years ago, having taught in all a length 
of time that would be equal to perhaps 15 consecutive years. May 
31, 1849, he was married to Miss Nancy Johnston, a daughter of Rev. 
John M. Johnston of Ralls county, but originally of Kentucky. Prior 
to this he had become book-keeper for a mercantile house in Hanni- 
bal, but the year after his marriage he began farming and continued 
farming, attending his place during the summer and teaching during 
the winter, until 1859. June 21, of that year, he had the misfortune 
to lose his wife, who at her death left him four children. After his 
wife's death he quit the farm and followed teaching exclusively for 
three years. December 30, 1862, he was married to Miss Martha A. 
Warren, a daughter of Richard Warren, of Ralls county. He was liv- 
ing in Audrain county at the time of his marriage and he now settled 
on his farm in that county, where he followed farming until 1866. 
However, he sold his place in 1865 and in the fall of the following 
year came to his present place, where he has since resided, where he 
has 100 acres of good land comfortably improved. Since coming to 
Monroe, up to within a few years ])ast, as stated above, he has worked 
on the farm in the summer and taught in the winter, and for a short 
time he was engaged in merchandising at Stoutsville. While living in 
Audrain county he was elected justice of the peace and served for four 
years. In 1870 he was elected magistrate in Jefferson township, of 
this county, and has since been continuously re-elected, still being an 
incumbent of that office. 'Squire Woodson has the reputation of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 503 

being one of the best magistrates, if not tlie best one, in the county. 
For three years he held the office of deputy assessor, and has been a 
notary public since 1880. He is prominently identified with the 
Democratic party of this county, and has been a delegate to different 
conventions for a number of terms, county, district and congressional. 
The 'Squire and Mrs. Woodson have six children: Richard, Pink, 
Robert L., AVilliam I., Lizzie and Effie. Two are deceased, Elmer 
and Ora S., both of whom died at the age of four years. There were 
four children by the 'Squire's first marriage, namely: Rose, wife of 
George W. Woolwine ; Jennie, wife of A. W. Woolwine, both of 
Audrain county ; JohnM., of Sumner county, Kans., and .Joseph, who 
died at the age of 12 years. Mr. and Mrs.^Voodson are members of 
the Baptist Church at Stoutsville, and he is a member of the Masonic 
order. 

PROF. TOWNSEND WRIGHT 

(Of Towasend aud J. B. Wright, Editors and Proprietors of the Monroe County 3em- 

ocrat) . 

Prof. Wright, one of the prominent educators of the county, and for 
the past year also identified with the Monroe Democrat as one of its 
editors and proprietors, is a native Missourian. He was born in How- 
ard county, June 2, 1853, and is a grandson of one of the pioneer 
settlers of that county, Townsend Wright, who came there from 
Kentucky as early as 1819. The Professor's father, John R. Wright, 
a well-to-do and respected citizen of Howard county, was born and 
reared in that county, and still resides there, near Fayette, and 
within a mile from where he was born. Prof. Wright's mother was 
a Miss Jane Hern before her marriage, a daughter of Solomon Hern, 
who came from Madison county, Ky., in" 1830. Young Wrijrht 
spent his early youth on the farm, assisting in such work as "he could 
do, and attending the neighborhood schools"when they were in session. 
He early became qualified to teach school, and having an ambition to 
rise something above the humbler stratum of life, he engaged in teach- 
ing as a means, not only of advancement, but of self-culture. He 
alternated teaching with attending school himself, the better to prepare 
himself for his work in the school-room, or, rather, he attended col- 
lege. He attended Mt. Pleasant College desultorily for some four 
years, equal to, perhaps, two years of consecutive attendance. Study- 
ing all this time with assiduity, whether in or out of college, he suc- 
ceeded in acquiring a superior general education. Since quitting 
college he has continued to teach uninterruptedly, and is now teaching 
his fifth year at Florida. At this place, as, indeed, at every place he 
has ever taught, he is esteemed by common consent one of the most 
capable, successful and popular teachers who ever presided over a 
school-room. In April, 1883, Prof. Wright formed a partnership with 
his brother, J. B. Wright, for the purpose and publication of the Mon- 
roe Democrat, which they have since edited and published. This is 
the first paper ever established at Florida, and was first published here 

27 



504 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

in 1882, but its publication was suspended a few months afterwards. 
Its career since these gentlemen have conducted the paper has been 
one of entire success, and a prosperous future for it seems to be 
assured. Editorially it is ably conducted, and its business management 
is all that could be desired. It is a weekly paper of dignity and charac- 
ter, and is obtaining a wide influence in aff*airs. On the 26th of 
August, 1879, Prof. Wright was married to Miss Katie A. Tulley, an 
amiable and accomplished daughter of James Tulley, Esq., of this 
county. But she was taken from him by death a few years after her 
marriage. She died November 23, 1882. They were blessed with one 
child, a little girl, Mary J. But she too now sleeps in the same 
church-yard where her mother is buried. Prof. Wright is a worthy 
member of the Baptist Church, and he is also a valued member of the 
A. F. and A. M. 



JACKSON TOWISTSHIP. 



JUDGE JAMES R. ABERNATHY 

(Retired Attorney at Law, Paris). 

This venerable and honored citizen of Monroe county, now well 
advanced in his ninetieth year and still bright and active in mind, 
thouo-h not vio;orous in health, has been a resident of Missouri from 
the time of its territorial days, and of Monroe county for over half a 
century, since prior to its organization as a county. He has, therefore, 
been a personal witness to the progress of his adopted State and of 
this county from their infancy, and by no means an inactive or obscure 
participant in the great work of development that has been accom- 
plished, a work that has placed Missouri among the great and prosper- 
ous States of one of the first nations on the globe. Judge Abernathy 
is a native of the Old Dominion, born in Lunenburgh county, Feb- 
ruary 25, 1795, though the ancestors of both of his parents had been 
settled in that State since long prior to the Revolution. In 1797 the 
family removed to Kentucky, and the father was one of the pioneer 
settlers of Fayette county, now one of the first counties in the Blue 
Grass State. James R. was reared in Fayette county and learned the 
hatter's trade and in the tall of 1817 came to Missouri, locating at 
first in Howard county. Having received a good common school 
education, he taught school for several years in that county and 
removed to Ralls county in about 1823. Ralls then included the ter- 
ritory uow contained in Audrain, Monroe, Shelby, Lewis, Clark, 
Knox, Schuyler, Scotland and Adair counties. Prior to this, however, 
Judge Abernathy had been engaged in agricultural pursuits and was 
at New Madrid at the time the great earthquake occurred in that 
vicinity, and lost all he had by that unfortunate event. After remov- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 505 

ing to Ralls county he remained there for a period of about nine 
years and then came to what is now the site of Paris, which then, 
however, was almost an unbroken wilderness of forest, being covered 
principally with white oak timber and hazel brush. Here he started a 
school for the instruction of the children of the " settlement," and 
when not occupied in the school-room worked at the carpenter's trade, 
or at building chimneys. While teaching school, or rather during 
all his leisure time, he pursued a course of study for admission to the 
bar and in due time took an examination for license to practice, 
which was duly issued, his examination having been highly satis- 
factory. He now began the active practice of his profession, rapidly 
growing into an excellent practice, both in the circuit and Supreme 
courts. At the bar at that time were many of the most eminent law- 
yers of the West, with whom Judge Abernathy coped with success in 
the practice. He rose with rapid strides in his profession and subse- 
quently was elected circuit attorney. His circuit included 12 counties, 
and to attend to the business in each he made three trips a year, 
which necessitated a ride of 300 miles each trip, or 900 miles 
a year. The country was then unsettled except here and there a 
pioneer and there were scarcely no roads, few stopping places and no 
bridges at all. The circuit was of course made on horseback, and 
during the summer season the green-head horse-flies were so bad that 
the trip had to be made after night, and in the absence of roads 
the North star sufficed for a guide, and the wolves kept the ride from 
being lonesome, with an occasional scream from a panther to add 
additional life and interest to the journey. Judge Abernathy filled 
the office of circuit attorney with marked ability, and was accounted 
one of the most successful prosecuting attorneys in the State. Prior 
to this Judge Abernathy had held various positions of public trust. 
Before his admission to the bar he was appointed to sell the school 
lands in Monroe county, the sixteenth section in every township, a 
trust that he fulfilled to the entire satisfaction of the public. After 
the organization of the county he was appointed its first treasurer, and 
held that office for 12 years and until his resignation to accept the 
office of circuit attorney. He had also held the office of constable and 
was for about 16 years justice of the peace. Later he ran for 
judge of the county court, his competitors being John Quarles and 
Ephraim Poey. He canvassed the entire county and was triumphantly 
elected. Subsequently he was appointed to the same office by Gov. 
Thomas C. Fletcher. During the war he was a stanch Union man, 
and was subjected to many indignities and outrages on account of his 
loyalty to the Old Flag. He had been a soldier in the War of 1812, 
and the Union for which he had fought then he could not forsake in 
the hour of its greater peril in 1861. He now draws a pension from 
the Government on account of his services in the Canadian War. 
Judge Abernathy has been married three times. His first wife was a 
Miss Jennie Winn, to whom he was married in Kentucky. She died 
October 13, 1822. Her children are all deceased. May 11, 1826, he 
was married to Miss Rosana Davis, by whom he had nine children. 



506 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

After her death he was married to his present wife, Miss Jane Davis, 
June 28, 1841, a sister to his first wife. Their three children are 
also deceased. She is still living and is thoroughly devoted to the com- 
fort and happiness of her husband. Judge Abernathy, although he 
has had much physical affliction in his time, having been confined to 
his bed for seven years at one period, is still as bright in mind and 
conversation as men usually are who are 20 years his junior. He is 
a man whose life is without reproach and one who has been of much 
value to those among whom he has lived. No man in the county is 
more highly venerated and respected. 

ANDEEW J. ADKISSON 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, near Welch). 

The family of which Mr. Adkisson, one of the popular business 
men of this part of Monroe county, is a representative, like many of 
the older and better families of Missouri, took its rise, so far as this 
country is concerned, in the Old Dominion, the grand old mother of 
States as well as of Presidents. Mr. Adkisson's father, John Adkis- 
son, was, as were his ancestors for generations, a native of Virginia. 
When a young man he came out to Kentucky, where he was subse- 
quently married to Miss Elizabeth Silvey, also originally of Virginia. 
He lived in Kentucky until 1853, having been an early settler of Mer- 
cer county, in that State, and also a gallant soldier in the War of 
1812. From Kentucky he immigrated to Missouri with his family 
and located in Monroe county, where he lived until his death, in 1872, 
a period of nearly 20 years. Andrew J. Adkisson was born in • 
Mercer county, Ky., July 26, 1828, and was married there September 
29, 1849, at the age of 21, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Hiram Noel. 
Mr. Adkisson came to Missouri with his father's family, and bought 
land in Monroe county, where he followed farming and stock-raising 
until he besran business at Welch in the fall of 1882. The foUowino; 
fall he removed to his present place of business, where he has since 
carried on his store. He carries a good stock of general merchandise, 
including dry goods, clothing, furnishing goods, hats, caps, boots, 
shoes, groceries, etc., etc., and has an excellent trade. Thus far his 
success at this point has been unmistakable, and he is well pleased 
with the outlook for the future. Mr. Adkisson is a man of plain but 
genial manners, social and accommodating, and justly popular with all 
who know him. He and his excellent wife have been blessed with a 
family of seven children : Elizabeth M., now the wife of R. W. 
Evans ; John T. (married), both of Boone county ; William H. (mar- 
ried), Anna, wife of James Sanker, of Boone county; James H. 
(married), of Davies county; Sarah B., wife of W. H. Hayes, of 
Kansas, and Charles L. Mr. and Mrs. Adkisson are members of the 
Baptist Church. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 507 

CICEKO ALEXANDER 

(Of Alexander & Son, Grocers, Etc., Paris). 

The Alexanders came originally from the North of Ireland, John 
Alexander, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, having set- 
tled in America from the region of Belfast, Ireland, in about 1775. 
He first made his home in Pennsylvania, but in an early day removed 
from that State to Kentucky, settling in Clark county, where he 
became a substantial and influential citizen, and died in 1841, at the 
advanced age of 94. John Alexander, Jr., the father of the subject 
of this sketch, was born in Clark county, in 1800, and was 
reared and married in that county. His wife was a Miss Eliza- 
beth J. Ragland, of another pioneer family of Kentucky. He 
became a minister of the Christian Church, and also an ener- 
getic farmer, and continued to resided in Clark county until 
the year of his father's death, shortly after which, in 1841, 
he removed to Missouri with his family, and settled on a farm 
five miles south-west of Paris. Elder Alexander survived his removal 
to this State but three years, dying in 1844. He was engaged in the 
work of the ministry in this county until his death, and also in farm- 
ing. Elder Alexander was a man possessed of the strong character 
and intelligence for which the stock he represented — that sterling 
people of the North of Ireland — are noted. He was also a man of 
more than ordinary culture and information considering his times 
and surroundings, a strong and able and deeply earnest minister of 
the Gospel. He died suddenly of apoplexy, while in the meridian of 
life and of his usefulness as a minister. His widow is still living, and 
makes her home with her children at Paris. She, however, after her 
first husband's death, became the Avife of Col. Thomas Nelson, of this 
county. He died in 1851. Elder Alexander left a family of five 
children, namely : Armistead M., a leading lawyer of this section of 
the State, and at present representative of this district in Congress ; 
Cicero, the subject of this sketch; Sallie F.,now the wife of E. A. 
McLeod, sherift' of Marion county; Mary M., now Mrs. Alex. Mil- 
stead, of Macon county, and Eliza J., the wife of T. J. Marsh. Cicero 
Alexander was born in Clark county, Ky., March 15, 1836, and was, 
therefore, five years of age when the family removed to Missouri. 
Growing up in this county, as early as 1849 he began in mercantile 
life. Since then he has been continuously engaged in business at 
Paris, with the exception of a short interval or two, for a period now 
of 34 years He began as a clerk, but soon engaged in business on his 
own account. Mr. Alexander has been moderately successful, and is 
one of the substantial business men of the county. His son, Eben 
M., is his present partner in business. They have one of the leading 
grocery houses of the county. They have a trade of about $25,000 a 
year. Mr. Alexander was married in the fall of 1857, Miss Eliza 
McBride, daughter of E. W. McBride, becoming his wife. She died 



508 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

nearly 20 years afterwards, early in 1875. There are three children 
living of this union, Eben M., Mary and John. To his present wife, 
formerly Miss Ellen M. Carter, Mr. Alexander was married July 8, 
1878. She is a daughter of Levi Carter, of New Hampshire, who is 
still living, at the advanced age of 97. Mrs. Alexander was a 
popular and accomplished teacher in the Paris public schools previous 
to her marriage, and before coming to Paris had taught at Belleville, 
111. She is a graduate of New Hampton Institute, N. H. Mr. and 
Mrs. A. have two children. Carter and Roger G. 

JUNIUS J. ARMSTRONG 

(Justice of the Peace, Paris). 

'Squire Armstrong comes of two old and respected New England 
families — the Armstrongs and Boyntons, His father, Ira Armstrong, 
born at Fletcher, in Franklin county, Vt., where he spent his 
whole life, was a soldier in the War of 1812 and for a long time was 
employed by the government as A, detective in the secret service to 
ferret out the frauds of smugglers from Canada, Mr. Armstrong's 
mother was a Miss Lucy Boynton, originally from Massachusetts. 
Her family, settled in New England for generations, can be traced back 
for nearly nine hnndred years in England, and it comes of a historical 
lineage, a copy of the coat of arms used by the family in that country 
now being in the possession of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Arm- 
strong was born in Franklin county, Vt., October 30, 1823, and 
received a good academic education in his native county, becoming 
well qualified for teaching. When 21 years of age he went to North 
Carolina and taught school in Wayne and Lenoir counties for about 
10 years. He then went to Clinton county, la., where he bought 
land and improved a farm. 'Squire Armstrong lived in Iowa some 
10 years, and until his removal to Missouri. Here he has lived for 
many years and has throughout his entire residence at Paris been 
esteemed one of the worthy and valual)le citizens of the place. He 
was for a number of years mayor of Paris, and also president of the 
school board. He held the latter position when the new public school 
building was erected, and by his good management contributed very 
materially to the success of the enteri^rise. He has always been a 
warm friend of popular education, and has done much for public 
schools at this place. Years ago he was elected justice of the peace 
and such is the confidence the public have in his ability and integrity, 
that he has been continued in that office, which he still holds. In the 
fall of 1853, 'Squire Armstrong was married to Miss Nancy Kinsey. 
She died seven years afterwards. The 'Squire has one son by his first 
marriage, Arthur DeF., who is now engaged in the book and station- 
ery business at Paris. In 1803 Mr. Armstrong was married to Miss 
Elsie A. Wood. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 509 

NIMROD ASHCRAFT 

(Blacksmith). 

Mr. Ashcraft was born in Monroe county, September 12, 1831, and 
was reared on his father's farm in this county. When 19 years of 
age he came to Paris to learn the blacksmith's trade and worked for 
Mr. A. Crutcher for two years, at $30 a year. The next year he 
received $50 for his labors, and by three years' hard work saved $20 
with which to set up for himself. When he came to Paris a complete 
invoice of his worldly possessions showed that all he had was a new 
suit of jeans clothes, which his mother had made him, and a five franc 
piece. After working three years, he took his $20 and invested it in 
an outfit to carry on business for himself. He established his shop 
on the same spot where it now stands and has since carried on black- 
smithing at this place. From the time he commenced here, in 1850, 
he has never lost as much as 10 days continuously from work, and 
has been as faithful to his business as any one who ever wielded a 
hammer over an anvil. His life has been one of continuous hard work 
and he has been satisfactorily successful. He now has a good prop- 
erty in Paris, and is comfortably situated. In 1858 he was married 
to Miss Lucinda Speed, a daughter of Judge James Speed of this 
county. Three children are the fruits of this union : Belle, Charles 
and Frank, One, Ella, died in infancy. When Mr. Ashcraft came 
to what is now Paris, there were but two or three houses in the place, 
and these were constructed of logs. A log hotel occupied the place 
where the Glenn House now stands, and all o;oods were either brought 
from St. Louis or Hannibal by wagon. He has therefore witnessed 
the progress of the place from its very cradle up. During the war 
Mr. Ashcraft suffered severely by depredations from both sides and 
was virtually stripped of everything he had. His father, Henry Ash- 
craft, was born in Kentucky, and died in Paris June 4, 1870. His 
mother, Ella Wood, was a native of Bourbon county, Ky. ; she died 
on May 4, 1872. 

E. ASHCRAFT 

(Blacksmith and Wagon-maker, Paris) . 

Mr. Ashcraft is an elder brother to Nimrod Ashcraft, being two 
years the latter's senior, a sketch of whom, together with an outline 
of his parental family history, appears just above this biography. 
It is therefore unnecessary to repeat any of the facts stated in 
the former sketch, which was given first because the notes were taken 
first, and not in the order of the ages of the brother, which, perhaps, 
would have been better. Mr. Ashcraft, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared in this county and remained on the farm until he was 17 
years of age. He had little or no schooling, and the business educa- 
tion he has acquired has been obtained mainly by his own application 
and without instruction from others, either school or otherwise. In 



510 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

1846 he came to Paris and apprenticed himself to the blacksmith 
trade, at which he worked as an apprentice for three years. He then 
worked as a journeyman for three years, and in 1851 formed a part- 
nership with Mr. Crutcher in a shop at this place. This partnership 
continued for six years. Then he and his brother formed a partner- 
ship which lasted until 1874. By this time hard work had begun to 
tell seriously on his health and he concluded to change employment. 
He therefore went to farming and farmed with success for three years. 
Returning now to Paris, he re-engaged in his old business. Later 
along he established his present shop, where he receives a large custom 
and is doing a flourishing l)usiness. In the summer of 1855 Mr. Ash- 
craft was married to Miss Mary Z. Clapper, formerly of Virginia. 
They have six children : Sarah F., married, and living in California ; 
Mary C, now a teacher in the high school at Paris ; Lulu B., now the 
wife of E. J. Eubanks ; James H., in the shop with his father ; Carrie 
B. and Maggie, the last two attending school. Two others, Katie and 
Frank, died at tender ages. Mr. and Mrs. Ashcraft are members of 
the church. 

JAMES E. BARKER 

(Dealer lu General Merchandise, Welch). 

Mr. Barker engaged in his present business in the spring of 1884, 
and had built for his special use, as a business house, a good frame 
building, commodious and tastily constructed and well arranged for 
carrying on merchandising. He at once laid in a good stock of gen- 
eral merchandise, including dry goods, clothing, hats, caps, boots, 
shoes, groceries, hardware, etc., etc. ; indeed, everything to be found 
in a iirst-class country general store. He is a young man of character 
and good business qualifications, and having ample means of his own 
to carry on his business without embarrassment, as well as being 
located in an excellent business point for general trade, being in the 
midst of a fine country, well settled by prosperous farmers, he can hardly 
fail of success. Mr. Barker is a native of Monroe county, and a son 
of Thomas J. Barker, one of the substantial citizens and prominent 
stock men of the county. Young Barker was born on his father's 
homestead, in this county, October 12, 1860. He was reared to a 
farm life and at handling stock, but had ample opportunities, which 
he improved to the best advantage, to obtain an excellent common 
school education. On the 1st of March, 1881, he was married to Miss 
Kate M. Moore, a daughter of John W. Moore, then of this county, 
but now of Vernon county. After his marriage he engaged in farm- 
ing and stock-raising, which he continued until the spring of 1884, 
when he established his present store at Welch. Mr. and Mrs. Barker 
have one child: Jeflerson W. Mr. Barker's father came from Ken- 
tucky, when 16 years of age, with his parents. He grew up in this 
county and married Miss Sarah C. Dawson, also formerly of Kentucky. 
He has since been actively engaged in farming and stock dealing. He 
now has over 1,000 acres of fine land, and large numbers of stock, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 511 

having been quite successful in his affairs. James E. is the second in 
a family of six children, three sons and three daughters. 

HON. THOMAS P. BASHAW 

(Attorney at Law, Paris) . 

This history of this country is replete with illustrations of the 
possibilities of true manhood and merit under our institutions, regard- 
less of favorable conditions of birth, early advantages or family 
influence. The young man of to-day, of character and courage and 
brains, becomes the man of prominence of to-morrow, and afterwards, 
the distinguished citizen. So it has ever been, so it now is, and so, at 
least as long as free institutions prevail, will it ever be. 

Civilization pushes westward, or into the wilderness, new States are 
founded, and each State presents her names of eminent citizens to be 
inscribed on the roll of the able and distinguished men of the country. 
Nor is Missouri behind her sister States in this regard. She can point 
with pride to those of her citizens who have held places, or now hold 
them, among the foremost in the country — in the halls of legislation, 
in the professions, and in almost every department of learning and 
genius and skill. That her future in this particular is not to be in 
unfavorable contrast with her past and present, is evident to the most 
casual observer. Here and there and in every section of the State 
may be seen young men whose characters and attainments, and whose 
careers, hardly more than yet begun, point Avith a certainty, impossible 
to doubt, that they are destined for the highest services in their respec- 
tive departments of life. 

Prominent among the comparatively young men of this State, whose 
future and personal worth, and whose careers, thus far, give every 
promise of eminence in the service of the State and of personal dis- 
tinction, is the subject of the present sketch, Hon. Thomas P. Bashaw. 
Judge Bashaw, now but little past 40 years of age, is already recog- 
nized as one of the leading men of Missouri. A man of sterling 
integrity of character and of a high order of ability, he has risen to 
the position he now holds in popular esteem by his own merits — by 
his own eff'orts and resolution almost alone, and in the face of great 
difficulties. Four of the most valuable years of his life for self- 
improvement, from the age of 17 to his twenty-second year, were 
spent as a private soldier in the Confederate army, bravely fighting 
for what he believed to be the right; and after this he had to com- 
plete his education as best he could and prepare himself for the bar, 
the profession to which he had decided to devote himself. Without 
means, his courage and determination, nevertheless, were unfaltering, 
and he went to work to carve out his career with that industry, 
patience and perseverance which, combined with the other sterling 
qualities of his mind and character, could not fail of success. The 
result is already partly manifest. One of the best lawyers of North 
Missouri, he has also served with high honor, three terms consecut- 
ively, in the Legislature, having been Speaker of the House during his 



512 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

second term, chairman of the ways and means committee (declining 
the speakership) during his third, and chairman of several important 
committees during his first term. 

Thomas Philip Bashaw was born in Shelby county, Ky., October 
31, 1843. His father was Philip T. Bashaw and his mother's maiden 
name was Elizabeth. The father was a farmer by occupation 
and was quite successful, but died when Thomas P. was but three 
years of age. Thus deprived of the assistance and counsel which 
only a father can give, young Bashaw's advantages were afterwards 
what he himself made them, although his mother was one of the 
kindest and best of women, and a woman of superior intelligence, 
profoundly concerned for the welfare of her child. After the fjither's 
death the family remained on the farm, and young Bashaw's early 
youth was busily occupied with assisting at farm work and attending 
the local schools. Of steady, studious habits, he made excellent 
progress in his studies, and whilst still quite a youth matriculated at 
the State University, in Lexington, where he was pursuing a regular 
course of study when the war broke out. Of Southern parentage 
and sympathies, he promptly enlisted in the service of the South, and 
for four long years followed the bright-barred, but ill-starred banner 
of the Confederacy, with unfaltering devotion, until it went down to 
float no more. He served during most of the war in the commands, 
respectively, of Gen. Marshall Williams and Gen. John Morgan. He 
did his duty faithfully and well as a soldier, and at the close of the 
war returned home with no regrets for the gallant but unobtrusive 
part he had borne in the struggle. 

Young Mr. Bashaw now resumed his career where he had left off" 
in 1861, not, however, re-entering the University, for too much time 
had already passed by to permit him to think of that. Refreshing 
himself in his studies by close ajDplication to his books, he soon felt 
prepared to be in the regular study of law, which he accordingly 
entered upon under the preceptorage of Hon. S. S. Bush, a leading 
member of the bar at Louisville, Ky. After studying at Louisville 
for some time, he came to St. Louis, Mo., and in 1867 was admitted to 
the bar in that city by .Judge Rombauer, being examined in open court 
by Judge Rombauer and Hon. A. W. Slayback. 

After his admission Mr Bashaw located at Mexico, in Audrain county, 
but several prominent citizens of that place, aware of his culture and 
character, prevailed upon him to take a position as a teacher in a 
private seminary, which he accepted. He taught for a short time 
there with excellent success, and then came to Paris, where he also 
taught for a few months. But impatient to engage in the practice of 
his profession, he opened a law office at this place, and began his career 
as a member of the Monroe county bar. 

Personally, Judge Bashaw possesses those qualities which go far to 
win the respect and confidence of men. Plain and unassuming, his 
honesty is apparent to all, whilst his manners are agreeable, and his 
conversation, never too voluble, is always pleasant. Personal popu- 
larity comes, almost unavoidably, to such men. Added to this is his 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 513 

close attention to business, and he is always remarked for his studious 
habits. Gifted with a mind of superior natural strength, which he 
has cultivated with great industry, and having a fine command of 
lanofuasfe, he soon showed that as an antasjonist in a lawsuit he was 
not to be despised. Preparing himself well in his cases before enter- 
ing the court-room, and conducting them there with vigilance and 
with marked skill and ability, his early success was most decided, 
and as a result he rapidly accumulated a handsome practice. It is 
unquestionable, however, that one of the most important factors in 
his success at the bar is the absolute confidence which the court and 
the public have in his honesty. 

Judge Bashaw's progress in the practice of law has been steady 
and substantial; not pre-eminently a brilliant man, he is yet one of 
those men of strong minds, possessed of large general powers and, 
withal, an indefatigable worker. By his industry and strength of 
mind and constitution, he has come to the front as a lawyer, and 
his future promises still greater eminence at the bar. He is what 
may be termed a safe lawyer. He takes no risks, but provides against 
every contingency. Studying his cases thoroughly, he is rarely, if 
ever, taken by surprise, whilst he often gains a cause where the 
opposing counsel are less studious and vigilant than himself. 

As a speaker, he is generally calm, and always dignified, and 
addresses himself to the point or points in issue, discussing each 
question with clearness and force, and striving to secure a favorable 
decision more through the reason of men than through their passions 
or feelings. His process of reasoning is that of the closest and most 
studied logic, and his success in infiuencing the opinions of court or 
jury to his views of a difiicult or complicated question is of ten remark- 
able. A man of great originality of thought, he is not as much given 
to relying upon precedent as some, but if a case, according to his 
belief, has been wrongly decided, he attacks it without hesitation, 
however high the authority whence it came. He justly believes that 
the men of the present generation are not less intelligent than were 
those of the past, being no subscriber to the doctrine that, — 

" To look at foolish precedent and wink'' 
With both eyes is easier than to think." 

Karely quitting the field of reason and logic in a discussion unless 
the nature of the subject is such as justly to appeal to the hearts and 
consciences of men, when he is called upon to address himself to the 
emotions of a jury, he does so with that earnestness and manifest 
sincerity that he never fails to make a profound impression, and, 
often, when fully wrought up by the consideration of some great 
wrong or some feeling or sentiment of our common humanity, he 
rises to a high point of eloquence. 

Judge Bashaw has devoted himself mainly to civil practice, and for a 
number of years has been identified as attorney with nearly every impor- 
tant civil suit tried in this county, and with a great many throughout 



514 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

the circuit. Judge Bashaw's services are much sought after in this 
department of the law. There has hardly been a criminal case tried 
in this county for a decade with which he has not been connected 
either for the defense or prosecution, but generally for the former. 

As has been intimated, Judge Bashaw has frequently been called 
into the public service. Less than six years after he began the practice 
at Paris, he was elected to the responsible office of probate judge of the 
county, a position he filled with ability and to the entire satisfaction 
of the public until his election to the Legislature in 1878. A higher 
compliment could hardly be paid a young man than was paid him by 
his election to the probate bench at the time he was elected, consider- 
ing his then limited experience at the bar, his age and his brief resi- 
dence in the county. The office to which he was elevated was one of 
o;reat trust, havin": to do with the administration and manag-ement of 
the estates of widows and orphans, people with little or no qualifica- 
tions to take care of their own interests, and who have to rely almost 
solely upon the intelligence and integrity of the court. How well he 
deserved this compliment, however, is shown by his subsequent rapid 
rise in public life. 

In 1878, as has been said, he was elected to represent Monroe 
county in the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth General 
Assembly. Judge Bashaw at once took a prominent position in the 
Legislature. Among the other measures of importance he took a 
leading part in enacting were the Immigration Act, the General 
Election Act, the State Treasurer Bond Act, and the Penitentiary Act. 
He was the author of the first of these bills, and secured its 
passage as ii law of the State mainly by his own earnest, forcible and 
successful advocacy of it. The first act was designed, and it has 
had the effect, to encourage immigration to the State. It established 
a State Board of Immigration and provided for all other necessary 
steps in bringing Missouri to the attention of the public of this country 
and of Europe, as a desirable location for settlers. Its results have 
been of inestimable value to the State. The second act provides for 
the simplification of our election laws and prevents many former 
abuses under them, and has proved a most wise and efficient law. 
The State Treasurer Bond Act, as every intelligent citizen of the 
State knows, has saved the people of the State thousands of dollars, 
even admitting that further abuses would not have been practiced 
under the old law. This act provides for the safe deposit of the funds 
of the State ; provides that ample bonds shall be given by those receiv- 
ing the deposit, dollar for dollar, according to the amounts so depos- 
ited ; that the interest of this money shall go to the State, and not to 
the State Treasurer personally, as was the case under the old law ; 
and also sets up other important safeguards for the protection of the 
interests of the State. The Penitentiary Act greatly reforme d the 
system of management of the State prison. It prevents the working 
of convicts outside the prison walls and corrects other abuses that had 
crept into the management of that institution, so that, from a great 
public burden which the people were taxed to sustain, it has become 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 515 

self-sustaining, except as to the salaries of the officers, which are an 
inconsiderable part of its expenditures. 

From this brief and incomplete review of his record during his first 
term in the Legislature, it is seen that his time was not uselessly nor 
idly spent ; but that, on the contrary, he was one of the laborious 
members of that body and a man who took a broad and statesmanlike 
view of his duties as a legislator. There was nothing narrow or 
demagogical in anything he did, but bis labors and measures were all 
for the general good of the State. These laws were among the most 
important acts passed during his term. Thus, taking so prominent a 
part in the legislation of the State during his first term of service in 
the House, it is not surprising that, on his re-election to that body, he 
was honored with the Speakership. He was elected Speaker of the 
House of the Thirty-first General Assembly by the unanimous vote of 
the members of that body of his own party, and with the cordial good 
wishes of his opponents on the Republican side. It is conceded by 
all qualified to give an intelligent and impartial opinion that he made 
one of the best Speakers who have presided over the House since the 
war. Making a study of parliamentary law, and having already had 
considerable experience in practical legislation, he shortly became a 
superior parliamentarian, and possessed of a commanding, dignified 
presence, of great equanimity of temper and clearness and impartiality 
of judgment, he so conducted the proceedings of the House that there 
was the least possible friction or delay and as to win the esteem of 
every member of that body. In no single instance was a decision of 
the chair overruled whilst he occupied it, and at the final adjournment 
he was honored with a unamimous resolution of the House expressing 
the high confidence and consideration in which he was held by the 
members of that body. 

In the Thirty-second General Assembly Judge Bashaw declined 
reelection to the Speakership, preferring to be on the floor, where he 
would have better o[)portuuities for making himself useful in the prac- 
tical work of legislation. He was, therefore, honored with the chair- 
manship of the Ways and Means Committee, the leading committee 
of the House. During this term he introduced and secured the pass- 
age of the act establishing a State Board of Health, and also an act 
regulating the practice of medicine and surgery in this State, both of 
which have proved of great public benefit, but the details of which 
we have not the space here to present. He also introduced and 
secured the passage of the act making unusually liberal appropriations 
for the support and encouragement of the common schools, the State 
Normal Schools, the State University and other public educational 
institutions. He also advocated throughout his entire service equal 
taxation of all classes of property, according to just and equitable 
valuations, believing that such a system is the only fair manner of 
taxation and the one least burdensome to the great body of the people. 

Judge Bashaw's personal popularity and the influence of his high 
character attributed not a little to his success as a legislator. His 
name was always regarded by his colleagues and the public generally 



516 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

as little less than a synonym for honor and integrity, whilst all had 
and still have confidence in the sonndness and clearness of his judg- 
ment. That he supported a measure was sufficient assurance to those 
who knew him that there was nothing impure in it, and the estimation 
in which his ability was held always secured the measures he advocated 
the most respectful and candid consideration. Few men in Missouri, 
if any, have made a record as a legislator, in so short a time, so cred- 
itable as his. With such consideration is he regarded throughout the 
State as an able, upright and statesmanlike public man, that he is now 
one of the leading men whose nomination for the office of Governor 
will be advocated before the approaching State Democratic Convention, 
and his nomination is considered by many an assured fact. However 
that may be, whether he is nominated this year or not, every one 
recognizes that he is one of the coming men of the State, and that the 
highest positions in the gift of the people are not beyond his reason- 
able hopes and expectations. That he is destined to reach, as he is 
already approaching, the position of one of the distinguished and 
eminent public men of Missouri, if he lives and retains his mental 
and physical vigor, as he has every prospect of doing, no one for a 
moment doubts. 

For five years Judge Bashaw was one of the editors of the Paris 
Mercury, and while in this capacity the paper took a high rank 
among the leading interior journals of the State, a rank it still holds. 

On the 13th of January, 1868, Judge Bashaw was married to Miss 
Frances P. Shaw, a young lady of superior culture and refinement. 
She is a daughter of William A. Shaw, a prominent minister of the 
Presbyterian Church, in St. Louis, and the Judge and Miss Shaw 
were married in that city. Rev. James H. Brookes, an eminent Pres- 
byterian divine, officiating. This union has proved a most happy one, 
and is blessed with four children, namely : Laura, Hallie, Nellie and 
Thomas P. 

Judge and Mrs. Bashaw are members of the Presbyterian Church, 
and the Judge is a member of the Odd Fellows Fraternity. He and 
wife are honored members of the best society at Paris, and, indeed, 
wherever they are known. 

JOHN BIGGS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Biggs came to the United States from England in 1870, then 
a young man 25 years of age. One of those sterling, practical 
Englishmen, energetic and with a clear knowledge of the requisites ot 
success in any calling in which they engage, of the same class who 
laid the foundation of free institutions in this county and opened the 
way for the magnificent destiny it was destined to achieve, and has 
partly already accomplished, — he has shown himself to be a worthy 
representative of his nationality, both as a citizen and a worker in 
developing the resources of his adopted country. Mr. Biggs was born 
in Herefordshire, May 20, 1845, and was a son of Daniel Biggs and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 517 

wife, nee Miss Catherine E. Pember, the ancestors of both of whom 
had been native to that conntry time out of mind. Young Biggs 
received a good general education in the schools of his native county 
and was brought up to a farm life. Desiring to become a landholder 
himself and a farmer independent of rents, he decided to come to 
America where fiivorable opportunities were to be had, not only of 
becoming an independent farmer but also of farming with better 
profit than in England. He followed farming in this country from 
1870 to the spring of 1883 in different States in the West, namely, 
Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, and then located permanently in 
South Jackson township, of Monroe county, Mo. Here he bought a 
large farm of 400 acres all under fence and either in cultivation or 
pasturage, but principally the latter, as he makes a specialty of raising 
stock. These tacts show that Mr. Biggs has been quite successful as 
a farmer and stock-raiser. Still comparatively a young man, with the 
start he already has and with his energy and enterprise he can hardly 
fail of becoming one of the leading agriculturalists and property hold- 
ers throughout this vicinity of North Missouri. On the 25th of 
December, 1875, Mr. Biggs was married to Miss Flora I. Williams, a 
daughter of Horace P. Williams, a prominent stock man of Cook 
county. 111. Mrs. Biggs is a lineal descendant from Rodger Will- 
iams, one of the founders of the colony of Rhode Island and presi- 
dent of its counsel, originally from Wales, who was born in 1599, and 
came to America in 1631. He was in early life a clergyman of the 
English church, but became a Dissenter and preached at Salem and 
Plymouth, Mass., until he was banished from that colony by the 
religious intolerance and bigotry of the Puritans. Speaking of this — 
the banishment of Rodger Williams and Puritan bigotry and intolerance 
generally — Hon. S. S. Cox in a speech delivered in New York, Janu- 
ary 13, 1863, said : " The same egotistic intolerance is observable 
in their treatment of Rodger Williams in 1635. His persecutors came 
to New England with no correct ideas of religious tolerance. Their 
system tolerated no contradiction and allowed of no dissent. The 
statutes of uniformity of England they re-enacted here, by church and 
public sentiment. This was the source of those dissensions which 
rent their own youthful Republic, and whose intolerant spirit has pro- 
duced in our time that sectional alienation which deluges the land in 
blood. The New Eno:land Pilo-rim drove Rodo;er Williams into the 
winter wilderness, as he drove Mrs. Hutchinson and Coddington to 
the same exile, for differences of opinion in religion. He enacted 
laws forbidding trade with these outlaws for conscieuce sake. Savages 
were more kind than these bigots ; for the Indians hospitably received 
the victims of persecution. Disdaining the Pope as anti-Christ, and 
hating the prelate, the harsh Pilgrims set up every little vanity of a 
preacher as their Pope infallible, every village Paul Pry as an inquisi- 
tor, and every sister communicant as a spy for the detection of 
heresy. " Mr. and Mrs. Biggs have one child, Eva E., born October 
23, 1881, at Kinsley, Edwards county, Kas. Mrs. B. is a member 
of the M. E. Church. 



518 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



JOSEPH M. BLADES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Blades was the posthumous son of Abraham Blades, formerly 
of Virginia, by his wife Ruth, whose maiden name was also Blades, 
and was born in Oldham county, Ky., March 10, 1819. Born after 
his father's death, young Blades never knew what it is to have the 
assistance and encouragement which only a father can give. His 
mother married a second time and continued to reside in Oldham 
county, and young Blades was reared in that county. Brought up to 
a farm life, he naturally chose farming as his calling when he became 
old enough to start out fori himself. On the 2d of July, 1844, he 
was married to Miss Mary J. Shroeder, a daughter of Philip Shroe- 
der, then of Kentucky, but afterwards of Monroe county. Mo. After 
his marriage Mr. Blades removed to Jefferson county, Ky., but four 
years later came to Monroe county, this State, where he has since 
resided. Here he began in 1852 as a renter, and by industry and 
good management has succeeded so well as a farmer that he now owns 
an excellent place of nearly 200 acres, a place on which he has resided 
and which he has owned for many years. This is a good farm, and is 
provided with all necessary improvements and conveniences. Mr. 
and Mrs. Blades have had ten children, five of whom are living: 
William T. (married), of Barton county; James M. (married), of 
this county ; Laura A., wife of James Deaver ; Henry R. and Erastus 
G. Those deceased were Matilda, who died at the age of 15 ; Ruth 
E., died when in her tenth year ; Altraetta B., who died when 8 years 
old ; Susan E., also died at the age of 8, and John V. Wesley, named 
after the great Methodist preacher, died in infancy. Mrs. Blades is a 
member of the M. E. Church South. 

BENJAMIN F. BLANTON 

(Editor and Proprietor of the Monroe County Appeal, Paris) . 

Mr. Blanton, who in early life had several years' experience in the 
newspaper business, bought the office of the Monroe City Appeal in 
1873, and changed its name to the Monroe County Appeal, and its 
place of publication from Monroe City to Paris. Since that time, for 
a period, now, of 11 years, he has been conducting the Appeal as 
editor and proprietor, at this place. Sufficient time has elapsed to 
decide its fate as a journal, whether it was to be a success or a fail- 
ure. The result has been most gratifying to him and to the people 
of the county, generally. The Ajjpeal has become thoroughly and 
firmly established, both as a business enterprise and in popularity and 
influence. Mr. Bhmton is one of those men of strong character, pos- 
itive convictions and the courage to maintain them, and, withal, full 
of energy and perseverance. Having begun the publication of the 
Ap)peal on a sound footing, in a business point of view, with his qual- 
ities of character, failure was hardly in the range of possibility. The 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 519 

policy he adopted upon which to conduct his paper, strict allegiance 
to the best interests of the people of the county, regardless of all 
other considerations, political or otherwise, assured its success. In a 
newspaper, particularly, the public expect to find an advocate, out- 
spoken and fearless, of the common interests ; for it is on the patron- 
age of the public that a paper thrives, and if it proves false to the 
mterests of the people, it forfeits its only just claim to support. Rec- 
ognizing this in its full force, Mr. Blanton has never permitted the 
Appeal to swerve from its line of duty, as he saw it, from any con- 
sideration, or in any circumstances. He has allowed it to become the 
or^an of no man or set of men, or of any cabal of small-fry or other 
politicians, or any party. While it is Democratic, it is as free and 
quick to denounce fraud or unworthy schemers in its own party as on 
the opposite side, and its influence in this respect, particularly, is 
recoo-nized and feared by those who, pretending to be solicitous for 
the interests of the public, are only seeking their own advancement 
and aggrandizement. Thus the Appeal has won the respect and 
admiration of the honest men of all parties and classes, and has been 
al)le to establish itself as one of the successful and influential coun- 
trv journals of North Missouri. A good business manager, Mr. 
Blanton is at the same time a clear, terse and forcible editorial 
writer, bringing his ideas out in short, pithy sentences that leave a 
lasting impression on the mind of the reader. Looking to the inter- 
ests of the people, he writes directly to that point, regardless of 
whom it hits or don't hit, and he never stops to see who is making 
wrv faces or smiling at his work. He is perfectly fearless in the 
expression of his views, as every upright and worthy editor ought to 
be. Mr. Blanton is of an old and respected Missouri family. His 
parents, Thomas and Nancy (McCrary) Blanton, came to this State, 
back in 1832. They were from Kentucky, where both were born 
and reared. His father was a blacksmith by trade, but later in life 
followed farming. He first located at Jefferson City, and while 
there did a large part of the iron work in the construction of the 
penitentiary. He made the hinges on which the first door of that 
buildino- was hung. In 1842, however, he removed to Howard 
county, where he made his home until his death. He was a man 
of sterling intelligence and many estimable qualities, and was greatly 
respected by all who knew him. Benjamin F. was born at Jeffer- 
son City, September 20, 1838. He remained at home until he was 
13 years of age, when he 'entered the ofiice of the Glasgow Times, 
then owned "by Clark H. Green, to learn the printer's trade, 
where he worked for several years. In 1856 he took part in the 
"Kansas Troubles," and was in the first fight with the old horse- 
thief martyr and red-handed saint, John Brown. In 1858 Mr. Blan- 
ton was married to Miss Harriet Young, a daughter of David Young, 
a prominent farmer of Howard county. Prior to this be had engaged 
in farming, and for the next 15 years he devoted himself exclu- 
sively to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Blanton was an enterprising 
fiirmer and met with substantial success. Mr. and Mrs. B. have 10 

28 



520 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

children : Mattie, Kate, Charley, Lillie, Edgar, Jack, Pearl, Andy, 
Maggie and Frank. He is a prominent member of the A. O. U. W., 
K. of H. and the Masonic order. 

ALFRED G. BODINE 

(Dealer in Lumber, etc., Paris). 

Mr. Bodine was a son of Isaac A. Bodine, a substantial citizen of 
the county and formerly county treasurer, but now deceased. Mr. 
B.'s mother was, before her marriage, a Miss Mary Gore. She is a 
sister to Dr. A. E. Gore and is still living at Paris. Both theBodines 
and Gores were early settlers of Monroe county from Kentucky. 
Alfred G. was born in Paris, October 30, 1858, and was reared in 
this county. He was educated in the public schools and since he was 
19 years of age has been engaged in business life. In 1877 he engaged 
in shipping coal from Godfrey, Kans., which he followed for three 
years. He then located in Saline county, where he was in the grain 
business for the following year. In January, 1881, he began selling 
lumber at Lamar, in Barton county, and was there about six months. . 
From Lamar he located at Hannibal and from there returned to Paris, 
in February, 1883. Here, the same year, he established his present 
business. He has a good stock of lumber, shingles, lath, lime, etc., 
etc., and is doing a good business, considering capital invested. Mr. 
B. is a member of the K. P.'s Apollo, No. 25, at Hannibal. 

SAMUEL M. BOUNDS 

(Farmer, Post-olfice, Paris) . 

The parents of Mr. Bounds, Thomas J. and Henrietta (Dennison) 
Bounds, are from Kentucky, where they were married in January, 
1837. They came to Missouri the following year and settled in 
Monroe county, eight miles west of Paris. He died there in 1853- 
and she, in 1879. Both were members of the Christian Church. 
They had a family of seven children: George S., John W., Laura Z., 
Marcellus S., Samuel M., James D. and Rebecca E. Samuel M. 
Bounds was born on the farm October 26, 1849, where he was reared 
to manhood. He was not married until he was 30 years of age, 
when, on the 18th of December, 1869, he was united according to the 
forms of law in the ordinances of the Christian Church with Miss 
Julia F. Smith, an estimable young lady of the county. She was a 
daughter of John B. and Harriet (Wilcox) Smith, formerly of Ken- 
tucky. Mr. and Mrs. Bounds have one child, a daughter, Leta B. 
Mr. Bounds has followed farming from early life, and has a good 
homestead of 140 acres. He and wife are members of the Christian 
Church . 

G. M. BOWER 

(Dealer in Lumber, Paris) . 

Mr. Bower carries a full assortment of building materials of every 
description in the lumber line, and having been in the business for a 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 521 

number of years, he has a large trade and established reputation, the 
result of fair dealing and the exercise of good judgment as a business 
man. Mr. Bovver is a native of Monroe county and was born in Octo- 
ber, 1838. His father, Dr. G. M. Bower, a pioneer physician of this 
county, was in comparatively comfortable circumstances, and the son, 
as he grew up, had as good common school advantages as the county 
afforded. Until he was 21 years of age, most of his time was spent 
in the school-room, so that he acquired a good general education. 
After reaching his majority he engaged in farming on his own 
account and later along went to trading in stock. After following 
this for two years, he established a lumberyard at Paris and has since 
given his whole attention to this line of business. In 1873 Mr. 
Bower was married to a daughter of Maj. James Ragland, then a 
prominent citizen of this county. His first wife, however, survived 
her marriage only a short time, when, in 1878, he was married to his 
present wife, Miss Anna Levering, a daughter of Frank Levering, 
Esq., of Hannibal. Mr. Bower's father came to Missouri in 1832 
and settled about a mile and a half from the present site of Paris. 
He had a thrilling experience in the War of 1812. Originally from 
Virginia, he removed from that State to Georgetown, Ky., where he 
was residing at the time of his enlistment in the Canadian War. He 
was captured by the Indians during that struggle and was sold into 
slavery. For 14 days he was compelled to subsist on roots alone. 
In one of the terrible border fights which characterized the War of 
1812, every surgeon of his command was killed, except himself, and 
most of the privates were either killed or wounded, so that he was 
compelled to care for the wounded of the entire command, a duty 
that he discharged with that humanity and kindness for which he was 
always remarkable. After the close of the war he continued to reside 
in Kentucky until his removal to Missouri. He married in Kentucky, 
his wife, formerly Miss Catherine Long, being a daughter of James 
Long, of that State. She, however, was his second wife, his first wife 
having died some years before. It was by his second marriage that he 
reared the family of children of which the subject of the present 
sketch was a meml^er. A physician by profession, he practiced 
medicine in Monroe county until his death, and was a physician of 
high standing in his profession as well as very successful in the prac- 
tice. He was also earnest and active in church work, being a member 
of the Baptist denomination, and often in the absence of a minister 
filled the latter's appointment in the pulpit. He was one of the good 
pioneers of Monroe county whose memory is venerated by all who 
knew him. 

J. WILLIAM BOYD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris). 

The family of which Mr. Boyd is a worthy representative is one of 
the old and respected families of the county. His father, Andrew J. 
Boyd, came to this county from Fayette county, Ky., away back in 



522 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

the " thirties." He was a young man then and soon afterwards mar- 
ried here, Miss Mary Shoots becoming liis wife. She was also from 
Fayette county, Ky. They subsequently settled on a farm in Jackson 
township, where the father lived out a respected and well spent life. 
He died February 5, 1876. He was a man of sterling worth of 
character, and died, as is believed, without a known enemy. J. Will- 
iam Boyd was born in Jackson township, June 9, 1839. His father 
was a man of industry and energy, and the son was brought up to 
strictly industrious habits He learned under his father that success 
in life could be achieved honorably only by honest industry and good 
management. Such a bringing up was worth more to him than if his 
father had left him a large estate, without any appreciation of the 
proper way to accumulate property or the right metho'ds of managing 
it and saving it when it is obtained. J. William of course became a 
farmer, and has continued to adhere to his chosen occupation without 
faltering for a moment. On the 5th of February, 1863, he was mar- 
ried to" Miss Martha J. Stockdale, a daughter of Allen Stockdale, 
formerly of Washington county, Penn. Mr. Boyd rented land for 
two years after he was married and afterwards bought a place of his 
own. He continued to farm there until 1874, when he came to his 
present farm. Here he has over 160 acres of land, nearly all of which 
is in an excellent state of improvement. Besides the usual way of 
ftirming, Mr. Boyd makes a specialty of raising stock, and has some 
excellent o:raded cattle. Mr. and Mrs. B. have seven children : Fran- 
cis, MaryL., Virgil E., Amy A., Etta, William C. and Maude. They 
have lost two, Maggie, who died at the age of 13, and Lizzie, at the 
ao-e of 11. They died within little more than a month of each other, 
Maggie September 22, 1882, and Lizzie October 27, following. Mr. 
ancTMrs. B. are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Boyd has 
always been a warm friend of education, and has taken a commenda- 
ble and active interest in keeping up the schools in his neighborhood. 
In recognition of his public spirit and especial fitness for the position, 
away back some 15 years ago he was elected school director, and he 
has since continued to fill that position by consecutive re-elections. 

JUDGE THEODORE BRACE 

(Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit of Missouri, Paris). 

Illustrating the possibilities of this country for young men without 
means or infl^uence, but of character and ability, and industrious and 
determined to succeed, a most striking example is afforded in the life 
and career of the subject of the present sketch. Judge Brace, barely 
yet a middle-aged man, occupies an enviable position in the judiciary 
of the State, being recognized as one of the ablest judges on our cir- 
cuit bench ; whilst, before accepting his present office, he was a lawyer 
of hiajh standing at the bar, and he had served with distinguished 
ability in the State Senate, and in other positions of important public 
trust. He was also an officer of conspicuous gallantry in the Southern 
army during the war — colonel of the Third Missouri Cavalry, a regi- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 523 

ment, one of the first organized in the State, noted for its bravery and 
discipline, and for the value and intrepidity of its services on the field. 
With this record in the past, and still but entering upon the meridian 
of life, and with the years of his greatest usefulness before him, the 
friends of Judge Brace may well predict for him a future of great 
honor and distinction. Yet Judge Brace commenced for himself with- 
out a dollar, with a very limited elementary education, and at the early 
age of 15. Since that time he has been the architect and builder of 
bis own fortune, and every stone that has entered into the structure 
of his character and career has been placed there by his own design 
and his own hand. Judge Brace is a native of Maryland, born in 
Alleghany county, June 10, 1835, and was a son of Charles and Delia 
(White) Brace, both of well-known and highly respected families in 
the Northern part of Maryland, and his father a well-to-do farmer of 
Alleghany county. Young Brace's early youth was spent at home 
on the farm, assisting at such work as he could do, and attending 
school. He also had some valuable instruction in the local academy 
at Cumberland, the county seat of that county. But of an independ- 
ent, self-reliant disposition, and impatient to do something for himself 
in life, he quit school at the very early age of 15, and started out on 
his own responsibility, becorning a clerk in a store at Cumberland. 
After clerking for some time, he accepted the position of deputy in the 
circuit clerk's office in Alleghany county, and remained there for 
about six months. He must have established an excellent reputation 
by this time for fidelity and business qualifications, for he was now 
otlered the position of bank clerk at Cumberland, which he accepted, 
and the duties of which he discharged so acceptably that he was 
retained for three years. During all this time, since leaving school, he 
improved every opportunity for gaining knowledge and storins: his 
mind with such material as would enable him after awhile to be of some 
use to society and honor to his family. Having prepared himself for 
the study of law as thoroughly as his situation and circumstances 
would allow, he began study for the bar, and prosecuted his studies 
with great diligence and energy until 1856, when he was admitted to 
practice in the courts of Maryland by the circuit court of Alleghany 
county. With the forecast of mind that is one of his most marked 
characteristics, he saw even then, young as he was, that the seat of 
empire in this country was to be in the great West, and that in the 
upbuilding of this magnificent region, unequaled opportunities would 
be afi'orded young men of character and intelligence and enterprise, to 
establish themselves honorably in life, and perhaps to achieve a name 
and reputation that would make their careers worthy parts of the his- 
tory of their States. He accordingly at once cast his fortunes with 
the great West, and after stopping at Bloomfield, Iowa, for a short 
time, came thence directly to Paris, Mo., where, early in January, 
1857, he made a permanent location. Judge Brace came to Paris a 
young man just admitted to the bar, 22 years of age, and a stranger 
without means or known friends ; but he was courageous, determined 
and fully confident that by industry and close attention to his 



524 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

profession he would succeed. A young man of good address as 
well as bright and quick in his profession, he was not disappointed 
in his expectations, but soon found himself in the possession of 
respectable and steadily increasing clientage. His popular manners 
and manifest personal worth conti"ibuted hardly less than his recog- 
nized ability as a young lawyer and his almost invariable success at 
the bar, to the rapid increase of his practice and the advancement of 
his reputation as a lawyer. A careful and painstaking practitioner 
and an advocate of singular force and eloquence, he made rapid pro- 
gress in his profession and, in 1861, when the war broke out, was in 
the possession of a lucrative practice and occupied a prominent posi- 
tion at the bar of his circuit. Born and reared in the South, and an 
ardent believer in the great doctrine of State's rights, a doctrine that 
will yet hear its Cumi in this country, when the tocsin of war sounded 
he bravely went to the front to uphold Southern rights and Southern 
institutions. Laying aside everything else, he actively engaged in 
enlisting and organizing a regiment for the service of the South, a 
work he had little trouble to do, for personally he was more than 
ordinarily popular, and the gallant men of Monroe county not only 
had confidence in his ability and patriotism, but Avere as ardently and 
devotedly attached to the Southern cause as he himself was. This 
regiment became, during the early part of the war, one of the best in the 
service in this State. Mr. Brace was elected colonel of the regiment, 
a position he filled with distinguished gallantry. The Third Missouri 
participated in numerous small engagements in North Missouri, and 
then took a leading part in the battle of Lexington. Col. Brace led 
his regiment in the final charge that resulted in the capitulation of all 
of Mulligan's forces. After the battle of Lexington the Thu'd Mis- 
souri figured conspicuously in the campaign of South-west Missouri 
and in Northern Arkansas, and bore a particularly important and hon- 
orable part in the battle of Pea Ridge. Soon after this battle, how- 
ever. Col. Brace, who had undergone great exposures and hardships, 
was taken seriously ill, and while in this condition was taken prisoner 
by the enemy. He was transferred to the Myrtle street prison at St. 
Louis, where he lay for a considerable time, but was finally paroled 
as a prisoner of war. After his release from prison Col. Brace 
returned to Paris and resumed the practice of law, in which he has 
since been engaged, except while occupied in the public service. It is 
unnecessary to take space here for comments upon, his continued rise 
in his profession and as a public man. The facts themselves carry 
with them their own lessons, and all of credit to the man and of 
encouragement to young men of ability and ambition who have the 
spirit to imitate his example. Col. Brace has never asked for a public 
office, his preference having always been to devote his whole time and 
attention to his profession ; but he has frequently been called into the 
public service. In 1874 he was elected to the State Senate and served 
in that body with distinguished ability for four years, becoming recog- 
nized all over the State as one of the ablest men, and, Avithout excep- 
tion, the ablest speaker and debater in the Senate. Immediately 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 525 

following his term of service there he was elected probate judge of 
Monroe county, the duties of which he entered upon in January, 1878, 
but the office of circuit judge becoming vacant in 1880, he was elected 
to the circuit bench without opposition, whereupon he resigned the 
probate judgeship to accept the circuit judgeship. On the circuit 
bench Judge Brace has distinguished himself as an able and consci- 
entious judge, and whilst his opinions are almost invariably sound 
expositions of the law, he is at the same time quick and expeditious 
indisposing of the business of the court, and receives great commend- 
ation from the bar and public generally for the manner in which he 
keeps his dockets so nearly or quite up to date. In short, it is a 
remarkable fact in Judge Brace's career that in whatever position he 
has been placed he has won more than ordinary credit and approval. 
When he was at the bar he was considered one of the best attorneys 
in North Missouri ; in the senate he was a leader in that body ; as an 
officer in the army his gallantry and ability were conspicuous ; and on 
the circuit bench he is considered one of the best judges in point of 
ability and conscientious and expeditious discharge of duties in the 
State. Such a record is well worthy to be looked upon with satisfac- 
tion, not unmingled with at least a pardonable degree of pride. 
On the 12th day of October, 1858, Judge Brace was married to Miss 
Kosanna C. Penn, a daughter of William N. Penn. Mrs. Brace is a 
lady of many estimable qualities of head and heart, and is held in the 
highest esteem by all who know her. She is a lady of rare culture 
and refinement, and by her presence and brilliant conversation lends 
an additional charm to the polite and cultured society of Paris. Judge 
and Mrs. Brace have seven children, namely: Kate, Ned, Jessie Paul, 
Pauline Penn, Euth and Theodore; they lost one daughter. Judge 
Brace has held several local offices, such as city attorney, etc., and 
was once prominently put forward by his friends for Representative in 
Congress from this district, but peremptorily, yet kindly, and with 
proper appreciation of the compliment and honor intended to be con- 
ferred, declined to make the race. 

JEFFERSON BRIDGFORD 

(Farmer aud Fine Stock-breeder, Post-ofRce, Paris, Mo.). 

Mr. Bridgford was one of the earliest, as he was for many years 
one of the leading breeders of fine short-horn cattle, if not the leading 
one, in North Missouri. He commenced in life for himself at the age 
of 22, and for two years worked out at farm labor for the small 
monthly wages paid away back in the " Forties." But by industry 
and the sterling intelligence and enterprise that have characterized his 
whole life, he soon rose above that. Up to about the time of the war 
he followed farming and stock-raising as well as dealing in stock in a 
general way in this county, but soon afterwards turned his attention 
especially to fine short-horn cattle, in which he has since been chiefly 
interested. In this branch of industry he gnined great prominence 
and has taken a great many premiums at county, State and Western 



526 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

fairs. Indeed, within three years — 1872, 1873 and 1874 — he has 
taken premiums amounting to over $10,000. In 1874 he shipped a 
herd of short-horns to California and, after carrying off the prizes at 
two of the leading fairs in that State, sold his herd out at a handsome 
figure. From first to last he has shipped, perhaps, 75,000 head of 
cattle to the markets. Though not at present engaged so extensively 
in the stock business as formerly, he still handles large numbers of 
stock, and exhibits a degree of enterprise and activity in business that 
would reflect credit on many a younger man in the stock business. 
He has also improved several of the best farms in the county, and has 
had considerable success in buying and selling farms. Mr. Bridgford 
was born in Woodford county, Ky., November 9, 1822, and came to 
Missouri with his father's family, who settled in Monroe county in 
1836. He had previously taken a course, though not a complete one, 
in Centre College at Georgetown, Ky., but after the removal of the 
family to Missouri, had no further advantages for an education. He 
remained with the family until he was 22 years old and then started 
out at farm-work, as stated above. In 1848 he was married to Miss 
Margaret E. Waller, a daughter of John Waller, deceased, formerly 
of Scott county, Ky. Mr. Bridgford began handling stock about the 
time of his marriage, and has continued it up to the present time, for 
a period, now, of over 35 years. He has also been constantly engaged 
in farming, except while absent in California. In 1850 he crossed the 
plains to the Pacific coast and was gone something less than two years, 
returning by way of Panama. He then resumed farming and the 
stock business, settling about six miles south of Paris, where he 
improved a fine farm, a place aggregating nearly 800 acres. He lived 
on that place and shipped stock until 1865 and then he moved to a 
large farm he owned north-east of Paris, meanwhile selling his first 
place. Selling his second place in 1877, the following year he moved 
to a farm near Paris, where he resided until 1884, and then came to 
his present place. Mr. Bridgford is in easy circumstances, and what 
is better than that, he has the confidence and esteem of the whole 
county, for his life has been without a reproach, and one of much 
value to the county. He has done, perhaps, more than any other 
man in it to give it the reputation it has for fine stock. Largely 
through his influence the raising of fine short-horn cattle has become 
almost universal with the farmers of this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bridgford have reared eight children: Eugene A., now a judge of 
the Superior Court of California ; Cornelia, now the wife of George 
C. Brown, of Paris ; Churchel G., a prominent stock commission man 
of Chicago; Waller T., of the firm of Brown & Bridgford, at 
Paris; Charlie B., Bower, Hugh W., and Alma, the last four at 
home. Mr. Bridgford owns nearly 1,700 acres of fine land, princi- 
pally in Arkansas and Missouri. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church, and have been since 1849. He is also an old and 
prominent member of the A. F. and A. M. Mr. Bridgford's parents 
were Richard and Nancy Bridgford, the father born and reared in 
Virginia, but the mother a native of, and brought up in Kentucky. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 527 

After coming to Monroe county they resided here for some four years 
and then removed to Clay county, where the mother died in 1844. 
The father then went to Hannibal and made his home with a son, 
James, where he died five years afterwards, in 1849. There were five 
sons and one daughter in their family who grew to maturity, but 
James, who resides in Nevada, and Mr. Bridgford, the subject of this 
sketch, are the only two living, the latter being the youngest of the 
family. 

GEOEGE C. BEOWN 

COf Brown & Bridgford, Grocers, Paris) . 

Among the influential, highly esteemed and substantial citizens of 
Monroe county, the subject of the present sketch holds an enviable 
position. A man of marked intelligence and culture, he is at the 
same time one of the active business men of the county, and one of 
its public-spirited, useful citizens. Mr. Brown is a native Missourian, 
born in Marion county, December 9, 1840. His parents, Lewis S. 
and Anna M. (Tolle) Brown, came from Virginia in about 1831, and 
made their home for some time on a farm about eight miles north-east of 
Palmyra. Afterwards, in about 1843, they removed to Lewis county, 
where they settled permanently. His father, a respected and well-to- 
do farmer of that county, died there November 12, 1856. Mrs. 
Brown, the mother, is still living on the old family homestead in 
Lewis county. George C.'s youth was spent on the farm in Lewis 
county. In 1859-60 he took a course at Miami Male Institute, in 
Saline county, where he attained considerable proficiency in the sciences 
and in Latin and Greek and in other higher studies. At the conclu- 
sion of his course at Miami, young Brown returned to Lewis 
county and entered upon the profession of teaching, which he followed 
with steadily increasing success and reputation for some ten years. 
Up to 1865 he taught country schools in Lewis, Macon, Monroe, 
Shelby and Marion counties, in Missouri, and in Adams county, in Illi- 
nois. He then became principal of Payson's Seminary, in Illinois, 
which he conducted with efficiency for some three years. In 1860 
Mr. Brown took charge of a select school at Shelbina, and the fol- 
lowing year he became principal of the Paris public schools. In 
1870 he and Judge Bashaw conducted the Paris Female Seminary, 
but in November of that year Mr. Brown was elected county school 
superintendent, and resigned his position in the seminary in order to 
give his undivided time and attention to the duties of his office. Mean- 
while, early in his career as a teacher, he had become a man of 
family. He was married December 4, 1862, to Miss Mattie A. Gor- 
don, of Marion county. She lived to brighten his home for nearly 
20 years, but during much of the latter part of her married life 
suftered greatly from ill health. In 1872 Mr. Brown resigned his 
position as county school superintendent, on account of the ill health 
of his wife, and in order to travel with her in the hope of benefiting 
her. He went to Texas, hoping that the climate of that State would 
improve her health, but she obtained no permanent relief. He 



528 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

was absent about 10 months, and after his return he had 
charge of the Woodhiwn school until his election to the office of cir- 
cuit clerk and recorder of Monroe county, which was in November, 
1874. Mr. Brown served in that office for four years, and such was 
the efficiency with which he discharged his duties that in 1878 he was 
re-elected, serving a second term of four years. Early in 1883, at the 
conclusion of his last term of service, he went to Arkansas and en- 
o-ao-ed in the saw-mill business on Black river. But the following fall 
he sold his mill and tributary timber lands, amounting to over 1,000 
acres, and returned to Paris, where he began his present line of 
business, the grocery trade. His brother-in-law, W. T. Bridgford, 
became his partner in business and they have since continued it 
together. They carry a stock of about $3,500, and have a large and 
profitable trade. Mr. Brown's first wife, who, as stated above, had long 
suffered from ill health, was taken from him by death on the 11th of 
April, 1881. She left him a daughter, Lillie, now an accomplished 
young lady, educated at Lexington Female College, and with her 
relatives, on her mother's side, at Payson, 111. To his present wife 
Mr. Brown was married November 9, 1882. She was a Miss Nelia 
Bridgford, a daughter of Jefferson Bridgford, of this county. Mrs. 
Brown is a lady of superior culture and refinement, a graduate in 
the class of 1873, of Christian College, of Columbia, Mo. Mr. 
Brown has long been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, 
and, indeed, was ordained a minister of that church as early as the 
sprin"- of 1865. Since then he has been eno;ao;ed more or less des- 
ultorily in ministerial work, principally filling vacancies and the 
appointments of others which they were unable to meet. Mr. Brown 
is a member of the I. O. O. F., the Masonic order and the Knight 
Templars, and is an active worker in these orders as well as a leading 
member. An earnest Democrat, he has also been quite active in local 
politics for the last 8 or 10 years. In all kinds of enterprises and 
movements, material, political, social, or otherwise, he is public-spir- 
ited and ever zealous and generous in his efforts for the o:eneral o-ood. 
Mrs. Brown is an accomplished musician, a pianist of rare culture and 
skill, in fact. 

JACKSON H. BRYAN 

!(Farmer, Post-offlce, Paris). 

Mr. Bryan's parents, Joseph J. and Martha (Bates) Bryan, were 
early settlers in Monroe county. They came here from Kentucky in 
1836, and bought the land on which Jackson N. now resides, and 
where they made their permanent home. They had a family of ten 
children, of whom eight are living, namely: Susan, James, Morgan, 
now residing in Shelbina ; Sallie, Martha, Joseph, who is engaged in 
the hardware business in Paris ; Jackson, John and Amanda. Jack- 
son N. was born on the homestead in this county, in 1850, and was 
reared to a farm life. He attended the neighborhood schools as he 
grew up and thus secured sufficient knowledge of books for all ordin- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 529 

ary practical purposes. Reared on a farm, he naturally formed a 
taste for farm life, which has ever afterwards influenced him to follow 
this calling as his regular pursuit. He now owns the old family 
homestead, a good place of 160 acres, all under fence and fairly im- 
proved. He devotes his farm both to raising grain and stock, and is 
having good success. On the 11th of September, 1853, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Isabella Bedford, a daughter of Franklin and Rachel 
(Bever) Bedford, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Bryan have 
three interesting children : Joseph and Frank, twins ; and Ada, who 
is the eldest. Mr. Bryan's father died in 1869, and his mother in 
1871. Tliey were highly respected residents of the community, and 
worthy members of the Primitive Baptist Church. Mr. B. himself is 
a member of that church, as is also his wife. 

ROBERT M. BURGESS 

(Farmer aad Stock-dealer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Burgess, who has long had the reputation, and justly so, of 
being one of the leading stock-dealers and traders in Monroe county, 
was "a son of that old and highly respected citizen of the county, 
Pleasant M. Burgess. The Burgess family came from Virginia to 
Monroe county ; the father, Pleasant M., was born in 1788. He grew 
up and was married in that State to Miss Rebecca C. Towler in 1820. 
She was from Georgia. After their marriage they remained in Vir- 
ginia until 1842, when they removed to Missouri and settled in 
Monroe coiinty. He was a farmer by occupation, and made a speci- 
alty of raising tobacco. He was one of the leading tobacco raisers of 
this county, and one of its worthiest and best citizens. He died here 
in 1857, sincerely and profoundly mourned by all who knew him. 
There was six in his family of children, namely: William Henry, 
who died in California in 1879 ; Lizzie, also deceased ; Susan 
M., now the widow of Marquis Poage, deceased; Mary, the 
wife of D. M. Dulaney, of Hannibal ; Anna, the wife of 
Wesley Wilson, of California; John C, also of California, and 
Robert M. The mother lived to the advanced age of 90 years, 
dying in May, 1884. She was a most estimable, Christian-hearted old 
lady, and was venerated and loved by all who knew her. Robert M. 
early showed a preference for handling stock, and when but 14 years 
of age commenced making trips to St. Louis, driving stock to that 
market, and acquiring quite a reputation in the county and along the 
road as the boy stock-trader. The preference of his early life for the 
stock business has been continued, and he has achieved marked suc- 
cess in this line of business. No man in the county enjoys in a higher 
degree the confidence of the entire community for fair and honorable 
dealing. In the fall of 1857 Mr. Burgess was married to Miss Celestia 
Hodges, formerly of Norfolk, Va. They have eight children : 
Samuel P., John M., Jennie N., Lizzie B., Nora Mary, Robert M. 
and Charles Elwood. Mr. Burgess has an excellent farm in section 8 
of Jackson township, and is comfortably situated. He is well known 



530 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

over the county and popular with all classes for his sterling worth as 
a man and his genial, agreeable manners. 

JOSEPH BURNETT, 

(Of Mason & Burnett, Editors and Proprietors of the Paris Mercury) . 
Mr. Burnett is a native of Virginia, born in Harrisonburg, Rocking- 
ham county, January 8, 1847. His parents were Charles A. and Jane 
P. (Dougherty) Burnett, both of old and respected Virginia families. 
In 1856 the family removed to Kentucky, and located in Boone 
county, but the year following they pushed out west and made their 
home at Troy, la., for a short time. From Troy they removed to 
Farmington, la., and from there to Huntsville, Mo., in 1859. Joseph, 
10 years of age when the family located at Huntsville, soon after- 
wards entered the office of the Randolph American to learn the print- 
er's trade. From Huntsville he came to Paris, in 1860, and became a 
type-setter in the office of the Mercury. He has been with the Mer- 
cury ever since, either as employe or partner in the office. In 1873 
he bought an interest in the paper, and has since been a part- 
ner with Mr. Mason in its ownership and management. The stand- 
ing of the Mercury and its value as a piece of newspaper property has 
already been spoken of in the sketch of Mr. Mason. Suffice it here, 
therefore, to say that, while it is one of the oldest and best estab- 
lished country papers in North Missouri, and with a past career of un- 
interrupted success, at no time in its history has it held a position of 
greater influence or been more prosperous as a business enterprise 
than at the present time, or since these gentlemen have had control of 
it. Both being practical printers, and themselves energetic and in- 
dustrious, they are at the same time experienced, successful business 
men, and, withal, capable, well informed and effective editorial 
writers ; so that they possess all the essential qualifications for carry- 
ing their paper on in a career of uninterrupted success and increasing 
reputation and influence. December 9, 1874, Mr. Burnett was mar- 
ried to Miss Fannie Gore, a daughter of Volney Gore, of Bloomfield, 
Ky. They have three children living, and two deceased. The living 
are: Volney G., Jefferson G. and Ella Bodine. The deceased are 
Hurbert and Horace S., aged, respectively, three and two years at the 
time of their deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett are members of the 
church. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M. and of the I. O. O. 
F. 

JAMES W. CLARK 

(Proprietor of the Paris Livery, Feed and Sales Stables). 

Prior to engaging in his present business, Mr. Clark had followed 
farming and stock-raising exclusively, occupations to which he was 
brought up. He was principally reared in Kentucky, a State the 
very atmosphere of which seems to make successful agriculturists, 
particularly in the line of raising and handling stock. Kentuckians 
are noted the world over for their taste for the stock business and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 531 

their superior judgment and success in handling stock. They pro- 
duce the finest horses on the continent, stock that are sought after in 
the capitals of Europe ; whilst the cattle of the Blue Grass Regions 
are famed from ocean to ocean for their superior excellence. It was 
a well known saying of Tom Marshal that " Kentuckians take to fine 
horses and fancv cattle as naturally as a hot dog to a pond of water." 
However that may be, certain it is that in this State, and wherever 
we come upon them, we generally find them handling " a few good 
stock." Mr. Clark, in his inclinations in this direction, is no excep- 
tion to the general rule of Kentuckians. He is a great admirer and, 
withal, as good a Judge of fancy stock as we have in the county. A 
leading consideration that induced him to engage in the livery busi- 
ness was that he might have better facilities for handling good horses, 
might constantly be in the market at Paris where he could see the 
stock of the surrounding country daily, and buy and sell as his judg- 
ment dictated, to the best advantage. He of course also expected to 
make a success of the livery busuiess, in which he has not been dis- 
appointed. Coming here in 1881, he supplied himself with a good 
stock of driving and saddle horses, and a number of buggies and 
other vehicles, of the best and most stylish makes. By dealing fairly 
with the public and always showing an obliging and accommodating 
disposition, as well as never failing to keep his rigs and turnouts in 
the best possible shape for utility, comfort and style, he has built 
up a large custom and has placed his stables among the first in this 
part of the country in popularity and patronage. He is doing an 
excellent business, which he reports as being steadily on the increase. 
Mr. Clark was born in Clark county, Ky., January 18, 1837. When 
he was quite small his parents, James and Eliza (Burris) Clark, 
removed with their family to Montgomery county, Ky., where they 
resided for about 15 years. They then immigrated to Missouri, and 
stopped for a while in Ralls county, where the mother died in the same 
year, 1852. The father, the following year, crossed over into Mon- 
roe county with his family, where he made his permanent home. He 
died here in 1861. Like most Kentuckians, he was a farmer and 
stock-raiser, to which his sons were brought up. There were three 
sons and two daughters in his family, namely : Martin J., Michael B., 
James W., Jane and Eliza. James W. Clark, the youngest in the 
family, eno-ased in farmino; and stock-raising for himself about the 
time he reached his majority, and continued in those uidustries until 
his removal to Paris. In 18G9 he was married to Miss Sallie Cow- 
herd. They have two children: James M. and Ella M. Mr. Clark 
was a soldier in the Southern army during the war, his sympathies 
and principles being with the South. Since his residence at Paris 
he has become one of the prominent and popular citizens of the 
place. 

WILLIAM LESLIE COMBS 

(President of the Missouri Associatioa of Surveyors and Engineers, Paris, Mo). 

Mr. Combs, a well known and influential citizen of Monroe county, 
is a representative of the Combs family of which Gen. Leslie Combs, 



532 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

a gallant officer in the War of 1812, was a distinguished member. 
The Combs family came originally from Wales, Mr. Combs' great- 
grandfather and three of the hitter's brothers having emigrated to 
this country prior to the Revolution. His great-grandftither settled 
in Virginia where he reared a family of children. One of his sons, 
Benjamin Combs, became the father of Leslie and Fielding Combs, 
of Kentucky, both of whom served in the War of 1812, and the latter 
was the father of the subject of this sketch. They were born and 
reared in Kentucky, and Fielding Combs was married there to Miss 
Mary Foreman. Subsequently, in 1818, soon after the close of the 
Second War with Great Britain, he came to Missouri with his family 
and settled in Ralls county. That was in 1818, whilst Missouri was 
still a territory. He entered land and opened a farm in that county, 
and resided there for a period of 20 years. From Ralls he re- 
moved to Monroe county, in 1838, and lived here successfully engaged 
in farming until his death, for 46 years, in 1878, having reached 
the advanced age of 83. His wife had preceded him to the grave by 
only four years. They left a numerous family of children, several of 
whom are now, themselves, the heads of families, and residents of 
this and other counties. The father, besides being a fsirmer, was a 
carpenter by trade, and occupied his time during the winter months 
for many years in working at his trade. He built the first house 
erected in Palmyra, and built many of the better houses throughout 
the section of country in which he lived. He was quite poor when he 
came to Missouri, as most of the early settlers were, and, indeed, it 
is a well-known fact among his descendants that he had but five picay- 
unes in cash when he spread his tent for the first time in Ralls county. 
His other worldly possessions consisted of his family, a horse, a small 
wagon, an old flint-lock gun and a powder horn. The picayunes still 
remain in the family, and are treasured as heirlooms by his descend- 
ants. They are now in the possession of one of his children. He 
became, however, quite well-to-do, for he was a man of great industry 
and sterlino; worth. 

William Leslie Combs, the subject of this sketch, was born in Ralls 
county, Mo., June 28, 1828, and was 10 years of age when the fjim- 
ily settled in this county on what subsequently became their perma- 
nent homestead, situated five miles north of Paris. For the next six 
years his time was occupied in assisting on the farm and attending the 
local schools. His health failing, however, from the exposures inci- 
dent to farm life, it became necessary for him to engage in some 
indoor pursuit. Of a quick mind and retentive memory, he had 
acquired a sufficient knowledge of books to qualify him for teaching, 
and although quite young for such a calling, he engaged, and with 
success, in that occupation. For a number of years, succeeding, 
he continued teaching, alternated with attending school himself, and 
thus persevered until he had acquired a somewhat advanced general 
English education, together with a knowledge of higher mathematics 
and an elementary knowledge of the classics. He finally became 
identified as teacher with the high school at Paris, and taught there 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 533 

with enviable success and increasing reputation for about two years. 
In the meantime, having become thoroughly conversant with the 
science of surveying, in his educational course, and being recognized 
as a young man of high character, as well as possessed of popular 
manners and address, he was selected by general consent as the 
proper person to fill the office of surveyor, to which he was accord- 
ingly elected. This office Mr. Combs has filled almost continuously 
since 1855, when he quit the high school to accept it, except during 
the hiatus in his official terms caused by the war. Soon after the 
war he was re-elected to this office and has continued to hold it. His 
continued indorsements for a i^osition so responsible, which has to do 
with the most important property rights of the people, their real es- 
tate holdings and land titles, the settlement of disputes as to bounda- 
ries, etc. — this unbroken confidence expressed by those who have 
known him from boyhood, speaks more for his character as a man 
and his record as a public official than anything that could be said 
here. Mr. Combs stands without a reproach among his fellow-citi- 
zens, and is esteemed by all not only as an officer and man, but for 
his sterling intelligence, his many estimable, neighborly and social 
qualities, his wide general information, and his culture and refined 
sensibility. November 8, 1852, Mr. Combs was married to Miss 
Nancy B. Smith. They have two children ; Leslie Marion and Efl 
Estelle. Mr. Combs has always taken a public-spirited interest in the 
cause of education, and has contributed perhaps as much to the for- 
mation of the general sentiment of the county in favor of popular edu- 
cation as any other man in it. He was a member of the first teacher's 
institute held in the county and a prominent officer in its organization. 
He was also active in forwarding teachers' organizations for the county 
for a number of years, and so continued until the cause was so well 
advanced that its success was assured. He has also taken a commend- 
able interest in the general good and progress of the surveyor's pro- 
fession, and was prominently instrumental in establishing the Missouri 
Association of Surveyors and Engineers. In recognition of his 
activity and public spirit in this behalf, as well as his conceded ability 
and high standing as a surveyor, he was at the beginning elected 
president of that association, and has since been continued at its head 
by consecutive re-elections. 

JOHN S. CONYEKS 

(Cashier of the First National Bank, Paris, Mo.)- 

Mr. Conyers' parents, Thomas W. and Eliza (Wall) Conyers, were 
early settlers of Missouri, and were from Staftbrd county, near Fred- 
ericksburg, Va. His fiither was in the War of 1812, and the Black 
Hawk War. He was a friend and comrade of Boone and Callaway in 
the North-west, and was a major in that expedition. Maj. Conyers 
settled in Boone county in 1822, and improved the farm on which Maj. 
James J. Kollins now resides. After a residence of 14 years in Boone 
he came to Monroe county and established a store at Paris, placing his 



534 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

soil, JohnS., the subject of this sketch, in charge of it. He contin- 
ued to reside in this county, engaged either in merchandising or fann- 
ing, or in both, until his death, or until his retirement in old age from 
active life. He died January 13, 1879, in his eighty-fourth year. He 
was often urged to enter public life, but invariably declined to do so, 
being thoroughly devoted to his private affairs and his family. He 
was one of the sterling, good men of the county, and lived a life that 
reflected only credit upon his name and upon the community with 
which he was for so many years and so worthily identified. John S. 
Conyers was born in Stafford county, Va., about seven miles from the 
City of Fredericksburg, November 27, 1819, and was therefore about 
17 years of age when he came to Monroe county. He has since con- 
tinued to reside at Paris, except for seven years, following 1849, dur- 
ing which he was engaged in merchandising at Middle Grove, Mo. 
After this, from 1856 to 1861, he was in the mercantile business at 
Paris, and during the last named year suffered heavy losses, being 
nearly broken up by the peculations and thievery of a dishonest clerk. 
In 1865 Mr. Conyers, in partnership with Judge D. H. Moss, formed 
a savings association in the banking business, which was carried on 
with success until 1871, when it merged into the First National Bank 
of Paris, he becoming its cashier. He has since continued identified 
with the bank, and has contributed very hirgely by his close attention 
to business, personal popularity and efficiency as a cashier, as well as 
by his high character and integrity, to the gratifying success which 
this institution has achieved. It is generally recognized, both in bank- 
ing circles and by the public, as one of the sound, safe banking insti- 
tutions of this section of the State. Back in 1840, on the 10th of Sep- 
tember, Mr. Conyers was married to Miss Pauline T. Moss, a sister to 
D. H. Moss, his associate in the bank. They reared but one child, a 
daughter, Lena C, who is now the widow of John W. Irvine. She 
has two bright little girls, Pauline and Fannie, to whom their grand- 
parents are hardly less attached than their mother. Their father was 
a prominent young lawyer, and gave every promise of a brilliant 
future at the bar and in public life, when he was suddenly cut off in 
the morning of his usefulness by death. Mr. and Mrs. Conyers are 
members of the Christian Church, and he is a Royal Arch Mason. 

DAVID L. COOPER (deceased) 

(Paris) . 

Between the 2d of April, 1818, and the 10th of September, 1883,. 
the dates, respectively, of the birth and death of the subject of this 
sketch, was lived a life that was useful and just, and one more than 
ordinarily successful in the affairs of the world. Commencing for 
himself when a young man and without a dollar, he succeeded by his 
own unaided efforts and sterling good sense, even before he was well 
advanced in middle age, in becoming a man of ample wealth, and by 
means that brought no rej^roach for a wrong act upon his name. At 
his death his estate was valued at over $150,000, all the fruit of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 535 

his own industry and good management. He was not only a success- 
ful man, but a good and useful citizen and a kind and generous neigh- 
bor. Public spirited and liberal in all affairs that concerned the public 
good, his nature was also one of great benevolence and generosity 
toward those who needed the help he could give them. He reared a 
large and wt)rthy family of children, and around his own fireside he 
was more than ordinarily well beloved, for he was a kind and devoted 
husband, and an affectionate and tender parent. In his character there 
was no such thing as hypocrisy or anything akin to cant goodness. 
On the contrary, he was a plain, brave and true-hearted man, without 
pretense, and always better at heart than those whose pretensions were 
the loudest. He was an early settler in Monroe county and lived here 
until his death, near half a century, one of the self-made, successful, 
useful and highly esteemed citizens of the county. His memory is 
justly revered as that of one of the best citizens who ever honored 
and benefited Monroe county by their residence within its borders. 
David L. Cooper was a native of Kentucky, reared in Fayette county, 
and afterwards married at Georgetown, in Scott county. His first 
wife was a Miss Catherine Caplinger before her marriage. They came 
to Missouri in 1834, and located at Lexington, Mo., and lived there 
two years and then moved to Paris. He followed the tailor's trade 
here for a time, which he had previously learned, and then bought 
land and engaged in farming and handling stock. He became one of 
the leading mule traders of this part of the country, and accumulated 
a large property in this business. He returned from his farm to Paris 
in 1859, and resided here until his death. He also dealt largely in 
real estate, and improved considerable property, both farm and town 
property. He built the Cooper block of this place, and after the fire 
rebuilt it, in 1870. This is one of the best business blocks in Paris 
and contains seven store rooms. He also built other property, busi- 
ness and residence, and his own residence property is one of the finest in 
the county. He also owned several farms in this county and elsewhere. 
He was a man of untiring energy and thorough-going enterprise, 
always alive to business and almost invariably successful in all his ven- 
tures. His first wife died in 1867 and he was afterwards married to 
Miss Bettie Gore, who still survives him, a sister to Dr. A. E. Gore. 
By his first wife he has eight children, and by his last wife four chil- 
dren. Most of his family of children are still living, and the older 
ones are themselves the heads of families. They were given good 
educations and other advantages, and now rank among the best people 
of their respective counties. 

David L., the youngest of his father's first family of children, and 
who kindly furnished the data for the present sketch of his father's 
life, 'was educated at the high school of Paris, and afterwards took a 
business course at the Gem City Commercial College, of Quincy, III. 
A young man now in his twenty-second year, he is a partner with Mr. U. 
G. Speed in the saddlery and harness business at Paris. They carry a 
stock of 12,500, and have a large and steadily increasing trade. 
Young Mr. Cooper is one of the enterprising and thoroughly qualified 

29 



536 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and reliable young business men of Paris. He is highly respected 
and justly popular. 

FRANCIS C. COOPER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

Mr. Cooper is the son of David L. and Catherine E. (Caplinger) 
Cooper, both of Scott county, Ky. They moved to Missouri in 1838 
and settled in Lafayette county, but in 1840 went to Paris, where 
Mr. Cooper took up his trade of tailoring and followed it most profit- 
ably for nine years. He then bought a farm just north of the town, 
where he farmed and raised stock until his death, September 10, 
1883. He was very successful and accumulated a nice fortune. He 
was a member of the Christian Church and was twice married, having 
six children by his first wife, and two by his second. Francis C. 
was the second child of the first marriage. He grew up on the farm 
and attended the common schools. In 1862 he enlisted in the Con- 
federate service under Col. Brace, of the cavalry, and was a faithful 
soldier until 1864. He was in the battles of Lexington, Mo., Pea 
Ridge, Ark., where he was taken prisoner, and held three months at 
St. Louis, then paroled and exchanged. He next fought at Corinth, 
first siege of Vicksburg and a great many lesser fights. In 1864 
Mr. Cooper went across the plains to California, but soon after 
returning he married October 23, 1866, Miss Laura E., daughter of 
Philip Ross, formerly of Kentucky, now deceased. Mrs. Cooper was 
born in Kentucky and came to Missouri at the age of nine years. 
After his marriage Mr. C. farmed for a year in Saline county, but in 
the spring of 1868 returned and lived on the home place for five years, 
then buying his present place. He has 160 acres of land all fenced, 
100 acres in meadow and plow land, the balance in timbered pasture. 
Mr. Cooper's farm is beautifully situated and well improved, his 
residence, which is quite new, being one of the most tasteful in the 
county. There are also in his home ornaments of another description, 
jewels more rare and precious than those that flash in a monarch's 
crown. Five children, bright and blooming, gather round his table 
and make of his life a symphony of sweetest music. Their names are 
respectively: Oliver P., Mabel M., Mary E., Josie and Frank L. 
One charming girl, Daisy C, died when " standing Avhere the brook 
and river meet" September 12,1883. Mr. Cooper is a member of 
Paris Lodge No. 29, I. O. O. F. and both he and his wife are members 
of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

EDMOND COVEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Welch). 

On the 15th of December, 1865, Mr. Covey was honorably dis- 
charged from the Union service, after having for more than four long 
years followed the flag of his country through the hardships and 
dangers of the Civil War. When he entered the service the life of the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 537 

Nation was threatened and was in peril, and the stoutest hearts among 
those who loved their country, almost stood still of fear lest the Gov- 
ernment which Washington and their fathers founded, the noblest 
heritage ever bought with patriotic blood and bequeathed to posterity, 
should perish from the earth. When he returned from the war this 
noble fabric of free institutions was secured to the future past all 
danger, and consecrated to those who are to come after us by blood 
not less patriotic than that which was spilled at Lexington or stained 
the ground of Valley Forge. We of the present generation are wont 
to look with enthusiastic admiration upon the achievements of the 
illustrious heroes of 1776. But let us not for a moment doubt that 
the deeds of the Union patriots of the Civil War will go sounding down 
the ages with as proud and glad acclaim as ever fell upon the ears of 
men. Mr. Covey enlisted in Co. B, Thirty-ninth Illinois Volunteer 
Infantry, on the 12th day of August, 1861, and at the expiration of 
his first term of service enlisted again as a veteran in the same com- 
pany January 1, 1864. He participated in many of the severest 
engagements of the war. He was in 12 of the distinct bayonet charges, 
and escaped from all danger with but a single wound. He was shot 
through the right forearm with a Minie-ball, having one of the bones 
of his arm broken. The ball lodged under the skin on the opposite, 
side of his arm from where it went in, and he still has it in his pos- 
session, keeping it as a souvenir of the war. After his discharge he 
returned to Illinois and engaged in fsirming in DeWitt county. He 
was married in that county March 22, 1863, to Miss Kezia Harrold, 
daughter of Eli Harrold, formerly of North Carolina. He continued 
to farm in that county until the fall of 1878, when he removed to 
Monroe county. Mo., and bought the farm where he now resides. He 
has 160 acres in his homestead and also another tract a short distance 
from this one. Mr. Covey is an energetic farmer and one of the 
esteemed citizens of the township. He is a native of Illinois, born in 
McLean county, July 26, 1840, and a son of Cornelius and Lucy 
(Johnston) Covey, his father a native of New Jersey, but his mother 
of Sangamon county, 111. They are still living in McLean county, his 
father being now in the seventy-first year of his age. 

CHAKLES A. CREIGH 

(Clerk of the Circuit Court and Recorder of Deeds, Paris). 

When the war broke out in 1861, Charley Creigh,then in his seventeenth 
year, was at home with his parents in Greenbrier county, Va., and 
occupied with assisting on the farm and attending school. If there 
are any people under the sun who will defend their native soil against 
hostile comers at all times and in all circumstances to the very death, 
they are the people of Virginia. For this they are famed in history, 
the world over, and no braver or truer soldier ever kept step to mar- 
tial music than the genuine Virginian. Young Creigh, when the soil 
of his native State was invaded by the hostile armies of the North in 
1861, showed himself a worthy son of the Old Dominion, and although 



538 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

hardly yet more than a boy, gallantly volunteered as a soldier for the 
defense of the families and firesides of his people and the rights and 
institutions of his State. He followed the flag of the South bravely 
and with unflinching devotion until after he was wounded for the sec- 
ond time. He left an arm on the field as an off'ering of his patriotism, 
and now goes with an empty sleeve dangling from his left shoulder as 
a living witness of the brave part he bore in the gallant struggle of 
Virgini^i, for the same principles for which her first great commander 
and his heroic compatriots fought nearly a century before. After 
being wounded a second time, which necessitated the amputation of 
his arm, he retired from the gallant old Fourteenth Virginia, no 
longer able to do military duty. The next two years were spent in 
teaching and attending school in Greenbrier and Albemarle counties. 
In 1867 he came West, to Kansas, and taught school in that State for 
two years. After this he returned home to Virginia to take charge of 
his mother's family and settle up their estate, which was now greatly 
needing the attention of some one qualified to bring it out of the 
wreck in which the war had left it. The father had been brutally 
murdered during the war, or worse than murdered, taken out and 
deliberately hung by order of one of the most infamous characters 
the unhappy strife between the sections produced on either side, Gen. 
David Hunter. So high-handed and outrageous was the conduct of 
this coarse savage, dressed up in the uniform of a Union officer, that 
President Lincoln had to repudiate his proceedings in the South by 
proclamation as President of the United States and general order as 
Commander-in-Chief of the Union armies. This document is dated 
May 19, 1862. Hunter, it will be remembered, was the first one to 
declare martial law in the South, or, rather, in the States of Georgia, 
Florida and South Carolina, the military district over which for the 
time he had control. He was also equally " previous " in issuing an 
emancipation proclamation which the President had to repudiate, the 
Union sentiment not yet being ripe for it. But to resume the thread 
of young Creigh's career: He settled up the estate as best he could, 
for his father had been in good circumstances before the war, so as to 
save a few thousand dollars. With this he came West again, bringing 
his mother and sisters, and settled them in the eastern part of the 
county as comfortably as their means would allow, where they still 
reside. He there bought a tract of land and improved a farm, 
where he engaged in farming and also in handling stock. He became 
quite successful as a farmer and stock-raiser, and, being a man of 
o-ood education and popular address, made many friends in, the vicin- 
ity of his new home, and wherever he became acquainted. This per- 
haps was not hard for a one-armed Confederate soldier to do in Monroe 
county, fighting the battle of life, as he was, " single-handed," sure 
enough, and taking care of his widowed mother and his sisters in 
addition, especially one so genial and clever as an acquaintance and 
so irreproachable as a man as Charley Creigh was. To make a long 
story short, his friends in his part of the county rallied around him 
and ran him for sheriff, and wherever he appeared with his armless 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 539 

sleeve and his brave, genial countenance, he swept the field, but he 
made little or no eftbrt himself for the office, and for that reason was 
defeated, for he was not generally acquainted, but was beaten barely 
by the skin of his opponent's teeth. He was really doing first-rate 
on his farm and had little or no desire for the office and, besides, 
everybody knows that to be elected sheriff, one must be a professional 
laugher, grin at every stupid joke and kiss every dirty-mouthed baby 
from the mouth to the head waters of Bitter creek. Mr. Creigh was 
thoroughly up to kissing, but not to kissing babies, and hence, he was 
left by a small majority. But when the next election mill-day came 
around, his friends of the south-eastern part of the county ran him 
again, but still he had not learned the osculatory art infantilis and his 
opponent got in this time barely on the principle that " a miss is as 
good as a mile." He took little or no personal part in this election 
but remained at home like a good Agricola, attending his flocks and 
herds. When the office of circuit clerk became vacant his friends, 
like Napoleon's Old Guard, rallied around him again to place him in 
this position. This time he concluded to try his hand on a trump 
card or two himself, and be went into the canvass to win, or to know 
just exactly where he was struck if he got knocked out of time. He 
had one of the most popular men of the county to contend against, a 
man backed by wealth and family influence, and, withal, a good man 
himself. But he started on the circuit around the county and no 
honest-hearted Methodist circuit rider ever did more earnest work 
than he did, from precinct to precinct, and he made every school- 
house almost as familiar with his voice, talking to the good men 
of Monroe county, as with the music of the horse-hair ^olian made 
in the window by the bad boy at playtime. The result was, that 
everybody became acquainted with Charley Creigh and this time he 
came triumphantly through with colors flying. His election was a 
most gratifying victory to his friends (and now everybody seems to 
be his friend), and all predict for him a long and honorable future in 
official life. It will evidently be a cold day when Charley Creigh is 
beaten for circuit clerk in Monroe county. He is faithful to his duties 
and fully qualified and capable for them, and personall}^ he is so pop- 
ular that his butcher bills are simply remarkable in magnitude, so 
common is it for his friends to dine with him when they come to town, 
and he is in his happiest element when he is helping them to a mutton 
chop or a good beefsteak and telling them some old war experience. 

THOMAS CRUTCHER 

(Clerk of the County Court, Paris). 

In the " History of Monroe County " there is no one more justly 
entitled to respect and esteem, or who stands higher as a man and 
citizen in the estimation of all who know him, than the subject of this 
sketch. Mr. Crutcher has been a resident of this county for over half 
a century — from early youth — and from the first his life has been one 
without a stain or the suspicion of a wrong act, and devoted through- 



540 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, 

out with intelligence, earnestness and unfaltering fidelity to the best 
interests of those among whom he has lived. Nor has his personal 
worth and value passed unrecognized by those around him. Time 
and time again he has been called into the public service, and in no single 
instance when he was a candidate before the people have they with- 
held their confidence and support. Mr. Crutcher is a native of 
Kentucky, born in Lincoln county, July 16, 1818. His father was 
Charles Crutcher, a native of Virginia, and lived there until nearly 
40 years of age and then removed to Kentucky, where he lived until 
1831, when he came to Monroe county. His mother's maiden name 
was Elizabeth Jones. She was a native of Virginia. Thomas 
Crutcher, the eleventh of twelve children, was 13 years of age when 
the family removed to this State. They settled in Monroe county, 
where the parents lived until their deaths. The father died June 1, 1864, 
the mother sometime previous. They were highly esteemed residents 
of the county and their memory is cherished by their surviving chil- 
dren and by all who knew them as that of those whose lives were 
useful and just, and kind and true in every relation, whether in the 
family or in the community. Charles Crutcher opened a farm here 
and became comfortably situated. He introduced the raising of wheat 
in the county and sowed the first wheat ever grown within its borders. 
Thomas Crutcher, the subject of this sketch, remained on the farm 
only a short time after the family came to Monroe county. His 
health being quite delicate, it was thought best for him to engage in some 
in-door pursuit. He, therefore, came to Paris in 1834, and entered a 
store here to learn merchandising. His opportunities for an education 
had been quite limited, but he had picked up a sufficient knowledge of 
books to understand reading and writing and the elementary rules of 
arithmetic. This sufficed him to begin with, and practical experience 
in the store, together with study when not otherwise occupied, soon 
made him a young man of superior business qualifications. Later 
along he engaged in merchandising on his own account, and continued 
it with steadily increasing success for a number of years. Mr. 
Crutcher possesses to a marked degree many of the qualities that 
make men popular with those around them. Of a kindly, humane 
disposition, transparently honest, and manifestly concerned for the 
good and the feelings of others, accommodating to the last degree, 
generous in impulses, and agreeable and pleasant in manners, he 
became one of the most popular business men in Paris and through- 
out the county. In 1840, although but 22 years of age, he was 
N elected sheriff of Monroe county by an overwhelming majority, and 
is said to have been one of the youngest sheriffs who ever occupied 
that office in the State. In 1842 he was re-elected, filling the offices 
of sheriff and collector for four years without opposition. After the 
expiration of his last term he resumed merchandising at Paris, and 
continued it until the outbreak of the war. Though sympathizing 
strongly with his friends in the South, Mr. Crutcher was devotedly 
attached to the Union, but did not feel justified in engaging on either 
side in the suicidal and unhappy conflict between the two sections. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, 541 

In order, therefore, to avoid becoming mixed up in the troubles of the 
times in this section of the State, he removed with his family to 
Quincy, 111., and remained there until the restoration of peace. 
Returning to Paris after the war, he resumed merchandising and fol- 
lowed it without interruption until 1873, when he was appointed 
county clerk to fill out the unexpired term of William N. Penn, 
deceased. At the expiration of this term he was elected to that 
office and has since been re-elected, continuing to hold it up to 
the present time. On the 12th day of April, 1838, Mr. Crutcher 
was married to Miss Esther J. Glenn, a daughter of Hugh 
Glenn, Esq., deceased, formerly of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. 
Crutcher had nine children, four of whom are living, namely : 
Sarah E., wife of E. W. Crutcher of the State of Nevada; Anna 
B., wife of R. H. West of this place; William L., his only son, 
now residing in Nevada, on account of failing health, and Essie J., 
wife of James A. Curtright, now deputy county clerk under Mr. 
Crutcher. Of the 12 children in the family of Mr. Crutcher's parents, 
six sons and as many daughters, only three of the family, including 
himself, are living, namely : his youngest brother, Milton, now on 
the old family homestead in this county, and Ambrose, four miles south 
of Paris. Mr. Crutcher's father lived to the advanced age of 89 years, 
and his father's only brother, Samuel, lived to be 88 years of age. 
Their father also lived to be 88. Mr. Crutcher, himself, is now 66 
years of age. Though not a man of the most robust physique, he is 
yet well preserved, and possessed of great natural recuperative power. 
He is brighter in mind and conversation than many, a decade or more 
his juniors, and indeed, he seems to })e in the meridian of life men- 
tally. Having lived in the county for so many years, he is possessed 
of an apparently inexhaustible fund of reminiscences and incidents 
which throw a clear light upon the condition of society and the country 
in the times to which Uiey refer. When Mr. Crutcher came to Mon- 
roe county, there was not a school-house or church building in the 
county, and the nearest settlement to the present site of Paris was 16 
miles' away. The first church was built in 1832, a primitive log 
structure, erected by the Old School Baptists, and afterwards the 
Methodists came in and built a church, who were soon followed by the 
Christian denomination. He contributed to the first Christian Church 
erected in the county, and he and wife have been members of that 
denomination for over 40 years. But he has lived to see a mighcy 
change in the country. And in this wonderful transformation he, 
himself, has borne a most worthy part. As a citizen, no one has 
taken a more public-spirited and intelligent interest in the general 
progress of the country. He has been active in its public and busi- 
ness affairs, and in the advancement of the cause of education, of 
church interests, and of every movement designed for the general 
good. He has alwaj's been a warm friend to popular education, and 
has had the satisfaction to see his life-long views approved by the 
general sentiment of the country. Where formerly there was not a 
school-house in the county, there are now more than a hundred, where 



542 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

instruction is given to the young. To the churches his liberality has 
been limited only by his means, for no one ever showed greater 
generosity according to his ability to give. He also took an active 
interest in the construction of the railroad running in the county ; and 
in everything that would contribute to the material, social or general 
welfare of the people, he has taken a worthy part. He assisted to 
effect the first town organization of Paris, and was a member of the 
first town council, Mr. Crutcher's life has been one of unceasing 
activity, directed by a generous ambition to make himself useful to 
those around him, and to do as much good and as little harm in the 
world as possible, according to the talents given him. And looking 
back over his long and useful life, it must be admitted that his has 
been a career to which as little blame attaches, and in which there is 
as much to challenge the esteem and good opinions of his fellow-men, 
as seldom falls to the lot of one to make. A man of the most gener- 
ous and unselfish impulses, in whose nature warm and noble humanity 
prevails over, perhaps, any other characteristic, as upright in thought 
and deed as the purest and best, his whole life has been an unbroken 
chain of duty faithfully and well performed, and of kind and generous 
acts untiringly done. All over the county he is known and esteemed 
as one of the best of men, and wherever his name is spoken it is 
uttered with that consideration and respect which evinces the high 
regard in which he is held. Elected time and again to public office, 
no one can hope to be a successful candidate for any position which 
he will consent to fill, so long as he is able to discharge its duties and 
will accept the place. Through this whole section of country his name 
stands as a synonym for honesty and integrity, for noble and gener- 
ous humanity, and for all the purer and better qualities of head and 
heart. In very looks he is a man to be trusted and reverenced, for 
his heart seems to be open to all who approach him, and to know 
Uncle Thomas Crutcher, as he is called far and wide, is to know, as 
all believe, the noblest work of God, a good and true and noble and 
downright honest man. 

JUDGE JAMES M. CRUTCHER. 

(Judge of the Probate Court, Paris). 

James Madison Crutcher was born in Monroe county, November 9, 
1841. His father was William Crutcher and born in Kentucky; his 
mother, before her marriage, was a Miss America Arnold, of Ken- 
tucky. His father was a farmer by occupation, residing near Paris ; 
he died in December, 1844, and James M.'s youth was spent on the 
farm, where he assisted in farm work, but during the winter months 
attended the neighborhood schools. When he was seventeen years of 
age he was offered a position as assistant in the circuit clerk and 
recorder's office, a place he accepted and filled until the expiration of 
the term of his employer, Mr. George Glenn. He then returned to 
the home with his grandfather, William Arnold, with whom he had 
formerly lived and assisted in managing the farm. He remained there 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 543 

until three years after his grandfather's death, which occurred in 1861. 
In 1865 he bought a farm and moved his mother's fiimily, consisting 
of herself and two daughters, on to it, where he, himself, settled. He 
followed farming there, but during the winter months taught school. 
After this he engaged in clerking in a store at Granville, and followed 
that until he was offered a position as deputy circuit clerk and recorder 
at Paris, which he accepted. After remaining in the office as deputy 
for two years, he was then solicited by friends all over the county to 
become a candidate for circuit clerk and recorder himself, to which he 
finally consented. Although his opponents were considered among 
the most popular in the county, he was successful and was elected by 
a handsome majority. While serving as clerk he read law and was 
admitted to the bar, passing an exceptionally good examination, being 
admitted at the April term, 1875. At the close of his term of office, 
he opened a law office at Paris and engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession, but his health failing from close confinement and hard study, 
he returned to the farm and engaged in farming. As a farmer. Judge 
Crutcher's career was quite a successfnl one. In December, 1880, the 
office of probate judge became vacant by resignation of the incumbent, 
and he was requested to allow his name to be presented to the Gover- 
nor for appointment. Doing well on his farm and loth to quit farm- 
ing, he hesitated to accept the office, even if tendered to him, but the 
solicitations of his friends were earnest and continued, so that at last 
he told them that if the commission were offered him, he would not 
refuse it. The Governor requested that a primary election be held to 
determine who was the choice of the people, and the election resulting 
favorable to Judge Crutcher, he was appointed. He held the office for 
two years and then was elected without opposition, now holding the posi- 
tion for the term for which he was elected. Judge Crutcher is a man 
of excellent business qualifications, sterling worth and, as the above 
facts show, one of the most popular men in the county. As a pro- 
bate judge and as a man he has the entire confidence of the public, 
and he has discharged the duties of his office with marked efficiency 
and ability. December 12, 1872, he was married to Miss Ella Forsyth, 
a daughter of Capt. John Forsyth, of this county. They have one 
child, daughter. Belle, now eight years of age. After his elec- 
tion to the office of probate judge, he removed his family from the 
farm to Paris. His mother is still living and resides on the farm, 
which he still superintends and manages. 

JAMES A. CURTRIGHT 

(Paris) . 

Mr. Curtright is a worthy representative of one of the old and 
highly respected families of the county. His father. Judge Curtright, 
came to Missouri away back in 1828 and settled in Monroe county the 
following year. He entered land on which he improved a farm, where 
he still resides, at the advanced age of 83. Mr. Curtright' s mother 
was a Miss Dawson, of another good family of the county. She has 



544 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

been dead many years, and Judge Curtright majrried a second wife. 
She died about 10 years ago. James A. was one of a family of 15 
children, 12 of whom reached mature years, and 11 of them are still 
living. He was born on a farm four miles south-west of Paris, April 
21, 1843. On reaching majority he came to town and began as a clerk 
in merchandising, which he continued until 1883, becoming widely 
and favorably known as a popular and efficient clerk. Since then he 
has been an assistant in the county clerk's office. August 20, 1874, 
he was married to Miss Essie Crutcher, a daughter of Thomas Crutcher. 
They have a family of two children: Virgie L. and Nellie W. He 
and wife are members of the Christian Church. He is now acting High 
Priest of the Encampment of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Curtright is a can- 
didate for county treasurer. Thoroughly qualified for the position, 
and a man of unimpeachable integrity, as well as being a good Demo- 
crat, which is of itself a guaranty of honesty and ability, there seems 
to be no reason why he should not be chosen to the office. Reared in 
the county, he is well known to the public, and his perfect reliability 
and fidelity are proven by the faithfulness with which he has tilled the 
positions of clerk in the different stores where thousands of dollars 
were handled monthly, and by the great esteem and confidence in 
which he is held by those for whom he worked. There is no earthly 
reason why he should not be made county treasurer, unless it is that 
he is not a man of wealth. But can it be that this is to defeat him, 
and are not absolute integrity and thorough qualifications for the 
position sufficient? If not, then the law ought to be changed so that 
none but men of wealth could hold important public trusts. But Mr. 
Curtright has a strong support in the county, with every prospect of 
success. ' 

HENRY L. CURTRIGHT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Paris). 

The sketch of Samuel Curtright, the father of Henry L., is given 
elsewhere in this volume, where something of an outline of the family 
antecedents is presented. Henry L. was born June 12, 1833, and had 
good opportunities to attend school as he grew up. Much of his time 
was spent in school u)itil he was 21 years of age. But after reaching 
his majority he engaged in farming for himself, which he has ever since 
followed. He be^an on rented land, but now owns a comfortable home- 
stead, where he has resided for a number of years. On the 20th of 
September, 18(55, he was married to Miss Mnttie A., a daughter of 
Harvey and Nancy (Hill) Arnold, formerly of Kentucky. They have 
five children: Samuel H., James W., Robert F., Mary F. and Clay 
P. Mr. Curtright is engaged in raising stock, principally cattle of the 
high grade breed. He and wife are members of the Christian Church 
and he is a member of the Odd Fellows Order of Paris. For two 
years during the war he was deputy sheriff" of the county. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 545 

MEEVIN M. DAWSON 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Welch) . 

Mr. Dawson, a son of Nathaniel W. Dawson, of this county, was 
brought up to the business of farming and handling stock, and 
although comparatively a young man yet, is steadily coming to the front 
in these lines. His father is a Kentuckian by nativity, from Henry 
county, and came to Missouri with his family in 1849. He located 
in Monroe county, where he bought a farm and began his 
career here as a farmer and stock man. He was entirely 
successful in these lines, and although retired from active 
work for some years past, bears the reputation of hav- 
ing shipped more stock from this county than any other man in 
the county. He is now 67 years of age, "and is living in quiet and 
comfort on his homestead, in the bosom of his family and the enjoy- 
ment of the esteem of all who know him. His good wife is also still 
living to accompany him on down the stream of life, as she has done 
for so many long and happy years. They have reared a family of 
nine children, six sons and three daughters, all of whom are married 
and all reside in the county but two — one, the wife of John Brockman 
of Audrain county, and Ellis, of the State of Colorado. Mervin M. is 
the keystone of the family of children, there being four older and 
four younger than he. He was born in Henry county, Ky., October 
13, 1845, and was therefore principally reared in Monroe county. He 
was married in this county February 3, 1867, when Miss Kebecca F. 
Threlkeld, a daughter of William Threlkeld, became his wife. After his 
marriage Mr. Dawson quitted the paternal roof to establish a home for 
himself and his family. He came to the place where he now resides 
and went to work with a resolution to make himself one of the suc- 
cessful farmers oT the county. This object he is steadily accomplish- 
ing, and already he is well advanced toward the front. He has a place 
of about 200 acres of fine land, all under fence, and either in cultiva- 
tion, meadow or pasturage, except 15 acres of timber. His place is 
neatly and substantially improved, and is a comfortable and desirable 
homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson have seven children: Marv E., 
William N., Smith T., Arthur P., Fannie L., George A., and Bulah 
M. He and wife are members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN A. DELANEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris) . 

John Alfred Delaney was born in Scott county, Ky., January 23, 
1814, His father died in Kentucky in 1828, and two years afterwards 
the family removed to Missouri and settled on a farm, and in 1831 
came to Monroe county and settled permanently on the place where 
the subject of this sketch now resides. John A. and a brother had to 
care for the family, and it was a hard struggle through which they 



546 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

passed in this then new country, with every disadvantage to contend 
against to keep those dependent upon them-comtbrtably provided for,' 
and get something of a respectable start in life for themselves. Farm 
products were worth comparatively nothing and everything bought 
from the stores was exorbitantly high, in tact, circumstances more 
unfavorable for prosperous farm life could hardly be imagined than 
they then were. But young Delaney and his brother did quite as well 
as those around them and as the conditions of times improved each of 
them advanced in prosperity with more rapid strides. In 1834 Mr. 
Delaney was married to Miss Sallie Sparks, who lived to brighten his 
home for nearly 20 years, and bore him 12 children, six of whom are 
living : William, John A., Mary, Elizabeth, James S. and Sallie. The 
mother of these died in 1852 and some years afterwards Mr. Delaney 
was married to Miss Margaret S. Hammonds, a most estimable lady. 
They have six children : Thomas B., Leonidas N., Edwin H., Maggie 
S., Sladel. and Perry M. When Mr. Delaney started out forhiniself 
he had but 50 acres of land, a horse or two and wagon, and no other 
property but a skillet and lid, bed and bedding, and a few household 
articles. But he went to work with that industry and resolution that, 
on the rich soil of Monroe county and by the genial showers which 
come of the favor of Heaven, could not fail of success. He has 
steadily come up in the gradient of prosperity and success until he is 
now one of the leading farmers and substantial citizens of the county. 
His estate numbers over 400 acres of as fine land as ever germinated 
the seed of the husbandman, whilst his farm is abundantly stocked 
with sleek cattle, contented swine and rich-fleeced sheep as well as 
horses and mules, and other domestic animals. He and wife are 
church members. 

BENJAMIN G. DYSAET, M. D. 

(Of Dysart & Moss, Physicians and Surgeons, I'aris). 

Dr. Dysart, a physician of twenty-five years' standing and a sur- 
geon of established reputation, now one of the leading members of 
the medical profession in this part of the State and president of the 
District Medical Society, was born in Randolph county, September 28, 
1834. He is a son of Dr. Nicholas Dysart, of Randolph county, an old 
and highly esteemed citizen of that county residing near Yates Post- 
office, a sketch of whose life appears on pages 673 and 674 of the " His- 
tory of Randolph and Macon Counties," recently issued by the publish- 
ers of this volume. Dr. Dysart, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared on the farm near Yates and received an advanced education, 
which was concluded at McGee College, where he was awarded the 
deofree of B. S., or Bachelor of Science. Prior to concludino; his 
course at college, however, which was in 1854, he had taught 
school, having begun to teach at the early age of 17. His first 
school was at Ft. Henry, and afterwards he taught again in Chari- 
ton county, teaching about two years, having charge of the high 
school where he gave instructions in Latin and other hiofher branches. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 547 

In 1856 he quit teaching and began the study of medicine, taking a 
course of reading under Dr. R. K. Lewis, eight miles west of Ft. 
Henry, under whom he read for about two years. He then entered 
the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he graduated 
in 1859. Immediately following his graduation, Dr. Dysart located at 
College Mound, where he began the practice of his profession. In 1861 
he entered the Southern service becoming, after the battle of Lexington, 
in which he took part, surgeon of Col. Bevier's regiment, of which he 
was surgeon until the close of the State Guard service. At the general 
reorganization for the Confederate service which then took place, he 
was^nade surgeon of the Fifth Missouri Volunteer Infantry under Col. 
McCowen, a position he held until 1864. During this time the field of 
operations of his regiment included Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennes- 
see aud Missouri, and he took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Farm- 
ington, luka and second Corinth. After the second battle of Corinth 
hewas left in charge of the wounded, and was four months inside the 
Federal lines. Rejoining his regiment at Grenada, Mississippi, he 
afterwards participated in the battles of Grand Gulf and Port Gibson, 
and at the latter place was again left in charge of the wounded, spend- 
ing nearly five months more in the Federal lines. During this time 
his regiment was cai)tured at Vicksburg, and at the reorganization at 
Demopolis he was made surgeon of the Third and Fifth Missouri Infan- 
try, still under Col. McCowen. Following this the consolidated regi- 
ments were in the campaign up through Georgia, and joined Gen. Joe 
Johnston near Kingston, Ga., participating in the series of fights made 
between Altoona and Atlanta. They then joined Hood and participated 
in the hitter's campaign in Tennessee and in the battle of Franklin, in 
that State. There Dr. Dysart was left in charge of about 5,000 wounded, 
includinof 1,000 Federals wounded. He continued in charge of these 
for about nine months, from November 17, 1864, until August 1, 1865, 
several months after the close of the war. Early in the fall of 1865 
Dr. Dysart returned to Missouri, after having spent four years in field 
and hospital. The thorough training he received as physician and 
surgeon during his long service in the army, and the satisfaction of 
having faithfully performed his duty to sufiering humanity and to the 
cause of the South, were the only rewards he received for the labor and 
hardship's he had undergone. Worse still : what property he had before 
the war was swept away, leaving him practically penniless. But locat- 
ing.at Paris, he began life anew in his profession and went to work with 
courage and resolution. The result has been most gratifying. His skill 
and ability in medicine and surgery have long since placed him in the 
front rank of his profession in North Missouri. For years he has 
had an extensive practice and he has prospered in a material point of 
view. He owns a fine farm of 400 acres a short distance north of 
Paris, and another place of 200 acres west of the city. Dr. Dysart, 
besides attending to a large practice, is engaged in raising stock. He 
also deals to some extent in real estate. He has a comm()dious and 
neat residence property in Paris and is comfortably and pleasantly 
situated. January 9, 1869, he was married to Mrs. Olivia Ragsdale, 



548 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

an estimable widow lady. Mrs. Dysart's maiden name was Vivion, 
and she was a daughter of Preston Vivion. The Doctor and Mrs. 
Dysart have one son, Charles, born October 16, 1870. She is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church, and he of the Cumberland Presbyterian. 
He is^also a prominent Mason. 

JOHN H. EDWARDS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

Mr. Edwards was born June 10, 1810, in Bourbon county, Ky. 
His father, John Edwards, was a native of Virginia, but immigrated, 
when a boy, to Kentucky, there marrying Miss Polly Garrod, daughter 
of Gov. James Garrod, Kentucky's first governor. John Edwards 
was a magistrate for many years and was also sheriff of the county. 
He was one of the sturdy veterans of the War of 1812. He lived in 
Bourbon county, Ky., until his death. John H. grew up on his 
father's farm, receiving a good common school education and assist- 
ing in the farm-work. Until his marriage, November 8, 1832, he 
carried on a distillery, manufacturing old Bourbon whiskey. When 
he had taken a wife, however, he began farming for himself, first in 
Kentucky and afterwards in Missouri. In 1857 he removed to Mon- 
roe county and the following year bought a farm, upon which he now 
lives. The place was already partially improved, but in the hands of 
Mr. Edwards it " blossomed as the rose." He has 320 acres all 
fenced, 240 in meadow and plow-land, and 80 acres in timber and 
pasture. Every comfort surrounds Mr. E. and his home is one to be 
proud of; attractive residence, good buildings, orchard, etc., and a 
most refined and intelligent family in whose society to refresh his 
mind and heart. Mr. Edwards' wife was Miss Margaret, daughter of 
Capt. Abraham Keller, of Bourbon county, before her marriage. She 
has with faithful tenderness 

*' Mended his ills, increased liis hopes," 

and in the truest sense of the word been to him a better half. Mr. 
and Mrs. Edwards have six children, all except one of whom are mar- 
ried : John Monroe, Abram K., Amos, Joseph T., William, Tolbert, 
now at Wichita, Kans., and Margaret, wife of Robert T. Carter. Mr. 
and Mrs. Edwards are members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN M. EDWARDS 

(Farmer, Section 17, Post-offlce, Paris). 

Mr. John M. Edwards was born June 20, 1835, in Bourbon county, 
Ky. His father, who was born June 12, 1800, was also a native of 
that State. He followed the occupation of farmer until 1847, when 
he moved to Missouri. He was married in Bourbon county, Ky., in 
1825, to Miss Margaret Killer, also a native of that county. Of this 
marriage were born 10 children. Five still survive : Abraham, Noah, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 549 

Joseph, William and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. E. were good and 
faithful members of the Christian Church. John M. was the fourth 
child, and was reared in Bourbon county, Ky., and from his early 
childhood had a predilection for farming, which occupation he has 
steadfastly followed ever since. In 1856 he removed to Monroe 
county, Mo., and was married February 10, 1875, to Miss Mary 
Evans who was a native of Monroe, where she was born August 12, 
1837. They have two children: Rufina M. and Margaret K. Mr. 
Edwards owes everything in life to his own exertions, and has indefat- 
igably persevered in his efforts to succeed in the occupation he has 
chosen. It can truly be said of him that he is a self-made man. He 
can now look with pride at the time when but a boy he was penniless 
and had nothing but his robust health, and an honest purpose, Avhich 
has led him upward to the rank he now maintains among his fellow 
men. His farm consisting of 296 acres of rich land, and of which 220 
acres are highly improved, has been made to yield him a comfortable 
living. Though now but in the prime of life, he may well rest upon 
his oars, and view with complacent eye his broad acres that have been 
made to bear the fruit of an honest and well spent life. Mr. Edwards 
is a good member of the Christian Church. 

HENEY H. FIELDS 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Section 1). 

Of all that sturdy and independent class, the farmers of Missouri, 
none are possessed of more genuine merit and a stronger character 
than he whose name stands at the head of this sketch. Left to hew 
his own path in life, he has most manfully acquitted himself of the 
task. He was born November 6, 1822, in Washington county, Ky., 
of John Field and Elizabeth Wiseheart, his wife. John F. was born 
October 17, 1796, in Maryland, but spent his early years in Washing- 
ton county. He was a farmer, and married December 19, 1817, a fair 
flower of Nelson county. They had a family of 10 children, of whom 
six are now living : John W., a Methodist minister, located at Pales- 
tine, Tex. ; MatUda, Wilson M., Catherine, Alfred M. and Henry H. 
In 1858 Mr. F. moved to Ellis county, Tex., and two years later to 
Monroe county, Mo., whither his son, Henry H., had preceded him 
by five years. The latter grew up in his native country, and was there 
married May 28, 1849, to Miss Martha M. Phillips, by whom he has 
four children : Florida, Missouri, Dennis M. and John L. He moved 
to Missouri in 1855, and two years later, August 19, 1857, his wife 
was wrapped in the dark and impenetrable mantle of death. Mr. 
Fields has a fine farm of 320 acres, the fruits of his own industry and 
untiring energy. His farm is well stocked with everything necessary 
to its thorough cultivation, and his improvements bear witness to the 
intelligence and wisdom that rule. He is a valuable citizen, and his 
example and success may well serve as a beacon light to guide other 
struggling souls to a safe harbor. Mr. Fields is a worthy member of 
the Masonic order. 



550 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

WILLIAM H. FORMAN 

CFarmer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Forman, an old citizen and respected farmer of the county, 
has been a resident of this county for over 53 years. He came from 
Kentucky, having been born in Montgomery county, of that State, in 
1813. He was a son of John and Susan (Caldwell) Foreman, and 
emigrated from Kentucky with his parents in 1831. His father was a 
deacon for over 20 years in the Christian Church. Settling six 
miles west of Paris, he resided on that place for nearly 30 years, or 
rather in that neighborhood, for he sold his original place during that 
time and bonght one near by, to which he removed. In 1860 he went 
to Sturgeon, in Boone county, where he engaged in the hotel business. 
He died there in 1863. His wife had died the year previous. William 
H. Forman, who was 16 years of age when he came to Missouri, grew 
to manhood in Monroe county, and in 1839 was married to Miss Martha 
A. Curtright, formerly of Kentucky. Already Mr. Forman had begun 
his career in life as a farmer, which he has continued ever since. 
He has a good homestead of 160 acres, on which he has resided for 
many years. Mr. Forman goes down in the " History of Monroe 
County" as the first teacher of vocal music who ever taught in the 
county. And he is perhaps the oldest teacher in point of continued 
service of that which Congreve says : — 

"Music has charms to sooth a savage breast, 
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak; 
I've read that things inanimate have moved, 
And, as with living souls, have been iuform'd, 
By magic numbers and persuasive sound." 

Since he was a young man, for nearly half a century, he taught 
vocal music in the county up to within about a year ago. Mr. Forman 
has been a member of the Christian Church for over fifty years. He 
and his good wife have had seven children: John C, Emily E., 
William, Daniel, James, Thomas A. and Nancy. Daniel C. died in 
1857, Thomas in 1863, and William was killed in 1868 by the fall of 
a tree. Mrs. Forman is also a member of the Christian Church. 

VALENTINE FOWKES 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, section 9). 

Mr. Fowkes, who was born in Scott county, Ky., near Georgetown, 
July 16, 1817, is the son of Gerard and Nancy Fowkes and the brother 
of Richard, whose sketch follows this. He grew up on the home 
place with a common school education, and at the age of 16 com- 
menced freighting in Kentucky. After moving to Missouri he con- 
tinued the same business, freighting from Hannibal to Paris, and also 
when the river was low to Richmond, Chariton and Brunswick. 
When navigation was closed he hauled between St. Louis and Paris. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 551 

He was engaged in this occupation for 35 years. Mr. Fowkes bought 
the farm upon which he now lives about 30 years ago. It was 
partly improved and his industry, good management and tastes have 
made it one of the garden spots of the county. He is a reliable and 
leading farmer in the township and contributes materially to it's 
general prosperity. Of very winning manners, and adapting himself 
readily to those among whom he is thrown, he is universally popular 
and his success in life is not to be wondered at. His farm contains 
260 acres of laud, 220 fenced, with 75 in cultivation, and the balance 
in timbered pasture. His buildings are good and substantial and his 
orchard young and promising. His business for 20 years has been 
the breeding of horses and mules, in which he is eminently successful. 
He has made seven trips South with this stock and with pecuniary 
profit. Mr. Fowkes married in this county January 8, 1866, Miss 
Lucy, widow of Harvey Smith, and daughter of Christopher and 
Mildred Acuff, formerly from Kentucky, and both now deceased. 
This marriage has been without its crowning glory, the birth of chil- 
dren. Mrs. Fowkes, a woman of unusual charms, is rendered still more 
attractive by the adornment of a truly Christian spirit. She is a 
devout worshiper in the Baptist Church. 

KICHARD FOWKES 

(Fcirmer aucl Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris). 

Gerard Fowkes, a native of Scott county, Ky., and the father ol 
Richard, married Nancy Rogers, also a Kentuckian, and after a few 
years moved to Missouri, settling in Monroe county on the farm still 
occupied by the subject of this sketch. The })lace Avas already slightly 
improved, and Mr. Fowkes made of it a beautiful home, where he spent 
the remainder of his years, dying February 27, 1881, in his ninetv-first 
year. He was a pensioner of the War of 1812. Of a family of nine 
children three are now living. Richard, who Avas the youngest of the 
family, was born in Scott county, Ky., on the 30th day of October, 
1829. He was quite young when his parents moved to Missouri, and 
has spent the greater part of his life on the same farm. He was edu- 
cated at the common schools, and as soon as he reached his majority, 
like many other young men growing up at that day, was seized with 
the California fever. He spent two very profitable years in the mines 
there, and then returned to the home of his childhood, where he set- 
tled down and became a farmer. February 12, 1856, he married Miss 
Catherine, daughter of Thomas H. Noonan, formerly from Kentucky, 
now deceased. Mrs. F. was born, reared and educated in Monroe 
county. There is in this family but one child, Lillie, a bright and 
beautiful girl just blooming into Avomanhood. Mr. Fowkes is a farmer 
of experience and abilit}^ and is much respected by all. He owns 80 
acres of land, all fenced, 25 in plow land and the balance timbered 
pasture. His place is Avell improved and an ornament to the town- 
ship. He is a member of Paris Lodge No. 19, A. F. and A. M., in 

30 



552 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

which he has been a member 32 years. Mrs. Fowkes is a member of 
the Baptist Church. 

JAMES CEPHAS FOX (deceased) 

(Paris") . 

He whose name heads this sketch was a man well and fiivorably 
known to all old citizens of Monroe county. He came to the county 
before it was formed, and was afterwards one of the pioneer merchants 
of Paris. The following in reference to his death we take from the 
CJiristian, of September 5, 1878 : — 

Something more than the mere announcement of his death deserves 
to be written concerning the life and character of that eminent servant 
of God, J. C. Fox, who passed away from earth on Thursday, August 
15th, about one o'clock in the afternoon. His death was so sudden 
and unexpected, its announcement was a shock to the citizens of Paris 
and of the whole county. He had almost completed his seventy-sixth 
year, yet he was so hale and vigorous, the idea of his death from the 
weight of years and the natural close of life had not entered the 
thoughts of our people. He had not been feeling very well for sev- 
eral days, but was seen on our streets, to all appearances in his usual 
health, the morning of the day of his death. After eating his dinner 
he began to complain of pains in his breast and a dullness and dizzi- 
ness in his head. The doctor was sent for immediately, who reached 
the house within 10 minutes, and in 30 minutes Brother Fox expired. 
Apoplexy was the cause of his death. He died calmly and without a 
struggle, as if going to sleep, as he really was, in the arms of the 
blessed Savior. James Cephas Fox was born in Fayette county, Ky., 
October 30, 1802. When he was about four years of age his father 
and family moved to Loudoun county, Va., where they remained a few 
years and returned to Kentucky. In 1819 the family, including the 
subject of this sketch, removed to the then Territory of Missouri and 
settled near Middle Grove, in what is now Monroe county, but was 
then a part of Ralls county. This was the first settlement within the 
present limits of Monroe county, and was long known as Fox's settle- 
ment. Shortly after Monroe county was formed, the site now occu- 
pied by the town of Paris was selected for the county seat and Brother 
Fox was appointed commissioner to lay off the town and sell the lots, 
he having deeded to the county a part of the land upon which the town 
is built. The honor of giving the name to the town was awarded to 
his wife. In connection with Robert Caldwell he opened the first 
store in Paris. For many years he was actively engaged in merchan- 
disino- in the place, and by his close attention to business and the 
exercise of his fine business qualifications he amassed a large fortune 
for a country merchant. June 23, 1822, he was married to Miss Ann 
Smith. After her death, in 1861, he was married to Mrs. Mildred 
Caldwell, who survives him. Joseph H. Fox, of Shelbina, and Mrs. 
T. L. Fox, of Quincy, were born of the first marriage, and Miss Annie 
May Fox of the last, and these are all left to mourn his loss. After a 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 553 

long and successful business career he retired from such labor, and in 
1866 was honored by the citizens of Monroe county as their repre- 
sentative in the State Legislature, which place he filled with credit to 
himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. His history is so 
intimately connected with the history of our county and of Paris, that 
the history of one would involve the history of the other. He assisted 
in surveying the first public road in the county, and, as we have seen, 
laid the foundation for our county seat. By his counsel and his wis- 
dom and his means he was always unobtrusively prominent in every 
enterprise that promised to add to the material growth and prosperity 
of the town and county in which he lived. He belonged to us all in 
a very peculiar and endearing sense, which was most fully and sin- 
cerely attested by the very large crowd that attended his funeral and 
wept over him. Young and old, black and white, rich and poor, met 
around his coffin and looked upon his face with one common o-rief, 
and sorrowed most of all that they should see that face no more. Few 
places are blessed with such a scene as was witnessed on the day of 
his burial, because few places are blessed with such a life as his, over 
which the whole community could rejoice and upon which it had so 
confidently leaned, and in whose death there could be tears of genuine 
grief from all, for unto all he had been a father and a friend, rejoicing 
at their joy and weeping with them in their sorrows. But it is of 
Brother Fox as a Christian that I desire to speak, for it was this that 
sanctified and made beautiful all the other relations of his life. I am 
not able to say just when he became a follower of Christ, but it was 
in the early years of his manhood. I have been told that he was the 
first person baptized in this county upon the simple confession of his 
faith in Christ. Before he ever heard a minister from among the Dis- 
ciples he was attending a Baptist meeting, and at the invitation arose 
in the audience and addressed the preacher about as follows: "I 
believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living 
God. If you will receive me upon this confession, I will come." 
He was received. Not long after, old Brother McBride came to Paris 
from Boone county, and on the 10th day of March, 1833, organized 
the Christian Church in this place. Six members composed the 
organization. Brother Fox was one of the six. They are all gone 
but one, and he still lingers at Paris at the advanced age of 84. 
During all these years of the existence of the church here, now num- 
bering nearly a half century, Brother Fox has been intimately asso- 
ciated with its life and growth, indeed, has been a very large factor in 
the production of all gracious results arising from a congregation 
of Disciples so large, so united, and so ready for every good work 
and word. Active, energetic and industrious throughout all the years 
of his long and splendid career, yet he never for one moment became 
so much absorbed in his business interests and cares as to forget his 
allegiance to his God and the duties and privileges arising outTof his 
relation to the church. His life is a very striking illustration of the 
fact that a man can use this world without abusing it ; that he can toil, 
and buy, and sell, and keep, and use, and trade, and yet keep close to 



554 HISTORY OF MONROE COqNTY. 

the Cross, and yet nearer and nearer to God. He always considered 
himself simply a steward of the manifold mercies of God, and with a 
liberal and a o^enerous hand and heart, was ever fonnd truly "given 
to hospitality," distributing to the " necessities of the saints," and as 
he had opportunity, of doing good unto all men. He was liberal and 
generous toward all the enterprises of the church, educational, mis- 
sionary and others. After having done his part liberally and willingly 
we never failed to hear him and see him with his pocket-book in his 
hand and open, saying, " How much is lacking?" and quietly supply- 
ing the deficiency. Brother Fox grew old so gracefully. No sour- 
ness nor bitterness spoiled the loveliness of his last days. He had 
looked upon the rapid movements of the world since he was a boy in 
all that bore upon its material prosperity and growth, and had observed 
the wonderful changes in religious, scientific and philosophic investi- 
gation and knowledge, but he was never the man to utter a groan of 
regret and say, " things are not what they once were." Brother Fox 
was a very wise man, and he had gathered his wisdom, most of all 
while he sat as a little child, at the feet of Him who spoke as man 
never spake. His wisdom increased with his years. It was not 
blunted by any dimness of vision, nor disturbed by any crotchets of 
a soured old age. He was willing to work anywhere and everywhere 
for the Master. He was never absent from the Sunday-school, prayer 
meeting and the meetings on Lord's day and night. One of the touch- 
ing scenes at his funeral was the presence and grief of the little boys 
from five to seven years of age whom he has taught for sometime in 
the Sunday-school. They bore a beautiful cross and wreath of flow- 
ers and laid them upon his coffin. As they looked upon his face for 
the last time, beside them stood the aged pilgrim, now 84, the only one 
now living in Monroe county of those who were here when he and 
Brother Fox came to this country, and the only remaining one of 
those who formed this church 45 years ago. Brother James R. Aber- 
nathy. The aged and young mingled their tears together. But it 
would take a volume to give a true history of this noble man of God, 
whose loss we all feel so deeply. A most excellent funeral discourse 
was preached by Brother Proctor, who had come to rejoice and weep 
with us. I can not express my loneliness without my brother. 
Although so much older than I, yet his companionship was very pre- 
cious and pleasing to me. I never knew abetter man. I do not think 
I ever will. Even tempered, mild, gentle, meek, faithful and true, he 
was. His life was well rounded, and his character worthy of all admi- 
ration. He left us so calmly. The close of his life so befitting. He 
was not broken by years, nor emaciated by disease. " His eye -was 
not dim, nor his natural force abated." He laid down his armor and 
is at rest forever from all his labors. We will meet him on the other 
shore, and while on our way will cherish his memory as the precious 
legacy he has left us. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 555 

ROBERT FREEMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Freeman, an industrious and intelligent farmer of North Jack- 
son township, was born June 2, 1828, in Madison county, Ky. His 
parents, Burket and Elizabeth (Linsey) Freeman, were natives of 
the same State, where the former died in 1834. Mrs. Freeman and 
family moved to Missouri in 1840, and settled in Monroe county, 
about four and a half miles from Paris. Robert grew up on this farm 
and principally educated himself. In 1850 he weut to California but 
returned after spending one year in* the mines. July 7, 1851, he 
married Miss Martha A., daughter of Samuel West, formerly from 
Virginia, now deceased. He then settled on the old homestead of his 
father-in-law and began farming and stock-raising, continuing this 
occupation with much success and profit until the war came on, when 
he was conscripted in Porter's raid. His service in the Confederate 
army was short but spirited. D.uring the 10 days in which he bore arms 
he took part in three engagements, Newark, Kirksville and Cherry 
Creek, besides several skirmishes. On his return Mr. Freeman 
joined the Home Guards. Since the war he has been carrying on 
the farm until 1873, when he went into the employ of the Missouri, 
Kansas and Texas Railroad, watching and repairing its bridges. In this 
capacity he has given the fullest satisfaction to his employers, and 
entirely deserves the confidence and esteem with which he is regarded. 
Mr. and Mrs. Freeman have five children: Samuel B., James M., 
Mary E., wife of James Scobee, J. Franklin and Richard S. Mr. F. 
and his wife are members of the M. E. Church South. 

THOMAS B. GANNAWAY 

(Treasurer of Monroe County, Paris). 

Mr. Gannaway, a leading merchant of Paris, who has been treas- 
urer of the county for the last eight years continuously, and is one of 
the highly respected and influential citizens of this place, like most of 
the old settlers of North Missouri, is a native of the Blue Grass State, 
and was born in Washington county, March 15, 1844. His father, 
who came to this county in 1852, with his family, was William Ganna- 
way, a man of high character and marked intelligence. The mother, 
before her marriage, was a Miss Martha Berry, a lady of refinement 
and great gentleness of disposition and kindness of heart. She 
seemed to be attached to her family with more than ordinary devotion 
and especially concerned herself with the moral training of her chil- 
dren. From their earliest recollections she strove unceasingly to 
instill into their minds the great principles of moral and religious 
truth, and taught them that character and fidelity to all their duties 
were the most priceless jewels to be had in this world. Her children 
now look back to her pure and noble teachings as the inspiration of 
every generous and worthy act they feel prompted to do. She is one 



556 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

of the true and good women of the earth, and is so remembered by all 
who know her. William Gannawajs the father of Thomas B. Ganna- 
way, after having moved to Paris followed the trade of his early life, 
that of a carpenter. He was an excellent workman and industriously 
pursued his avocation, with a strong desire and determination to give 
his children the best school advantages possible. But his health having 
been already impaired for many years soon gave way and he was com- 
pelled to quit the trade. He engaged for a short time in the furniture 
business, also in saddlery and harness, but his health soon became so 
feeble that he was unable to attend to any business. He died in 1867. 
He was a faithful member of the Baptist Church. Ever zealous and 
true in his religious devotions,- much devoted to his family, he ever 
placed before his children and other associates the worthy example 
of an honorable, a true, a highly moral and religious life. Thomas 
B., the subject of this sketch, was eight years of age when the family 
settled in Monroe county. They had previously lived a short time in 
both Illinois and Iowa. In those States the son had had some school 
advantaofes, but after the family came to Monroe county, school 
facilities were quite limited, and he had little opportunities for instruc- 
tion. His parents were in moderate circumstances and he had to 
assist in the support of the family by work. He worked on the farm 
until the family came to Paris in 1857, where he attended school when 
opportunity offered and subsequently worked in various employments 
at this place and studied his books at night. He thus succeeded in 
getting a good elementary education, and, having intended to become 
a lawyer, he began reading law under Judge Brace, but the family 
needing his help, he had to do something that would yield an immediate 
income. He was offered a clerkship in a store at a small salary which 
he accepted, and since that time he has been identified with merchan- 
dising, and in fact with the same store. By economy he saved up 
enough after awhile to buy a half interest in the store, and later along 
he bought the other half, since which he has continued to conduct it. 
He has been entirely successful as a merchant and has accumulated 
ample means. As has been said, he is one of the leading merchants of 
Paris and does a large and flourishing business. Having made it a 
rule in business life, as in every other respect, to deal with perfect up- 
rightness in all transactions, he has steadily secured the confidence of 
the public, Avhich he has never failed to retain. How well he stands 
in the county is shown by his repeated elections to the responsible 
oflSce of county treasurer. He was first elected in 1876, and still 
holds the position by re-election. February 27, 1878, Mr. Gannaway 
was married to Miss Mollie Rawlings, a daughter of Col. Sam A. Raw- 
lings, at one time a member of the Legislature from this county, but 
afterwards'connected with the Democrat, at Shelbina. Mr. Gannaway 
and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and he is closely identi- 
fied with the Sunday-school work of that denomination, having 
occupied the superintendent's chair for several years. He is also a 
prominent member of the Odd Fellows Order, and is quite active in 
both church and secret society affairs. He is one of the leading lay- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 557 

men in the Baptist Church of this place, having formerly been a 
member of the executive board of the Bethel Association. In the Odd 
Fellows Order he has tilled all the chairs of the subordinate lodge 
and Encampment. He has also tilled the office of Grand High Priest 
of the Grand Encampment of Missouri. In 1882, he was elected 
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri and deliv- 
ered an address to the largest assemblage of the order ever wit- 
nessed in the State. In 1883, he was elected a representative from 
the State of Missouri to the Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., for 
the term of two years, and attended the Sovereign Grand Lodge of 
that order at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1883, and at Minneapolis, 
Minn., in 1884. He has made a specialty of the study of the 
laws of the I. O. O. F., and is considered high authority in that order, 
his decisions being almost invariably accepted as final on questions 
that come up in the order. During his term of office he was invited 
to St. Louis to deliver an address on the anniversary of the order, 
and was complimented with the largest audience ever assembled on 
such an occasion in the State. 

HON. FRENCH GLASCOCK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Glascock, who represented his native county, Ralls, in the Legis- 
lature during the sessions of 1858-59 and 1859-60, and also during 
the called session of 1860, but has long Ixsen a prominent citizen of 
South Jackson township, in this county, and one of its thorough-going, 
enterprising farmers, was born at New London, in Ralls county, 
December 17, 1821. He was a son of Asa Glascock, one of the 
pioneer settlers of that county, and in those days its wealthiest citizen. 
He was a native of Virginia, and was there married to his cousin. 
Miss Anna Glascock. They came to Missouri in 1820, and settled in 
Ralls county. He entered land there and improved a farm, and 
engaged extensively in stock-raising. He was abundantly successful, 
and at his death, in 1844, besides being the largest stock-owner in the 
county, was the largest landholder, having over 4,000 acres of choice 
and carefully selected land in that county. He was married three 
times and had, in all, 13 children, 12 of whom grew to maturity. 
French Glascock was the youngest child by his father's first marriage, 
there being four sons and two daughters older than he. His education 
was quite limited on account of the absence of school advantages in 
that early day. But at the occasional subscription schools which he 
attended, and by study at home, he succeeded in obtaining a practical 
knowledge of books. In 1849, like many young men, he was attracted 
to the Pacific coast by the California gold excitement, and made the 
trip out by the overland route. Absent over two years, he returned 
by the Isthmus and New Orleans in 1852, and engaged in merchan- 
dising at Madisonville. The next year after he returned, April 21, 
1853, he was married to Miss Lucy Muldrow, a daughter of Andrew 
Muldrow, of Ralls county, but formerly of Kentucky. In 1855 Mr. 



558 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Glascock sold his store and engaged in fanning near Perry, where he 
farmed for over 10 years. Selling that place to advantage, however, 
in 1866, he bought his present place in Monroe county, to which he at 
once removed. Here he has since resided and been continuously 
engaged in farming and stock-raising. His homestead tract of land 
contains about 200 acres, all under fence and nearly all in cultivation, 
meadow or pasturage. Meanwhile, in 1858, whilst engaged in farm- 
ing in Ralls county, Mr. Glascock was nominated for and elected to 
the Legislature. He served in that body for the terms mentioned 
above and with marked ability. A man of high character and sterling 
intelligence, he exercised a potent and salutary influence on the legis- 
lation of that time and the proceedings of the House. Those were 
feyered and exciting times, and it required men of cool heads and 
conservative ideas to stem the passions of the hour and prevent hasty 
and unwise enactments. Mr, Glascock was noted for the broad- 
minded, liberal views he entertained, and although a State's rights 
Democrat of the old school, he was no advocate of extreme measures, 
believing that whilst struggling for the name and form of a principle, 
its substance might be imperiled or lost, as subsequently proved to be 
the case. If the course he pursued and advised in the Legislature in 
1858 and 1860 had been pursued by others later along in the legis- 
latures and conventions of the different States generally, the long and 
bloody war that followed would have been avoided, the doctrine of 
State's rights would not now be practically extinct, and the farmers 
of Missouri and the people of the South, generally, would not be as 
they are at present, compelled to pay about $30 per family annually 
in tariff' taxes to the government and to manufacturingmonopolists for 
the payment of the pensions on the one hand of those who fought 
aoainst them in the war, and of subsidies on the other to fat ex-Fed- 
eral army contractors, who are now growing even fatter on " pro- 
tected " manufactures. But the course of the South was one of the 
great mistakes which happen in the best of countries as well as in the 
best of families, and its sequences and even consequences must be 
borne. Yet the men who foresaw these results and warned their 
countrymen of them can not but regret that their admonitions had not 
been heeded. Mr. and Mrs. Glascock have a family of five children ; 
Mary M., now the wife of John Q. Morehead ; Anna E., William Jef- 
ferson, Hugh G. and Maggie Lee. They have lost one, a son, George 
B., at the age of 16 months, May 1, 1862. The mother of these is 
also now deceased. She died February 11, 1870. She was long a 
member of the Presl)yterian Church, thoroughl}'^ sincere and exemplary 
in her faith and daily life, and a devoted wife and mother. Mr. 
Glascock is a prominent member of the A. F. and A. M. 

GEOEGE GLENN (deceased) 

(Paris) . 

For nearly half a century, from early manhood until the shadows 
of old age settled around him which were broken only by the light of 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 559 

a day eternal in the heavens, he whose name heads this sketch gave 
to Monroe county the best energies of his life, as one of its most 
worthy and highly respected citizens ; and to the community and all 
among whom he lived the beneficent influence of a character without 
stain, the example of a life well and usefully spent, which was always 
devoted to the best interest of those around him, his own loved ones, 
his friends and his neighbors, and all who came to know him well and 
to appreciate him at his true value for his blameless, upright and use- 
ful life. George Glenn was a plain, frank, honest and unpretending 
man, a man who was esteemed for his personal worth and for the many 
excellencies that were blended in his character. He was a man who, 
while he was appreciated for his sturdy integrity and his kindness and 
generosity of heart, commanded not less respect for his strength of 
mind and his high standing among the more intelligent and better in- 
formed people of the community in which he lived. He was a man of 
more than ordinary strength and force of character, of strong convic- 
tions, great moral courage, and as immovable from the path of recti- 
tude as the eternal adamants beneath the Pyrenees. He lived a life 
that, when he was gone, left only sad regrets that so good a man had 
passed away, that so worthy a citizen of the county could no longer 
be spared to mingle with those who had learned to know him so well and 
esteem him at his true worth. He died at his home in this county on the 
7th of March, 1875, in his seventy-third year. He had been a member 
of the Presbyterian Church for many years, and was an earnest Chris- 
tian in every better sense of the word. He was superintendent of the 
Sabbath-school of his church at the time of his death, as he had been 
for a long time before. Let us then give at least a brief sketch of the 
life of this good man, whose death was so widely and sincerely 
mourned. George Glenn came of a worthy Virginia family, and was 
a son of Hugh Glenn by the latter's first wife. Both his father 
and mother were Virginians, and George, the subject of this sketch, 
was the eldest of their family of children. His father left a numerous 
progeny, having been married three times, each wife leaving him a 
large family of children at her death. In the first f\imily of children, 
of which George was a member, there were two sons and six daugh- 
ters. The other brother, John, died in this county some years ago, 
leaving a family of children. A half sister, Mrs. Thomas Crutcher, is 
a resident of Paris. George Glenn was born in Augusta county, Va., 
in 1802. Reared in that county, he was brought up to habits of 
industry, and from his parents inherited a sterling character, which 
made him respected and esteemed from the morning of his earthly career 
until his sun was forever set. In 1823, then just arrived at majority, 
he was married to Miss Grace Anderson, of Augusta county, and he 
continued to make his home in his native county after his marriage 
for some eight or nine years. He then, as early as 1831, removed to 
Missouri and located for a time in Pike county, but in the spring of the 
following year he came to Monroe county. Here he made his home until 
his death, until the sands of his life had run out. His regular occu- 
pation was that of farming and raising stock, but being a man of great 



560 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

personal popularity, good education and fine business qualifications, 
he was frequently called to serve the people of the county in an official 
capacity. He was couuty surveyor for a number of years, and then 
served two terms as clerl?: of the circuit court. He was a man 
who made the pursuit of wealth no controlling object in life, but 
such were his industry and his intelligent, good management, that 
he accumulated a comfortable property. His first wife died in 
1845, some 22 years after their marriage. Of their family of chil- 
dren was the well-known Hugh Glenn, the great wheat grower of Cal- 
fornia, a physician by profession, and at one time the Democratic 
candidate for Governor of that State, one of the wealthiest men on the 
Pacific slope, and who was killed a few years ago, as is well known, 
by a murderous employe of his. In 1847 Mr. Glenn, the subject of 
this sketch, was married to Mrs. E. C. Riley, widow of the late John 
Riley, of Jefierson county, Va. By his last marriage there are two 
sons — Benjamin F., of California, and George M., of Monroe county. 
The memory of no citizen of Monroe county i"^ more kindly and 
reverently cherished than that of the worthy good man whose memoir 
is here briefly given. 

DAVID C. GORE, M. D. 

(Of A. E. & D. C. Gore, Physicians and Surgeons, Paris). 

Dr. David C. Gore is a son of Dr. Abner E. Gore, as well as his 
partner in practice, and was born at Paris, May 18, 1852. Young Gore 
was early intended for the medical profession and was educated with 
that object in view. After attending the common schools he took a 
course in the high school of Paris, and out of that matriculated into 
the University of Kentucky, at Lexington, where he studied for three 
years. Following this, young Gore returned to Paris and engaged in 
teaching school near this place, entering upon the regular study of 
medicine under the instruction of his fiither at the same time. He 
taught school for about a year, the last term he taught being as first 
assistant in the graded school of this place. In the fall of 1874, 
having continued the study of medicine under his father up to that 
time, since quitting the Kentucky University in 187^1, he entered the 
Missouri Medical College, of St. Louis, in which he continued as a 
student until his graduation on the 4th of March, 1876. Immediately 
after his graduation young Dr. Gore located at Pierce City, Mo., 
for the practice of medicine. He practiced at that point for three 
years, being in partnership during this time with Dr. S. A. Sanders. 
But his father earnestly desiring his return to Paris, in 1879 he came 
back to his old home and entered upon the practice here in partner- 
ship with his father, under the firm name of Drs. A. E. & D. C. Gore, 
since which they have continued the practice together. The confidence 
of the public, so long and worthily shown Dr. Gore, Sr., has not been 
withheld from his son, and the latter has proved himself eminently 
worthy of it. A thoroughly qualified young physician, active, ener- 
getic and ambitious to make an honorable name in his profession, he 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, 561 

has worked with singular great zeal in his practice and with untiring 
industry to acquit himself with credit and success in the cases under 
his charge. Nor is it a matter of less congratulation to the public so 
vitally interested in having those among them in whom they have con- 
fidence as physicians and men, than it is to both father and son that 
the mantle of the father should so fortunately and worthily descend 
to the latter. Dr. Gore, Jr., is a talented and skillful young physi- 
cian and personally he has those qualities of mind and heart that make 
him esteemed quite as much as a man as he is as a physician. On the 
24th of November, 1880, he was married to Miss lone Cooper, a 
daughter of Hon. D. L. Cooper, of Paris, and a young lady of rare 
refinement and culture. She was educated at the Christian College, 
at Columbia, from which she graduated in the class of 1878. They 
have an interesting and promising little son, Abner Ellis, born Janu- 
ary 20, 1882. The Doctor and Mrs. G. are members of the Christian 
Church and he is a prominent Odd Fellow. 

MILTON GEOW (deceased) 

CParis) . 

Mr. Grow, a respected farmer, died at his homestead in Jackson 
township, September 29, 1882. He was born in Jessamine county, 
Ky., November 10, 1834, and was, therefore, in tlie forty-eighth 
year of his age. Thus cut otf in the middle of life, his loss under 
any circumstances must have been deplored, for he was an upright 
man and valued citizen. But when it is considered that he was a 
husband and father, with near and dear ones dependent upon him, 
those who looked upon him as their support and protection, and who 
loved him as only a kind husband and good father can be loved, his 
death was a blow of exceptional .severity, yet we are taught by the 
faith he held, by the great lessons of Christianity, that there is an 
All-wise purpose in every dispensation of Providence, however hard 
it may seem at the time to bear, and this we can not and do not 
doubt. In the great day, when all shall rise again and know each 
other, and when loved ones shall meet never again to be separated, 
the purpose of the good God in calling his creatures away from this 
life — some in its morning, others in its meridian, and yet others at its 
eventide — will then be made known, and its wisdom and justness and 
goodness will become manifest. Let all, therefore, submit to those 
decrees of heaven without a murmur, and with the assurance that 
everything is for the best. Mr. Grow was a son of Peter Grow and 
wife, who was a Miss Sarah Lewelen before her marriage. Both of his 
parents being of early fomilies in Kentucky, he was reared in that State, 
and brought up to a sturdy, hard-working, honest farm life. There 
he formed those habits of industry and that strict integrity of char- 
acter which marked the entire after years of his life. He early be- 
came a member of the Christian Church, and kept faith in that com- 
munion until his death, in 1854. He was married to Miss Amanda 
Carman, of Jessamine county, Ky., and he continued to reside in his 



562 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

native State, engaged in farming, until 1870, when he removed to 
Missouri. Here he bought the Noonan farm, on which he settled 
and where he lived until his death. He and his good wife, who sur- 
vives him, and is the loved mother of his children, were blessed 
with six sons and two daughters, namely : William J., dead ; Stephen 
D., Newton, James A., Sarah A., Archie, Melvin, dead; and Irene. 
Mrs. Grow is an estimable lady, a kind and valued neighbor, and a 
worthy member of the Christian Church. 

ZADOK HARBIT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

A son of Joshua and Winnie (Brown) Harbit, formerly of Indiana, 
Mr. Harbit was born March 24, 1857. When he was about 11 years of 
age the family removed to Missouri, and his father bought the DeLong 
farm in Jackson township, of this county, on which they settled. The 
father died there in 1880, and the mother, with her younger children, 
still resides ©n their homestead. There are nine in the family of chil- 
dren, namely: Gwinn, Francis, Nannie, Andrew, Jane, Anna, Zadok, 
Willard and John J. Zadok completed the years of his youth on the 
farm in this county, and received an ordinary common school educa- 
tion as he grew up. In October, 1878, he was married to Miss 
Elizabeth McAfee, of this county. They have two children : Ernest 
and Amanda. The homestead of the family contains 280 acres, and 
is an excellent farm. Mr. Harbit is an energetic young farmer, and 
is steadily making his way up by industry and good management. 

ISAAC HAYDEN 

(Farmer and Fine stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris) . 

Among the substantial and highly respected citizens of Jackson 
township is Mr. Hayden, the subject of the present sketch. He is a man 
who has come up in life solely by his own exertions and merit, and in 
the face of obstacles and disadvantages that it required no ordinary 
courage, resolution and strength of character to overcome. At the 
a^e of seven years he was left an orphan by the death of his father, 
or perhaps worse than an orphan so far as his own advantages were 
concerned, for he and two elder brothers had the care of his mother's 
family, in addition to providing for themselves. He worked his way 
up, however, through all difficulties and came to be, as he has long 
been regarded, one of the well-to-do and representative citizens of his 
communitv. In 1882 he was made a candidate by his friends in 
different parts of the county for the office of county judge, and 
although running against one of the best-known and most popular 
men in the county, he came within seven votes of being elected. Mr. 
Hayden was born in Monroe county. Mo., August 13, 1831, and was 
a son of John G. and Mary (Baker) Hayden. His father died in 
1843, leaving his wife a widow, and seven children to care for. Isaac 
early apprenticed himself to the shoemaker's trade, at which he 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 563 

worked two years, but not liking the inactivity of the calling, he de- 
cided to learn the blacksmith's trade. This he worked at for a time, 
but an oportunity being offered for him to learn the wool carder's 
trade, which was then quite profitable, he accepted the offer and 
agreed to work three years in order to learn it, his only compensation 
being his board and clothes and a six months' term at school. After 
serving out this term he felt that he had enouo^h of wool-cardinof, for 
employment m that trade proved to be scarce and not very profitable 
after all. IJe then went to making rails by the hundred and then 
engaged in digging wells by contract, in which he made some little 
money. Later along he concluded to learn the cabinet maker's 
trade, at which he worked for nearly two years, and then he learned 
house carpentering. This latter he followed for about nine years, but 
finally settled down to farming, having married in the meantime. 
After farming for some years, he had accumulated some means, 
whereupon he enlisted in the drug business and kept a drug store at 
Paris for some time. He finally sold out, however, and resumed 
farming, which he has ever since followed. It is thus seen that Mr. 
Hayden has learned five different trades and followed four additional 
occupations, or in other words, about all the different employments 
that then offered. April 12, 1859, he was married to Miss Dollie 
Curtright, who is still spared to accompany him on the journey of life. 
In an early day, Mr. H. was quite a hunter and became noted in all the 
country round about as a remarkably fine shot. To this day he has 
the reputation of being one of the best rifle shots in the community. 
He and wife are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Hayden be- 
sides farming is engaged in breeding and raising fine stock, particu- 
larly high-grade cattle, of which he has some fine representatives. 

JAMES P. HOLDSWORTH 

(Postmaster, Paris) . 

Mr. Holdsworth's father, John H. Holdsworth, came out to Mis- 
souri from New York City with his family in 1858, and settled on land 
11 miles north-east of Paris, part of which he had bought 20 years 
before. Afterwards he became quite a prominent citizen of the county 
and represented this senatorial district in the State Constitutional 
Convention of 1865. He was a conscientious, consistent Eepublican 
in politics, and after the Confederate soldiers changed their policy from 
shooting to voting, his promotion in public life, of course, ceased, as 
the Southern element was and is largely preponderant in this part of 
Missouri. However, in 1876 he was appointed postmaster at Paris, 
and held that oflfice nntil his death, which occurred elanuary 31, 1879. 
James P. succeeded him in office at this place, and has since continued 
to hold it. He had previously been deputy under his father, and 
indeed had done the principal part of the office work. He makes an 
efficient and popular postmaster, and has the hearty indorsement of 
the Government authorities and the people. He was born in Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., July 18, 1847, and was therefore 11 years of age when his 



564 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

parents came to Missouri. He was reared in this county and educated 
in the common schools. April 3, 1870, Mr. Holdsvvorth was married 
to Miss Susie Tutt, of New London, in Ralls county. They have two 
children: Katie and Lucy. Mrs. Holdsworth is a member of the 
Christian Church. 

JOHN H. HOWELL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris) . 

Mr. Howell started out for himself in this county when a young 
man, without any means or other help, and by hard work and a frugal 
life, has accumulated a comfortable property. He has an excellent 
stock tarm of about 260 acres, all under fence and in a good state of 
improvement. Mr. Howell makes something of a specialty of rais- 
ing mules for the market, which he has found a profitable industry. 
He was born September 25, 1836. When he was a youth about 17 
years of age he came to Monroe county. Mo., with his parents, John 
M. and Catherine (Cooperider) Howell, who settled about four miles 
west of Paris. They had a family of nine children. The father died 
there in the fall of 1867, and the mother in the spring of 1866. John 
H. was reared on the farm, and what education he received he ol)tained 
in a district school, to which he had to walk a distance of five miles ; 
but he secured a practical knowledge of books, enough to get along 
with satisfactorily in ordinary afl:airs. On the 1st of October, 1857, 
he was married to Miss Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of George and 
Mary (Rippey) Jones, originally of Kentucky. Four children are the 
fruits of their married life: George, James S., Mary C. and John H. 
Mr. and Mrs. Howell are members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
he is a member of the Knights of Honor at Paris. 

HENRY C. HOWELL 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Howell comes of one of the oldest and best families of North 
Missouri. His grandparents settled in Marion county from Ken- 
tucky in 1813, and from them branches of the family have extended 
into nearly all the neighboring counties, being among the most use- 
ful and hiojhly respected citizens of their respective communities. 
Mr. HowelPs father, Maj. William J. Howell, was still in boyhood 
when his parents removed to Missouri. Reared in that county, he 
exerted himself for the acquisition of an education, and became a 
young man of fine mental culture. Ho read law under the distin- 
guished member of the bar. Judge Urial Wright, one of the most elo- 
quent advocates as well as one of the ablest lawyers who ever addressed 
judge or jury in this or any State of the Union. Young Howell be- 
came only less famous at the bar than his distinguished preceptor. He 
early l)ecame known as one of the ablest lawyers of the State, and 
making his home in Monroe county, was repeatedly honored bv the 
people of this county with the commission of representative in the 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 565 

State Legislature. He also represented this district in the State Con- 
stitutional Convention. In each of these bodies he took a command- 
ing position by virtue of his ability and high character. Thus by his 
own personal worth and exertions he rose from the average station of 
a farmer's son to that of one of the distinguished and representative 
citizens of the State. Even before he was 21 vears of ag-e he was 
elected circuit clerk of Monroe count}^ and had barely attained his 
majority when he was sworn into office. His death was as widely and 
as deeply mourned as any citizen who was ever laid to rest within the 
borders of the county. Judge Howell left a large family of children. 
He was three times married. His first wife was formerly Miss 
Louisa Smith, of Palmyra. Of that union a son and daughter are 
living, Harry C. Howell, of Paris, and Mrs. H. J. Boatner, of the 
same place. The mother of these dying, he was subsequently married 
to Miss Margaret Gore, daughter of the late Judge Jonathan Gore, of 
Hannibal. There are no children by this wife. His last wife was, 
before her marriage. Miss Ellen Stone, formerly of Nelson county, Ky., 
to whom he was married some years after his second wife's death. 
There are two of the family of this marriage living : Mrs. Bennie 
Dresher, the wife of Edward Dresher, of Hannibal, and Judge Thomas 
S. Howell of the same city. Henry C, Howell was born on the old 
family homestead, in this county, February 21, 1848, and was reared 
on the farm. Given a good education, he was graduated at the Paris 
high school and after completing his studies, resumed farming and 
the stock business, to which he had been brought up. His father 
left an estate of 4,000 acres of land and had been a prominent slave 
holder before the war. But while his slave property was swept away 
by the war, his land, consisting of a number of farms, was left, and 
young Howell succeeded to an ownership of his share of the estate. 
He has over 300 acres on the farm where he now resides, where he has 
continuously been engaged in stock-raising and feeding and shipping 
stock, as well as trading to some extent in them, since his location on 
his present place. He fiittens about 300 head of cattle annually. His 
farm is an excellent stock farm, well arranged for the business, 
including fine water facilities, etc. On the 14th of April, 1880, 
Mr. Howell was married to Miss Effie Hutchinson, a daughter of 
the late John Hutchinson, of Shelby county, but formerly of West 
Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Howell have had the misfortune to lose their 
only child, who died at the tender age of thirteen months, February 
18, 1882. Mr. and Mrs, Howell are members of the Christian Church. 
Mr. Howell ranks among the best and most highly respected citizens 
of Monroe county. 

JAMES A. JACKSON 

(Sheriff of Monroe County, Paris) . 

Few men in coming up to positions of prominence and influence 
have had greater difficulties to contend against than those which the 
subject of the present sketch has encountered and overcome. Of an 



566 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

old pioneer and highly respected family, with the cataclysm of ruin 
and desolation that fell upon the country from the war, sorrow and 
misfortune also fell upon the family of which Mr. Jackson, then a 
small boy, was a member. 

In 1861 Capt. Thomas Jackson, the fiither of James A., enlisted a 
company tor the Southern service, and marched bravely off to the war, 
to make a tender of his life upon the altar of his convictions, to fight 
like the brave and honest man that he was, for what he believed to be 
the right and, if necessary, to die in the cause which he had sworn to 
defend. He was then comparatively a young man, but 32 years of 
age, and had just begun to get comfortably situated in life. He was 
married and had a family of children growing up around him. But a 
man of generous impulses and patriotic sentiments, a man of character 
and principle, he had the courage to stand up for his honest convictions, 
and when the bugle note of the South called her brave sons to the 
field to defend her dignity and honor and virtue, Thomas Jackson, 
like the historic heroes of the country whose name he bears, was one 
of the first to tear himself away from the bosom of his family, and his 
comfortable home, and respond to the call of his native and beloved 
Southland. But the grim destroyer, Death, did not long spare him 
for the execution of his high and noble resolve. Stricken with a 
malignant fever, he died a faithful soldier, with the prayer on his lips 
" God help my family, God save the South. " 

Capt. Jackson was a son of James Jackson, a native of North Caro- 
lina, and one of the sturdy old pioneer settlers of Monroe county. He 
came here in 1830, before the afiiatus of life had been breathed into 
the county, before the county was formed or named. He became a 
leading man among the pioneers of the county and amply successful 
as a farmer and a citizen, surrounded with an abundance of this 
world's goods, and comfortably and happily situated. It was for him 
that Jackson township was named, a name that reflects only honor 
upon the township and upon all the citizens whose homes, like flowers 
in a meadow, brighten its fair landscape. He died at a ripe old age, 
mourned as the just and good are mourned, and his memory is vener- 
ated for the useful and blameless life that he led. 

James A. Jackson, the subject of this sketch, was born ten years 
before his father's death, November 30, 1851. About this time he 
was taken of the typhoid fever and just as he was narrowly recovering 
from this he was also taken of the measles, the result being so unfor- 
tunate as to render him a cripple for life, by the effects of the latter 
disease settling permanently in his system. The death of his father, 
and other misfortunes to the family, broke up their home, and young 
Jackson came to live with his grandfather, Albert Call is, in Paris, 
where he remained for three years. The oldest in his mother's family 
of children, and sufficiently recovered by this time to make himself of 
service to the famil}^, he gathered them together and set up to house- 
keeping, having also an invalid relative to care for. Since then, by 
his industry and good management he has succeeded in keeping the 
family together: not only this, but with the greatest responsibilities 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 567 

on his shoulders and the severest difficulties to contend against — his 
loved ones to provide for, which has always been to him a happy 
duty, ill-health to encounter, poverty to face and other hardships to 
meet — with all these he has fought successfully the battle of life, has 
made a man of himself (which in a few words means a great deal), 
has become a successful and popular citizen, a prominent and influen- 
tial man, illustrating by a living and forcible example that in any and 
all circumstances blood will tell. Coming of the family he does, it 
would be strange if he had not succeeded. 

His first public promotion was in 1876, when he was taken up by 
the people of the township and elected to the office of constable. 
Serving a term of two years in this office with marked efficiency and 
great satisfaction to the public, he was placed before the people for 
sheriff, but not having been able to take the time to talk horse and crops 
to every man in the county and tell each one a joke, in other words, not 
having been able to become acquainted and make himself popular 
with everybody, he was defeated by a few votes, barely on the miss- 
is-as-good-as-a-mile principle. But at the next election his friends 
put him up again (and like Barkis, he was not very hard to put up), 
and this time he was triumphantly elected by over 500 majority. As 
a sheriff it is not too much to say that he has made one of the most 
efficient officers who ever occupied the place in this county. Person- 
ally, he is a man of generous big-heartedness, genial and kind to 
everybody, a man who always goes out of his way to do another a 
favor, and one who seems to care more for the welfare and success of 
those around him than for his own. 

WILLIAM H. JOHNSON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Johnson, a son of Abel Johnson, an old and well respected citi- 
zen of Jackson township, was one in a family of 11 children, and his 
father was one of just twice that many, 22 children. Thus it is seen 
that this branch of the Johnson family is a prolific and quite numerous 
one. Mr. Johnson's mother was a Miss Mary Hibler before her mar- 
riage, and both his parents were Kentuckians by nativity. They 
removed to Missouri, however, in 1839, and located near Middle 
Grove, but in 1840 his father bought the land on Elk Fork, now 
known as the Abraham Grimes farm, which he improved. Subse- 
quently he sold that and improved the farm where William H. now 
resides ; here he made his home until his death, which occurred in 
1872, at the age of 75. He was a quiet, industrious citizen, greatly 
attached to his home and sought no sort of notoriety. He died with- 
out a known enemy. He was a worthy member of the Christian 
Church. William H. Johnson was born in Bourbon county, Ky., 
January 4, 1826. He was, therefore, 13 years of age when the family 
came to Missouri. Before coming to this State, however, he had 
made two trips with stock from Kentucky to Georgia. After remain- 
ing in Missouri until 1845 he returned to Bourbon county, Ky., and 

31 



568 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

subsequently made six trips to Connecticut with mules, taking on an 
average 120 head at a time. They were sold in New Haven and from 
there shipped to the West Indies Islands. This was then a profitable 
source of industry. After he grew up he was married in Bourbon 
county, in 1852, to Miss Anna Bishop, formerly of that county. He 
then came to where he has ever since lived. Mrs. Johnson was 
spared to brighten his home for 20 years and became the mother of 
seven children, namely: William, Marion A., Mrs. Belle Willis, a widow 
with two children, now living with her father; Isaac, Mollie, John 
and Kate. She died in 1872. Mr. Johnson was married to his pres- 
ent wife some 12 years ago. She was a Miss Salina Johnson before 
her marriage. He has followed farming continuously from boyhood 
and now owns the old family homestead, an excellent small farm of 
72 acres. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his wife of 
the Methodist South denomination. Mr. Johnson has made a good 
living by industry and proper economy and attending closely to the 
ftirm. He lost largely during the Civil War, but has regained it since, 
and though always with a large family is still in easy circumstances, 
surrounded with plenty, living happily and perfectly contented. He 
did all of his own plowing the past year and has a splendid crop. He 
attends church regularly, having been a member for 42 years, is 
strictly temperate and lives in peace with all mankind. He never 
held any office of profit in his life nor ever asked for one, not desiring 
it. He is noted as a friend to the widows and orphans, a strong 
friend to education and encourages common schools. He has 
generally enjoyed good health, and is very fond of feeding and raising 
young stock, attending to them himself. He seldom sells any grain 
from the farm, but feeds it and buys feed from others. 

WILLIAM J. JONES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

Away back in the territorial days of Missouri, the family of which 
the subject of this sketch is a representative, settled in Boone county 
from Kentucky. His parents were George and Elizabeth (Turner) 
Jones, and after a residence of about 13 years in Boone county they 
crossed over into Monroe and settled some three and a half miles west 
of Paris. They made their permanent home in this county and the 
remains of both now sleep the sleep that knows no waking in this 
world, within the borders of the county. William J., the third of 
eight children, was born in Boone county in 1820, but grew to manhood 
from his thirteenth year in Monroe county. In 1858 he was married to 
Miss Susan Hovell, of the old and respected family of that name, an 
outline of which is given in the sketch of John H. Howell. Mr. Jones 
early engaged in farming for himself, and he has been reasonably 
successful in his chosen calling. He has a comfortable home of about 
200 acres, a good farm substantially and conveniently improved. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jones have reared but one child, a daughter, Jennie, who is 
now the wife of Charles Bryant. In an early day Mr. Jones was quite 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 569 

a hunter and was a fine marksman. He has perhaps killed as many 
deer and turkeys as any old settler in this part of the county, and he 
has had some interesting experiences, including a thrilling adventure 
with a panther, which he killed, but space can not be given here to 
relate them. In 1863 Mr. J. enlisted in the Seventeenth Missouri 
Infantry, and did service for nine months, or until the close of his 
term of enlistment. He says that it is not as hard for a young farmer 
without means to get a start now as it was when he began forliimself, 
and in proof of this he cites the fact known to all his contemporaries that 
they used to raise wheat for twenty-five cents a bushel, oats for ten cents 
and corn for twelve and a half cents, with other farm products quite as 
cheap in comparison, while at the same time they had to pay twenty-five 
cents a yard for calico, and other " store" articles were proportion- 
ately high. Truly work was not as easily done then as it is now, but 
still the people seem to get along quite as well if not better than they 
do now, and they certainly were happier and more contented and by 
far more neighborly and kind to each other. 

WILLIAM F. KENNETT 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Kennett's ancestry in this country on both his father's side 
and on his mother's side came originally from Maryland, but his par- 
ents, Martin and Mary (Brazier) Kennett, were reared in Kentucky. 
They resided there for some 25 years after their marriage, 
but in 1854 removed to Missouri and settled in Monroe county, seven 
miles north-east of Paris. His father was a substantial farmer and a 
man of some prominence as a lay member of the Baptist Church. He 
took an active interest in the church and for many years held the 
office of deacon. He died on his farm near Paris hi 1878, and his 
widow, Mr. Kennett's mother, still resides on his old homestead. 
They had a family of nine children, most of whom lived to reach 
mature years, and are now settled in life with families of their own. 
William F., the subject of this sketch, was born in Grant county, 
Ky., July 23, 1839, and accompanied his parents to Missouri in 1854. 
He remained on the farm with his father until 1862, when he enlisted 
in the Southern army under Gen. Price, and served for about two 
years. ^ He then became separated from his command and, unable to 
rejoin it, went to Illinois, where he remained until the close of the 
war. Meanwhile, however, he had been taken prisoner once, and was 
released on parol to secure bondsmen to stand for him not to rejoin 
the Southern army, but while out looking for bondsmen he tore the 
bond up and promptly entered the ranks of his old comrades. He 
was in nearly all the engagements in which Price's command was en- 
gaged during his term of service, and came back north with Col. 
Porter in 1864. He was in the fight at Kirksville, and was one of a 
company who killed the 42 Federals shot while crossing the river. It 
was after this that he went to Illinois, not being able to make his way 
back to the Federal lines to join Price. Sincelhe war Mr. Kennett 
has been actively engaged in farming in this countj^and he has a good 



570 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

place finely improved. November 29, 1866, he was married to Miss 
Louisa Grain, of this county. They have five children : Martha, Mal- 
vern Lee, May E., Stephen N. and Mabel. Both he and his wife are 
members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Kennett has been engaged 
in trading in horses and mules and also shipping hogs to the markets, 
in which he has been satisfactorily successful. 

IWIILLAM LEWIS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Paris). 

Mr. Lewis was born in England, May 1, 1819. His parents, William 
and Ann (Lloyd) Lewis, were from Wales. They are both now de- 
ceased. They reared a family of six children, of whom William was the 
eldest. He worked on a farm in his native country until he was 16 
years of age, receiving meanwhile a good English education. At that 
age he was apprenticed to learn the bhicksmith's trade, and after two 
years took it up for himself and followed it until 1851. He then 
immigrated to the United States. After living several years in Beloit, 
Wis., he bought a farm about four miles from town, put up a shop, 
and carried on both the farm and his trade. He next resided for 10 
years in Winnebago county. III., and finally in the fall of 1865, 
moved to Missouri and bought his present farm. It comprises 160 
acres of land, 100 acres of which are fenced and nearly all in meadow 
and plow land. His place has on it a fine residence, good buildings, 
and other improvements, and he has accumulated a comfortable com- 
petency as the result of his labors. He has a blacksmith shop on his 
farm and still does now and then a little neighborhood work. Mr. 
Lewis married in Shropshire, Eng., October 26, 1843, Miss Ellen 
Robison, also an English woman. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis have seven 
children : Mary Ann, wife of Joshua Peckham, of Vermont ; William, 
married and living in Monroe county ; John, employed at the water- 
works in Buchanan county ; Jane, wife of D. Donaldson ; Ella, wife 
of Frank Peckham, brother to Joshua ; Clara, wife of William Hemp- 
stead; and Charles H., freight conductor on the Missouri, Kansas 
and Texas Railroad. Mr. Lewis and wife are members of the M. 
E. Church South. 

WILLIAM H. LIVES AY 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Paris). 

Mr. Livesay Avas the third in the family of eight children of 
John M. and Mary (Howell) Livesay, old and respected citizens of 
Monroe county, who came here from Virginia in an early day. They 
settled about 10 miles west of Paris, where the father followed farm- 
ing. He was also a house carpenter and built numerous houses in the 
county. William H. was born in this county, May 21, 1844, and 
was reared on the farm. During the war he enlisted in the Southern 
army, under Price, and served until its close, finally surrendering at 
Shreveport, La., in May, 1865. He was in all the principal battles 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 571 

his command took part in during his term of service, and was also 
in the iis^ht at Kirksville. Returnino- alter the war, he re-ens^ao-ed in 
farming, to which lie had been reared, and in 1870 was married to 
Miss Rhoda E. Howell, a daughter of John and Catherine (Coopen- 
rider) Howell. They have one child, Bessie M. Mr. Livesay com- 
menced for himself after the war without a dollar, and by industry 
and close attention to his farming has been able to purchase a com- 
fortable homestead of 100 acres. He and wife are members of the 
Presbyterian Church. 

HENRY P. LONG 

(Druggist, Paris). 

Mr, Long, a substantial business man of Paris, and a citizen of 
enviable standing and influence in this community, was a son of Dr. 
John W. Long, who was for years well and favorably known in Monroe 
and Shelby counties. Dr. Long upon coming to Missouri at once 
located at Shelbyville, where he practiced medicine with marked suc- 
cess for some years. He represented Shelby county in the Legislature, 
and later ran for re-election against his brother-in-law, Russell 
Moss, the Whig candidate. Dr. Long being an ardent Democrat. The 
county was closely divided between the Whigs and the Democrats, 
and the contest was an exceedingly sharp one, but good natured 
throughout. Dr. Long, however, was so certain of success that he 
frequently told his opponent, in order to twit and plague him, that if 
he did not beat him (Moss) he would leave the county. The result 
showed that he did not beat him, being himself defeated by 13 
majority. Good as his word. Dr. Long, sure enough, put out the fire, 
called his dogs and left the county. He came over to Monroe county 
and settled at Paris, where he devoted himself exclusively to the 
practice of his profession, giving up in genuine disgust all jiolitical 
ambition. Thus Shelby county lost an able representative and Monroe 
gained a useful citizen and successful physician. Henry P. Long was 
born of his father's third marriage, his mother's maiden name having 
been Miss Sarah E. Priest. She is living. Dr. Long died at Paris in 
1871, aged 67. Henry P. was born on the 1st day of June, 1845, and 
was educated at the Paris Academy. He afterwards took a thorough 
course at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, at St. Louis. He 
followed clerking in the mercantile line up to 1868, when he and Dr. 
E. W. Smith engaged in the drug business at this place. Dr. Smith 
subsequently retired, and Dr. Long has since continued the business 
alone. He has been quite successful, and is in easy circumstances. 
He has one of the handsomest residence properties at Paris, in Monroe 
county. He also has mining interests in Colorado. Mr. Long was 
married in the spring of 1869, to Miss Kate Major, a daughter of 
David Major. Mrs. Long died September 5, 1883. She left four 
children: Aleta, John W., Harry M. and Eddie P. Harry M. and 
Eddie P. are deceased. Mr. Long is a prominent Mason. 



572 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

PKOF. J. C. McBRIDE 

(Fanner and Stock-raiser and Teacher, Post-Office, Paris). 

Prof. McBride, a former sheriff and collector of Monroe county, 
and a man of finished education, founder of the first male academy 
established at Paris, is a native Missourian. His father, E. W. 
McBride, was from Rutherford county, Tenn., and came to Boone 
county, this State, in the spring of 1828. Two years later, Septem- 
ber 13, 1830, he was married to Miss Julia A. Snell, a daughter of 
John C. Snell, of Boone county. Of this union, John C, the subject 
of this sketch, was the third child in the family. The father, a man 
of enterprise and of intelligence and education, became well-to-do in 
life, and gave his children liberal opportunities for mental culture. 
John C. attended the common schools from early boyhood up to the 
age of 12, and then had a private teacher for two years. Following this 
he entered the State University, at Columbia, where he took a regular 
course, and then matriculated at Centre College, of Danville, Ky., 
one of the leading institutions of the West at that time. He entered 
the senior class at Danville and graduated with distinction, and, 
returning from college, he established a male academy at Paris, which 
he conducted with success for about 15 months. About this time, in 
1855, he was married to Miss Susan M. Kerr, a young lady of superior 
education and refinement. From his academy Prof. McBride retired 
to the country and engaged in farming. In 1860 he was elected 
sheritFand collector of the county, a position he filled until after the 
outbreak of the war, when he resigned and returned to his farm. 
Since then his whole time has been occupied with farming and teach- 
ing, and while he is recognized as a good farmer, as a teacher he has 
long held a position in the front rank of the teachers of the county. 
Prof, and Mrs. McBride have four children: Julia S., Ella, Maggie 
and Walker. Prof. McBride is of Scotch-Irish descent, his grand- 
father, Thomas A. McBride, having been a native of the south-west 
peninsula of Scotland, Cantire, the population of which is almost 
exclusively Scotch-Irish. 

ROBERT D. McCANN 

(Farmer, Stocic-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr, McCann has a fine stock farm of 425 acres in South Jackson 
township, al)out half of which is in pasture and the other half in 
meadow or active cultivation. His place is well improved and is one 
of the choice stock farms of the eastern part of the county. He has 
been residing on this place for nearly 40 years or since 1846, and has 
been continuously engaged in farming and handling stock. Besides 
raising and shipping stock to the general markets quite extensively, 
he is making a specialty of breeding and dealing in thoroughbred 
short-horn cattle, of which he has some very fine representatives of 
both sexes. He has a neat herd of short-horns and is having good 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 573 

success in this line of business. Mr. McCann was a son of Pleasant 
McCann, now deceased, but for many years one of the leading stocli 
men and land owners of Monroe county. Long before the era of rail- 
roads he drove stock in large numbers to St. Louis and at his death 
in 1868, at a ripe old age, he owned over 2,000 acres of fine land in 
this county. He was twice married and reared two families of chil- 
dren. Robert D. McCann was by his first wife, whose maiden name 
was Susan Dawson, formerly of Kentucky, as he himself was, he of 
Clark couuty and she of Bourbon. At her death she left two sons 
and a daughter, Robert D., being the eldest of her children. He 
was born in Fayette county Ky., August 2, 1822, and was 17 
years of age when the family came to Monroe county in 1839. He 
was brought up to farming and the stock business and in the spring 
of 1846 was married to Miss Martha Crow, a daughter of Dr. Samuel 
Crow, formerly of Kentucky. He then located on the land where he 
now resides and went to work to improving his farm. His first wife 
died in the spring of 1849, leaving him one child. In June, 1852, he 
was married to Miss Mary L. Garnett, a daughter of William Gar- 
nett, of Lexington, Ky. She survived her marriage six years, dying 
in May, 1858. She bore him two children, William C. and Susie A., 
the last of Avhom is deceased, having died in the spring of 1873, at 
the age of 20 years. Mr. McCann was married to his present wife 
Augu'st 27, 1866. She was a Miss Amanda T. Warren, a daughter of 
Mideon Warren, of this county. Mr. and Mrs. McCann have four 
children: Robert E., Ella K., Carrie D. and Walter P. 

McCRARY & WILLS 

(Grocers, Paris). 

Both of these gentlemen are of old and respected Howard county 
families. A sketch of the family of Mr. McCrary's father, John Mc- 
Crary, appears on page 456 of the " History of Howard and Cooper 
Counties." Thomas W. was born on his father's farm in that county, 
November 5, 1851, and was reared to the age of 20 in the occupation 
of a farmer. His education was completed at Central College, in 
Fayette, from which he graduated in the class of 1872. Following 
this he taught school for over five years, all in Howard county ex- 
cept one term in this county. While teaching in this county he met, 
and wooed and won his present wife, previously Miss Belle Wills, a 
daughter of W. W. Wills, a substantial and respected farmer of the 
county. She was a pupil at young McCrary's school, but as it is 
altogether wrong to tell tales out of school, we shall not say that any 
whisperings of love passed between them within the classic walls of 
the school-room, dedicated and devoted alone to the acquisition of 
knowledge. Possibly the two learned some lessons of the heart while 
there, however, not taught in books of the school-room and far more 
gladly pursued than any learning which the books had to offer. Any- 
how, they were married about this time, September 12, 1876, and 
their union has proved one of great happiness. They have an inter- 



574 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

esting little daughter, Berta, now past two years of age. Mr. Mc- 
Crary engaged in mercantile life after his marriage, and followed 
clerking at Paris up to the winter of 1883. He and young Mr. Wills 
then engaged in their present business. 

Edward C. Wills, brother-in-law to his partner, was born at Lis- 
bon, in Howard county, December 5, 1861. His father is a merchant, 
and young Wills was reared to that business. A short time before 
attaining his majority, however, he engaged in farming and followed 
it for several years. Meanwhile he took a commercial course at the 
Gem Cit}^ Business College, of Quincy, 111., becoming a graduate of 
that institution. He engaged in his present business with Mr. Mc- 
Crary in December, 1883. They carry an excellent stock of goods and 
have built up a good trade. They are young men of business ability 
and enterprise, and are steadily coming to the front. Mr. Wills and 
Mr. and Mrs. McCraryare church members. Mr. McCrary is a prom- 
inent member of the I. O. O. F. He is also dictator of the Knights 
of Honor. 

J. J. McGEE, 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Mr. McGee has a fine farm of nearly 400 acres in Jackson township, 
handsomely improved, including a commodious and tastily con- 
structed dwelling and other comfortable buildings, and has been a 
resident of what is now Monroe county for the past sixty years. He 
is one of the sterling citizens of the county, esteemed and respected 
wherever his upright character and good name are known. He is a na- 
tive of Kentucky, born in Mercer county, November 20, 1819. His 
grandfather McGee was a pioneer settler of Kentucky from Virginia, 
a friend and associate of the Boones and Clarks and others who first 
blazed the way for civilization into the then wilderness of the Blue 
Grass State. John McGee, Mr. McGee's father, was born and reared 
in Kentucky and was there married to Miss Jane C. Curry. In 1822 
they removed to Missouri with their family of children and first located 
in Howard county, near Fayette, but two years afterwards they came 
to what is now Monroe county, or rather a part of them did, for the 
father and one of the children never lived to make their home in this 
county. There were practically no roads then and the prairie grass, 
not uncommonly as high as a man's head on horseback, covered all 
the prairies, only broken now and then by the trail of the Indian and 
an occasional pioneer's wagon track or the tread of wolves or deer, or 
other wild animals. It was in the fall when the family started from 
Howard to Monroe county, and the grass, heavy and dry, was almost 
as quick to burn as powder. Mr. McGee, the subject of this sketch, 
was then a child four years of age. His father and an older sister 
were quite a distance behind the wagon driving their cattle, and the 
latter fell considerably behind, indeed, entirely out of sight. All of 
a sudden a fire came flying across the prairie with the speed of the 
wind, and the roar and crackle of cannon and musketry, traveling 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTF. 575 

faster than any horse could run and taking a course by which it caught 
the father and daughter — it was impossible for them to escape. The 
daughter's clothes took fire and the father in striving to put out the 
flames that enveloped her, suffered himself to be so severely burned 
before he gave his own burning clothes any attention that both were 
burned to death, or so badly burned that they died within ten or 
twelve days afterwards. Medical attention was impossible, for there 
was not a doctor within 40 miles, and those that could be had, even 
beyond that distance, were scarcely ever found at home, for their prac- 
tice covered so wide a region that they were almost constantly absent. 
The suffering of the father and daughter was intense, too terrible 
indeed, to be imagined, much less described. Such was the sad 
experience of the subject of this sketch on first coming to what is 
now Monroe county. Heaven grant that when the shadowy curtains 
of death shall be drawn about him, and his spirit shall take its leave 
from the county in which he has so long lived, its flight may be hap- 
pier than his coming was. His mother was left with a large'family of 
children, of whom he was the eldest, and he, with her help and prayers, 
went to work to provide the family a home and support them as best 
he could. Their lot was a hard one, but they proved equal to it, and 
in keeping with the noble h'eart that he had young McGee courageously 
went to work and succeeded in bringing up the children in compara- 
tive comfort. He lived to see them all married and settled in life and 
then himself was married to Miss Catherine E. Helm. She lived to 
brigiiten his home for many years, but at last was taken from him by 
the Grim Harvester of all. She left him five children: Alonzo T., 
Melissa, wife of George Neugent ; William J., Mattie J. and Hettie E. 
In 1873 Mr. McGee was married to Miss Polly A. Vaughan, who now 
presides over his comfortal)le home. 

HUGH McGEE 

(Attorney at Law, and of McGee & Burgess, Real Estate and Loan Agents, Paris). 

Mr. McGee, though still a young man, has already succeeded in 
establishing himself in a good law practice. A man of marked 
strength of mind and character, he had, at the same time, the advan- 
tajres of an advanced education, and before he began the practice of his 
profession he had qualified himself thoroughly for it by long and dil- 
igent study. Industry and close attention to business are leading 
characteristics of his, and these, with his ability and high character, 
have advanced him as a lawyer with more than ordinary rapidity. He 
has already taken an enviable position at the bar. Mr. McGee is a son of 
Hugh J. McGee, Esq., a sketch of whose life is given elsewhere, and 
was born on his father's homestead south of Parfs, January 23, 1859. 
He was educated at the State Normal School, of Kirksviile, where he 
took a complete course, graduating in the class of 1880. After this 
he was for one term principal of the Monroe City graded school. Mr. 
McGee then entered the office of James Ellison, "Esq., of Kirksviile, 
where he began the study of law, and under whom he studied until 



576 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

his admission to the bar, June 22, 1883. After his admission he 
began the practice in the office of Hon. A. M. Alexander, who, bav- 
ins; been elected to Congress, turned his practice over to Mr. McGee, 
a hirge part of which he has retained, besides drawing to himself a 
considerable clientage of his own. Mr. McGee is thoroughly devoted 
to his profession, and considers his only aspiration, that of becoming 
a successful lawyer, one of the highest that can be formed. He is 
now serving as city attorney of Paris, to which he was chosen last 
spring. He is also secretary of the Fair Association. Mr. McGee is 
highly esteemed and popular and has a most promising future, both 
atthe bar and as a citizen of standing and influence. 

DAVID A. McKAMEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

Prior to the Revolution, Mr. McKamey's grandparents came to 
America and settled in Pennsylvania, where they lived until after the 
close of the War for Independence. They then removed to Kentucky 
and were pioneers of that State. There Mr. McKamey's father was 
born and reared. He married first Miss McAfee, and the second time 
Miss Adams, in Kentucky, and lived in the Blue Grass State until 
1828, when he removed to Missouri with his family. David A., the 
subject of this sketch, was 11 years of age at the time of the removal 
of his father's family to Missouri, having been born in Mercer county, 
Ky., May 6, 1817. The family settled in this State in what was then 
a part of Ralls county, but since Monroe county, where David A. was 
reared and has since resided and where his parents lived until their 
death. In 1840 David A. McKamey was married to Miss Zerilda Camp- 
bell, a daughter of John W. Campbell, a pioneer settler of this 
county from Kentucky, who settled on the farm where Mr. McKamey 
now lives, in 1834, which, in 1852, he bought from his brother-in-law. 
Mr. McKamey, coming up in those early days of the country, is of 
course familiar with the primitive and pioneer condition of the times. 
Like others he had many adventures, and remembers many incidents 
that would be worth relating if the space could be given in this con- 
nection to print them, but these belong to another part of this work. 
In common with most of the young men of his time, and, indeed, of 
the present, he became a fiirmer, and, commencing in a small way, with 
a log house for his early home, by industry and good management he 
has steadily prospered so that he has long held a place among our 
most well-to-do farmers. In 1849 he went to California, partly for 
his health and partly with an eye to the gold there, and was success- 
ful in both respects. He was engaged in mining and handling cattle 
out there and came back almost a new man in the point of health, 
and with not a little of the gold-dust for which the Pacific slope has 
long been famed in song and story. Mr. McKamey has been quite a 
successful stock-raiser, and one year shipped 80 head of cattle that 
averaged in weight over a ton, or 2041 pounds each. He has always 
advocated the handling of a good grade of stock on the ground that it 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 577 

pays better and has thus contributed not a little to the improvement of 
stock in this county. Mr. and Mrs. McKamey have three children 
living: John C, William T. and David Elah. Mr. McK. has always 
been a friend of the schools and a stanch supporter of the church, and 
has done a great deal for both, both by his personal exertions and 
generous contributions. 

PROF. JAMES MILTON McMURRY 

(Principal of the Paris Graded School). 

Prof. McMurry, a nian of advanced English and classical education 
when he began in the profession of teaching, has since had an active 
experience in the school-room of nearly 20 years, and for the last 14 
years has been continuously engaged in teaching. For a number of 
years past he has been occupied with the management of graded 
schools, and he has established a wide and enviable reputation as an 
educator in this class of schools. A man of thoroughly practical 
ideas and methods, and a scholar of superior attainments and culture, 
combining with these his long and successful experience in the school- 
room, it is not surprising that he has taken a position among educators 
in the field in which he has been employed second to that of but few, 
if any, in the State. His services are widely sought after, and in his 
work he has the advantage of choosing the school which he prefers to 
conduct and continuing in chnrge of it as long as he desires. Prof. 
McMurry is a native Missourian, born in Marion county. May 12, 
1839. His parents, William and Elizabeth (Wilson) McMurry, came 
to that county from Kentucky as early as 1835. They removed from 
Marion to Shelby county and settled on a farm five miles west of 
Shelbyville, where the tather had entered land. He died there in 
1852. James Milton (the subject of this sketch) was reared on the 
farm near Shelbyville to the age of 18, when he began a course in 
Prof. Arrendt's Shelby High School. He took a regular course in the 
English branches and in Latin and Greek under Prof. Arrendt, con- 
tinuing in the High School for four years. After this he engaged in 
teaching, and taught continuously for several years. He then en- 
gaged in the drug business at Monticello and afterwards continued it 
at Monroe City. In 1868 he and M. C. Brown established the Appeal 
at Monroe City, but a year later he went to Salisbury and in partner- 
ship with A, Frazer, the first foreman in the ofiice of the New York 
Herald, sttirted the Salisbury Bulletin. But in 1870 he retired from 
the newspaper business and resumed teaching, which he has since 
continuously followed. He taught a year at Salisbury, three years in 
Shelby county and eight at Palmyra. From there he came to Paris 
in 1881 and took charge of the graded school of this place. Here he 
has given great satisfaction to those interested in the school, and has 
given it a standing for efiiciency and thoroughness, as well as good 
management, that it never had before. Prof. McMurry has been mar- 
ried twice. His first wife died August 27, 1873, leaving him two 
children, who are living, Effie May and William E. Their mother 



578 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

was a Miss Elizabeth Vance before her marriage, a most excellent 
lady, a devoted wife and a gentle, loving mother. To his present 
wife Prof. McMurry was married October 13, 1875. She w^as a Miss 
Mary E. Taylor, a daughter of Capt. Thomas Taylor, of Palmyra, 
but formerly of Baltimore, Md. They have four children, Wilber 
F., Mary E., James D. and an infant. The Professor and wife are 
members of the Methodist Church, and he is a member of the A. F. 
and A. M., the Knights of Honor and the Triple Alliance. 

ABRAHAM G. MASON 

(Of Mason & Burnett, Editors and Proprietors of tlie Paris Mercury) . 

For nearly forty years Mr. Mason has been connected with the 
Mercury, and for the past 33 years has had an interest in the paper 
as an owner and proprietor. He commenced his newspaper career in 
the Mercury office back in 1845, when he began work at the case as a 
type-setter, or rather to learn type-setting. In due time he acquired 
his trade and six years afterwards became one of the owners of the 
paper, in partnership with James M. Bean. They bought the office 
from James R. Abernathy. Meanwhile, Mr, Mason had been out of 
the office one year, during 1848. The career of the Mercury is well 
known to every citizen of Monroe county, and, indeed, to every 
well informed person in this section of the State. For years it has 
been recognized as one of the leading country journals north of the 
river. Successful in its business department, so, also, its editorial 
columns have ever been conducted with marked ability. Though a 
Democratic paper, it is one of those sober, conservative journals which 
look first to the interests of the public and are Democratic only be- 
cause they believe that the principles and policies of that party are 
most conducive to the common welfare. Ever true to the interests 
of the county, the Mercury is justly a paper of more than ordinary 
popularity with the people generally among whom it circulates. For 
its success and high standing, Mr. Mason, who has been connected 
with it longer than any one else, is entitled to great credit. His 
experience as a newspaper man, his safe, conservative principles of 
business management, and his close attention to all the interests of the 
paper have contributed very materially to its success. Mr. Mason 
enjoys an enviable reputation among newspaper men as a strictly 
upright and, at the same time, successful journalist. On the 5th of 
May, 1854, he was married to Miss Levena Rubey, of Randolph county. 
She, however, was taken from him by death six years afterwards, in 
the spring of 1860. She left him two children, Laura, now the wife 
of George W. Miller, and Charles, who died in tender years. To his 
present wife Mr. Mason was married in 1861. She was a Miss Anna 
E. Sinclair before her marriage, and was from Cass county, Illinois. 
They have a family of nine children : Josie, Lethe, Harry, George, 
Anna B., Watson, Notley and Earle. Two are deceased, Herbert 
and Victor. Mr. Mason himself is a Kentuckian by nativity, born in 
Casey county, November 18, 1824, When he was eight years of age 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 579 

he was brought out to Missouri by his parents, who removed to Mon- 
roe county in 1832. His father, Abraham Mason, was originally from 
Virginia, and was a farmer by occupation. He died in this county 
some time before the war. The mother, whose maiden name was 
Elizabeth Gartin, was born and reared in Kentucky, where she was 
married. She died in this county in 1870. 

W. F. MAXEY 

(Artist-painter, Paris). 

Mr. Maxey, a painter, in the artistic and higher sense of that word, 
of recognized merit and established reputation, who has long studied 
the fine art of painting, a profession he has practiced, especially in the 
department of portraiture, for many years, is a native of Kentuck}^ 
born in Garrard county, March 9, 1819. He was a son of Boaz and 
Judith Maxey, both originally of Buckingham county, Va. From 
Kentucky the family came to Missouri, in 1831, and settled in Mon- 
roe county, al)out half a mile from the present site of Paris. The 
country was then in the condition of a wilderness, and the solitude 
where Paris now stands was broken only by a single cabin of a white 
man. Young Maxey was reared in this then new country, and of 
course had no opportunities of an advanced character to secure an 
education. But possessed of a desire for learning, he employed all 
his leisure at study to good advantage, and became especially expert 
as a penman and at figures. When about 20 years of age he was 
employed in one of the offices in the court-house at Paris on the public 
records, and continued writing in the ditferent offices about the court- 
house several years. He also followed light farming during the same 
time, particularly fruit-raising, in which he was quite successful. Later 
along he began studying portrait painting and took a regular novitiate 
in tliat profession. Possessed of a decided artistic taste as well as a 
natural aptitude for harmonizing and contrasting colors to good eflect, 
and understanding thoroughly the philosophy of lights and shades, he 
made rapid progress as a painter, and soon came to be regarded as a 
master of portrait\ire. He painted portraits at different towns through- 
out North Missouri, and when not busy with his brush taught school 
with success. Locating permanently at Paris, he resumed his profes- 
sion of painting, which he has since followed. Prof. Maxey has 
become comfortably established in life and is one of the highly 
esteemed citizens of Paris. Prof. Maxey' s father died February 11, 
1864, and his mother October 20, 1870. The former was born in 
Buckingham county, Virginia, August 17, 1785, and the latter in the 
same county, February "l4, 1791. They were married October 4, 
1809, and the same year they removed to Garrard county, Ky. The 
father was a farmer by occupation and was quite successful. They 
had a family of six children : Joel H., Elisha A., Mary M., John J., 
W. F. and Jane E. The Maxey family have been settled in the United 
States for about 200 years, and was one of the old and respected 
families of Viro-inia. 



580 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

JUDGE DAVID H. MOSS 

CPresident of the First National Bank of Paris, Mo.). 

In preparing a sketch of the life of Judge Moss the writer meets 
with a serious embarrassment at the very beginning. A man of long 
and recognized prominence, and for years closely identified with the 
history of his county, yet such is his known aversion to anything that 
might bear even the appearance of flattery, that it is difficult to state 
the facts in his career, as plainly as it is possible to put them, without 
incurring his disapproval, f(n' the facts themselves are greatly to his 
credit. These facts, however, will be plainly stated at a venture. 
Judge Moss is a native Missourian, born in Boone county, September 
19, 1826. His father, James T. Moss, a Virginian by nativity, early 
went to Kentuckjs where in young manhood he was married to Miss 
Sarah D. Talbot, of Shelby county, of the old and respected Talbot 
family so well and favorably known in Virginia, Kentucky and Mis- 
souri. After their marriage, in 1821, they removed to Missouri and 
settled in Boone county, where Mr. Moss, Sr., became a successful 
farmer and valued citizen of that county. They reared a family of 
seven children, namely : Catherine T., now Mrs. Boyd ; Zerilda E., 
the wife of Mr. Bryan ; Dr. George W. Moss, Mason F., Preston T., 
Paulina T., now Mrs. Conder, and Judge David H. Moss. Judge 
Moss was reared in Boone county and received a good general educa- 
tion in the ordinary branches taught at the private academies of the 
county. In 18 — he came to Paris and began the study of law under 
Ma]. W. J. Howell. After a due and thorough course of study he 
was admitted to the bar, and at once entered actively into the practice 
of his profession. The California gold excitement breaking out soon 
afterwards, however, he joined the innumerable throng of Argonauts 
bound for the Pacific coast, and was gone for nearly three years. 
While absent he was engaged in mining and trading in California, and 
with fair success, but returning in 1853, he formed a partnership in 
the law practice with his old preceptor, Maj. Howell, and resumed the 
practice of his profession. A man of sound ability and thorough 
local attainments, as well as a forcible and successful advocate, and 
always honorable and true to his clients, he soon took an enviable 
position at the bar, and in 1856 was elected circuit attorney of the 
Sixteenth Judicial Circuit. He served for nearly three years in this 
office, and until he resigned it to give his whole time and energy to his 
private practice, which had now increased to such a volume as to 
demand his undivided attention. He continued successfully in the 
practice, discharging incidentally the duties of county attorney at the 
special instance and request of the county court until 1868, when he 
was elected circuit judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit. He was 
not permitted, however, to assume the duties of his office by the des- 
perate, unscrupulous faction then holding a high carnival of misgov- 
ernment, political corruption and shameless official oppression and 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 581 

persecution in this State, composed largely of the worst elements of 
society, men without property or standing before the war, with only 
now and then a citizen of some respectability, who was disposed to 
run with the hounds. They were put into power by Federal bayo- 
nets, and after the war retained it by virtue of an infamous disfran- 
chising ordinance enacted mainly by the smoke-house militia, which 
excluded from the right to vote, or rather to have their votes counted 
(according to the way Count Rodman interpreted the ordinance), a 
large percentage, if not a majority, of the more respectable class of 
voters and representative citizens of the State. Notwithstanding this 
outrageous travesty on law and self-government, Judge Moss was 
elected by a majority of 1,200 votes of even those who were permitted 
to cast their ballots. But of course it was not intended by the scurvy, 
shameless faction then in power to permit the people to choose their 
own pul>lic servants, because if they did, these irresponsible adven- 
turers, as many of them were, would be relegated to the deserved 
obscurity from which the unsettled condition of affairs, like the fer- 
mentation of spilt milk bringing whey to the top, had brought them. 
Count Rodman, the alleged Secretary of State at that time, but who 
has long since passed out of memory, but not out of infamy, arbi- 
trarily threw out enough of the votes cast for Judge Moss to prevent 
his election, or rather enough to form an excuse for refusing to issue 
him a certificate of election. Of course his opponent. Judge Harri- 
son, the former circuit judge, was not elected, but it is a truth of history, 
which must be stated, that he held over, nevertheless, and continued to 
exercise the duties and receive the honors and emoluments of the 
office to which Judge Moss was by every principle of right and justice 
entitled, to such a condition had affairs descended at that time. 
Not disposed, in these circumstances, to practice any longer in the 
circuit court. Judge Moss retired from his profession and engaged in 
the banking business, or rather he had previously engaged in bank- 
ing, and he now turned his whole attention to that business. As early 
as the fall of 1865 he had organized the Monroe Savings Association. 
In the spring of 1871 this was merged into the First National Bank 
of Paris, of which he has long been, and is still, president. This is 
well known as one of the soundest and most reliable banks in this 
part of the State. The high character of Judge Moss and his well 
known personal honor and integrity, as well as his proved business 
ability, have contributed very largely to give the bank the enviable 
reputation it enjoys. Judge Moss is a man of great personal worth, 
sterling intelligence, and one of the highly esteemed and public spirited 
citizens of the county. In February, 1856, he was married to Mrs. 
Melville E. Hollingsworth, a daughter of B. S. Hollingsworth, of this 
county. Their children are : Pauline, who is now the wife of W. W. 
Anderson, of Hamilton ; Sallie, Preston, Annie, Clara, Georgie, 
Lillie and David H., Jr. ; another, Mary B., died in 1860, and still 
another at a tender age. The Judge and Mrs. M. are members of the 
Christian Church, and Judge Moss holds the position of elder in the 
church. 



582 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



JOEL M. MOSS 

(Deputy Couuty Collector, Notary Public, and Insurance Agent). 

Mr. Moss was born and reared at Paris and was a son of Dr. George 
W. Moss and wife, Mary E.,a daughter of Judge Joel Maupin. Judge 
Maupin was one of the prominent men of the country, and held vari- 
ous positions of local consideration, including those of sheriff, collec- 
tor and county judge. Dr. Moss came to Missouri with his parents 
when a mere lad, and was reared in Boone county. His father died 
in that county, and his mother afterwards married Judge Maupin. Dr. 
Moss had already studied medicine and had taken one course of lectures 
at the time of his mother's marriage to Judge Mauj^in. He at that 
time met Miss Mary E. Mau|3in, the Judge's daughter, for the first 
time, and a year afterwards they were married. He continued his 
medical course and graduated at the Jefferson Medical College of 
Philadelphia. Meanwhile he had removed to Paris, and here he began 
the practice of medicine. He was quite successful and became a lead- 
ing physician of the county. During and since the war he served as 
county treasurer and represented the county in the Legislature. He 
died here in 1881. His widow is still living at Paris, at the age of (34. 
Joel M. was born August 2, 1845, and was the second in a family of 
seven children, all living except George and Robert B. The former 
died of consumption and the latter was killed by being thrown from a 
horse. He was one of the leading young business men of the town, 
and stood high in the esteem of all who knew him. He had been 
married the year before, and his widow and an only child, six weeks 
of age at his death, survive him. Joel M. was in the Union service 
from 1862 until the close of the war, principally in the clerical pro- 
fession, but was made regimental adjutant in 1865. January 12, 1865, 
he was married to Miss M. E. Cox, of Rye Beach, New Hampshire, 
who was then visiting at Chillicothe. After the close of the war he 
became deputy sheriff and afterwards deputy circuit clerk. He was 
then with an insurance company in St. Louis for three years. Fol- 
lowing this he was a traveling salesman for a St. Louis house. He 
traveled during the winter seasons for about 10 3^ears, being assistant 
in the county office at Paris most of the time during the summer sea- 
sons. He became deputy county collector in 1881. He is also a local 
insurance agent at Paris and a notary public. He has made up the 
tax collector's books for the past eight years, and is considered one of 
the most efficient men for this work in the State. Mr. and Mrs. Moss 
have five children : Minnie P., Mamie W., Melville C, Edward and 
Frank P. He and wife are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. 
Moss is a leading member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows Orders. 
Edward C, now a lad 10 years of age, is a natural musician, and has 
played the piano and other instruments with remarkable skill and 
genius since he was three years of age. Misses Minnie and Mamie, 
young ladies of rare grace and refinement, are also accomplished 
pianists and are singularly entertaining and agreeable in society. The 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 583 

second sister Miss Mamie, is also a fine vocalist, having a voice of 
great sweetness and culture as well as of ample volume and flexibility. 

JOHN T. NESBIT 

(Farmer, Post-ofRce, HoUiday) . 

It was in 1824, when the subject of this sketch was but 10 years of 
age, that his parents removed to Missouri and located in Callaway 
county. A year later they crossed into Boone county and in 1828 
settled permanently in what was then a part of Ralls county, but is 
now Monroe county. They were among the pioneer settlers of this 
county and Mr. Nesbit's father hewed the logs to build the first house 
ever erected in the town of Florida, which is still standing, and he 
also helped to build the first mill established at that place. John T., 
who was born in Harrison county, Ky., December 2, 1814, was 
partly reared in Monroe county, and coming up in this new country, 
he was trained in that school of hardships and adventures, which, if it 
did not afford its pupils the knowledge of books to be had in modern 
colleges, it at least gave them greater strength of character and greater 
fortitude, and made them more courageous and better fitted for the 
hard struggles of life than does the atmosphere in our colleo-e walls. 
The early training of the wilderness made men of generous and hos- 
pitable hearts, or unfaltering courage, or strong arms and willing 
hands to wrestle with the duties of life, developed such a manhood as 
is now unfortunately rapidly passing away with the flight of years, a 
manhood just and true, and noble and brave, such as every country 
needs and ought to have, but such, when these old pioneers are o-one, 
we shall probably not see again. In 1837 Mr. Nesbit was married to 
Miss Lucretia Lyon, formerly of Greenwood county, Ky. Thev have 
three children: John Y., Anna and William A. Mr. Nesbit, whose 
life has been one of untiring industry, crowned with satisfkctory suc- 
cess in the accumulation of a neat competency, has alvvavs taken an 
active interest in church affairs and in the advancement of the cause 
of education, to both of which he has contributed liberally by personal 
exertions and of his means on all proper occasions. He has been a 
member of the Methodist Church for the last 40 years, and for many 
years has been an officer in the church. He is one of the hio"hly 
respected and honored citizens of this place. 

JUDGE WILLIAM K. NEUGENT 

(Presiding Judge of ttie County Court, and Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

Judge Neugent, one of the leading citizens of Monroe county, and 
a man who is held in the highest esteem wherever he is known for his 
character, sterling intelligence and business qualifications, a man 
whose life has been one of marked success and who has risen to an 
enviable position among the prominent and influential citizens of this 
section of North Missouri, has come up solely by his own exertions 
and personal worth, and in the face of the greatest obstacles and diffi- 

32 



584 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

culties. He was left an orphan at an early age, and began for himself 
whilst still quite a youth by working on a farm at $4 a month. 
He kept at work at this rate for two years and thus made his start in 
life. His school advantages were practically /^^7, and all the education 
he has acquired he succeeded in attaining by personal application, 
with little or no help fi'oni an instructor. Yet, unfavorable as his 
early outlook seemed to be, he has come to be a man of recognized 
prominence, not only for his success in material affairs, but for his 
broad, general information and as a leader in public life of those 
among whom he lives. There are many farmers and business men in 
Monroe county who, in early life, had every advantage that abundant 
means and good schools could afford, but it will be admitted by all 
that there are few men in the county whose positions are so enviable 
as Judge Neugent's. Success, when honorably achieved, even in the 
most favorable surroundings, is always creditable, but when achieved 
in the most adverse circumstances is justly regarded as worthy of the 
highest commendation. Judge Neugent is a native of Kentucky, born 
in Shelby county. May 29, 1815. His father died when he was six 
years of age, after which he went to live with a brother, where he 
remained for eight years. When 14 years old he hired himself out to 
a farmer at $4 a month, where he worked for two years. He then 
apprenticed himself to a carpenter in order to learn the trade, with 
whom he worked until he had acquired a knowledge of carpentering. 
Returning to farm work, however, he followed it for a short time and 
soon began farming for himself. By industry and economy he accu- 
mulated enough to buy a small place, and about this time, in 1836, 
was married to Miss Mary Johnston. He continued farming with 
good success, and later along added to his place until he had one of 
the best farms in his vicinity. In the meantime his first wife died, 
surviving her marriage but a short time, and in 1841 he was married 
to Miss Elizabeth Wise. Mr. Neugent had occupied his leisure to 
good advantage at study, or rather at reading and acquiring a gen- 
eral knowledo;e of business transactions and of the affairs of the 
world. The office of justice of the peace becoming vacant in Shelby 
county, Ky., he was thought to be the proper man for the place, 
and was accordingly appointed to it by the Governor. His discharge 
of the duties of that office were so efficient and satisfactory that 
afterwards he was elected by the people, and continued to hold the 
office for twelve years and until he resigned to come to Missouri. 
He removed to this State in 1856, settling on the farm where he now 
resides in Monroe county. His removal from Shelby county, Ky., 
was greatly regretted by the people of that county, for he was 
regarded as one of their most useful and valued citizens, and left 
the county without an enemy. Judge Neugent soon became known 
here, as he was known in Kentucky, as a citizen of high character 
and superior intelligence, and a man highly popular among all with 
whom he came in contact. In 1866 he was elected judge of the 
county court, and served for six years. Again, in 1879, he was elected 
judge, this time for the western district of Monroe county, and after 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 585 

two years' service more on the county bench, in 1882 he was elected 
presiding judge of tlie court for a period of four years, the term which 
he is now filling. It is thus seen that he has "'already had years of 
experience on the bench, and it is not too much to say that he has 
made one of the best county justices that ever occupied the bench. in 
this county. Judge Neugent has always taken a commendable inter- 
est in school affairs, and has served as school trustee for his district 
for the last fifteen years, and has been a liberal supporter of the 
churches, being, himself, a member of the Presbyterian Church. 
Judge Neugent lost his second wife in 1866. At her death she left 
him five children, namely : Mary J., George W., James E., David E 
and Virginia B. In 1867 he was married to Miss Frances Coxby. 
She survived her marriage, however, only a short time, leavino- him 
one child at her death, Fannie F. To his present wife he wa^T mar- 
ried in 1869. She was formerly Miss Mary F. Dellaney, a lady of 
rare excellence of character and great personal worth. Judge Neuo-ent 
has been abundantly successful as a farmer and stock-railer and is 
comfortably and pleasantly situated. A resident of the county for 
nearly 30 years, he has from the beginning shown himself to be a 
thoroughly public-spirited citizen, and one earnestly devoted to the 
best interests of the county. 

FRANK L. PITTS 

(Ex-Sherife and Collector, Paris). 

Mr. Pitts, a gallant one-armed ex-Confederate soldier, and onetof 
the substantial citizens and most popular and highly esteemed men 
of Monroe county, was born near Shelbyville, in Shelby county, 
April 25, 1841. His parents, James P. and Gertrude \jarman) 
Pitts, came from Maryland to Missouri as early as 1826. Thev first 
located at Hannibal, and from there, later along, went to Shelby 
county. But in 1845 they returned to Hannibal", where both lived 
until their deaths. The father was married a second time, and his 
widow is still living. He was a saddler and harness-maker by trade, 
and was successfully engaged in that line of business at Hannibal for 
years. He left a large family of children. Frank L., the sixth of 
his Other's family of children, was reared at Hannibal, and brought 
up to the saddler and harness maker's trade. In 1860 he and his 
next eldest brother, Thomas W., came to Paris, and eno-aged in the 
saddlery trade and business at this place. The Avar breakin'i out soon 
afterwards, Mr. Pitts promptly enlisted in the Missouri StTite Guard 
under Capt. Brace, and while in this service participated in the bat- 
tles of Lexington and Pea Ridge, and some minor eno:ao-ements. He 
then enlisted in Co. G, Second Missouri infantry, uirdei- Col. Cock- 
rell, and served until the close of the war, or rather until nearly the 
close, when, after having his arm shot off, he was taken prisoner and 
confined at Camp Chase until after peace was declared. We can not 
take the space to follow him through his four years of campaianincr 
in the South, or to give any idea of^the dangers and hardships throuoh 



586 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

which he passed. Suffice it to say, that as a soldier he was distin- 
guished for bravery among as brave a body of men as ever kept step to 
martial music, or faced death without fear on the field of battle. He 
participated m all the campaigns and battles in which his command took 
part, and was ever found in the front rank of his comrades where brave 
men dared to do and die for the cause that they held dearer than life. 
After the war and after his release from Camp 'Chase, Mr. Pitts 
returned to Paris and began the harness business again at this place. 
He continued it with success until 1872, when he was elected sheriff 
of the county. Two years later he was re-elected. At the close of 
his second term as sheriff, in 1876, he was elected collector of the 
county, and he was afterwards twice re-elected to that office, serving 
three consecutive terms as county collector. Since the close of his 
last term, in January, 1883, Mr. Pitts has not re-engaged in business. 
He has valuable property interests, however, to which he is giving his 
attention. He is also a large stockholder in the " Governor " silver 
mine of Colorado, and has made two trips to the West, looking after 
his interests in the mine. February 4, 1875, Mr. Pitts was married 
to Miss Laura F. Boulware, of Monroe county. They have an inter- 
esting little daughter, Kittie, now In her third year. One, a prom- 
ising infant son, Harry E., died when less than a year old. Mrs. P. 
is a valued member of the Christian Church. Mr. Pitts is univer- 
sally regarded as one of the most estimable men of the county, 
highly esteemed by all who know him. 

THOMAS W. PITTS 

(Dealer in Saddlery and Harness, Paris). 

Mr. Pitts has been engaged in his present line of business at Paris 
almost continuously since 1860, a period of 24 years, and has given 
his time and attention to no other business interest, save that of 
hotel proprietor, he having kept the Virginia House in Paris for 12 
months. A man of high character and highly esteemed by all who 
know him, his name is a synonym for fair dealing, good work and 
good citizenship all over the county. He is the fifth of his father's 
family of children, something of a history of which has already been 
given in the sketch of his brother, Frank L. Pitts. The others are 
Mrs. Martha J. Owen, wife of W. T. Owen, of Hannibal, and a twin 
sister of Thomas W., both having been born July 4, 1838; Sarah, 
now Mrs. William L. Kidd, who resides at Hannibal, her husband being 
deceased ; William R., a wholesale merchant of Hannibal ; James K., 
Avho died in young manhood, in 1856 ; Frank L., the subject of the pre- 
vious sketch, and Mary C, the wife of Frederick Waller, now of Lead- 
ville. Col. Thomas W. Pitts was married May 18, 1863, to Miss Bettie 
F. Vaughn (who was born in Sparta, Va.), a daughter of Col. John 
Vaughn, formerly of Kentucky. They have six children : Bina, Car- 
rie, Bessie, Sadie, Olive V. and Archie. Two are deceased, Frank 
and Harry. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 587 

MILFRED POWERS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

March 8, 1826, was the date of Mr. Powers' birth, and his father's 
farm in Greenup county, Ky., the place. When he was about five 
years of age his parents, Richard and Harriet (Poage) Powers, re- 
moved to Missouri and settled in Monroe county, on the old Hannibal 
and Paris road, about a mile from the North Fork. There his father 
entered land and improved a farm. He resided on his place near the 
North Kork until his death, which was in about 1860. He was very 
successful as a farmer and at one time owned about 1,100 acres of 
fine land. He served for a number of years as justice of the peace, 
and was from time to time a member of the grand jury, one of the 
well known and highly respected citizens of the county. He was a 
worthy member of the Presbyterian Church. Milfred Powers was 
reared on a farm in this county and following in the worthy footsteps 
of his father, himself became a farmer of the county after he o-rewup. 
He has been satisfactorily successful in his chosen occupation and 
now has a good place of 120 acres in Jackson township. In 1847 
he was married to Miss Harriet Dickson, a daughter of James 
Dickson. Six children bless this union, namely: Laura B., James 
D., Luella M., Richard B., Annie J. and Harry C. He and wife are 
members of the Church. Mr. Powers is a inan of marked industry 
and thorough-going qualities as a farmer, and as a neighbor and 
citizen commands the respect of the community. 

CHARLES M. REED 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Dealer, Sections 6 and 7, Post-office, Paris) . 

Mr. Reed was born August 6, 1872, in Shelby county, Ohio. His 
father, James S. Reed, a native of Lycoming county, Penn., spent 
most of his }onth in Richland county, Ohio. In 1863 he moved to 
Iowa; in 1866 to Salem county. Mo., and the following year to Mon- 
roe. After a few years, he changed his residence to Shelby county. 
Mo. His wife, Mary Johnson, was a native of Shelby county, Ohio. 
They had four children, and of these three are still living : Thomas W., 
P. Wilbur and Charlie M. The last named grew up inShelby county, 
Ohio, and became a farmer and dealer in stock. After living success- 
ively in Iowa, Saline county, Mo., and again in Iowa, in" 1867 he 
removed to Monroe county. Mo., where he now owns a finely im- 
proved farm of 320 acres. Mr. Reed is a man of large brain and 
advanced ideas, and is made of that material which constitutes in its 
citizens the wealth and insures the welfare of every State. His honesty, 
upright character and energetic industry have placed him upon the 
only level possible to a man of his calibre. His benevolence and 
nobility of soul are shown in the fond care which he bestows upon 
three orphan children to whom he has given a place in his warm 
heart and hospitable home. His wife, to whom he was married in 



588 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Joues county, Iowa, was Miss Louie Freeman. Heaven has denied 

them tl] 

Order. 



them the blessing of children. Mr. Reed is a member of the Masonic 



TEMPLE B. EOBINSON 

(^ Attorney at Law, Paris) . 

Col. Waltour Robinson, the father of the subject of this sketch, is 
remembered by the early settlers of Monroe county as one of its most 
highly respected and influential citizens. He came to Paris in 1838, 
and lived in this county for about 15 years, following merchandising 
at Paris for a time and then fiirming and stock-raising, near this place, 
in both of which he was very successful. His health failing, however, 
he removed to Lawrence county, in the south-western part of the 
State, for a milder climate, where he died two years afterwards, in 
1856. He had represented Monroe county in the Legislature, and 
held other positions of public trust. In the old muster days he was 
colonel of militia. He was a man of fine intelligence and great 
strength of character, and in his day was one of the most popular men 
of the county. He was born in Virginia in 1815, and came to Missouri 
with his parents, settling in Boone county, in 1830. There he mar- 
ried Miss Clara A. Moss, a daughter of Mason Moss, originally of 
Virginia, and one of the pioneers of Missouri, settling first at old Fort 
Hempstead, in Howard county, where his daughter Clara was born in 
1820, and afterwards moving to Boone county. Six of his family of 
children are living, namely: Temple B., the subject of this sketch ; 
Lucy H., now Mrs. R. N. Bodine ; Laura V., Walter M., Charles M. 
and Willie H. Kate M., who married George B. Caldwell, died in 
1883. The mother, an active, intelligent and most amiable and esti- 
mable woman, is also still living, making her home with her son, 
Temple B. Robinson, at Paris. One of his sisters, Laura V., also 
resides with him. Temple B. Robinson was born in Monroe county 
June 16, 1841, and was educated at the Paris Male Academy. In 1861 
he began the study of law under D. H. Moss, Esq., of this place, which 
he continued for a time, but his health failing from close application 
and confinement, he was compelled to abandon the law and engaged in 
the stock business, which he followed for some years. After the close 
of the war, however, he resumed the study of law, and was admitted to 
practice in 1865. He was then offered a partnership with Judge D. 
H. Moss, who had a large practice, which he accepted, and he continued 
with him until the Judge retired from active work in his profession 
in 1876, Since then he has had no partner, but has continued the 
practice and has achieved excellent success in his profession. He has 
a regnlar and substantial practice in both civil and criminal cases, and 
has an enviable reputation at the bar. Thoroughly upright, he has the 
confidence of every one, and a hard worker in his profession as well as 
a skillful practitioner nnd able advocate, he is looked upon as an attor- 
ney who can be implicitly relied upon by clients in the most difficult 
cases. Mr. Robinson was a steadfast Union man during the war, and, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



589 



indeed, was an Emancipationist at heart from his earliest recollection.^ 
He has always taken an active and zealous interest in the cause of 
popular education, and stood by the public school system of Missouri 
after the war, when it needed all the friends it could get, and then had 
none too many. In 1867 he was made secretary of the school board, 
and has held that office continuously until the present, and during that 
time has worked with great energy for the success of the schools of 
Paris. He has never "^held or sought any other official position, 
although he takes a deep interest in all questions of public welfare 
and advancement, whether local, State or National. 

HON. TYREE T. RODES 

(Dealer in Real Estate, Paris) . 

Mr. Rodes was born near Hydesburg, in Ralls county, November 
23, 1841. He was the fourth"^ in a family of eight children of Dr. 
Tyree Rodes and wife, nee Miss Eliza Tipton, the father originally of 
Virginia, but the mother of an old Tennessee family. His father, 
born in Albemarle county of the Old Dominion, was reared in that 
State and educated at the Virginia State University, of which he was 
a o-raduate. Early in life Tennessee became his home, and from that 
State he came to Missouri in about 1837, settling in Ralls county, 
where he reared his family. He was a man of fine intelligence and 
culture, an able and successful physician, and an influential and sub- 
stantial citizen of Ralls county. He died there in 1861. Tyree Tip- 
ton Rodes, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Ralls county, and 
educated at Rensselaer Academy, where he took a complete course. 
He subsequently attended a commercial college in St. Louis. Follow- 
ing this Mr. Rodes went to Virginia, where he was engaged in mercan- 
tile life until 1865. Returning to Missouri during the year last named, 
he located on a farm in the north-western part of Monroe county, and 
continued farming until 1873. Meanwhile, in 1868, he was nominated 
for the Legislature by the Democrats of Monroe county, and was 
elected by an overwhelming majority, but was not permitted to repre- 
sent the people. Those were the days when it was one thing to vote 
and another thing to get the votes counted, if they were Democratic 
ballots. Indeed, judging from Tilden's experience, it is doubtful 
whether such days will ever cease, as long as Republican mathema- 
ticians have the casting up of results. Anyhow, Mr. Rodes' votes 
were thrown out as being the ballots of rebels, although each voter 
had taken an oath so loyal that it left his lips blue for a month after 
he had sworn it. It was in the same election in which Switzler and Dyer 
ran for Congress, and as Switzler was counted out, so of course Mr. 
Rodes was counted out also. Then Democratic voters, Avhen too 
numerous, were " rebels ; " when Tilden was counted out, they were 
" bulldozers ; " and the Lord only knows what they will be in 1884. 
Continuing on his farm until 1873, Mr. Rodes then came to Paris and 
became a ^partner with Mr. B. F. Blanton in the publication of the 
Appeal, taking charge of the editorial department of the paper. He 



590 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

was in the Appeal for five years and contributed very materially 
toward building up that paper to the position of prominence and influ- 
ence it has ever since held among the leading country journals of the 
State. Since 1880 he has been engaged in the real estate business. 
In 1880 he was a candidate for the. Democratic nomination for State 
Senator from this district, but was defeated for the nomination as 
follows: There were three candidates before the convention, Major, 
of Howard ; Rouse, of Randolph, and Rodes, of Monroe county, and 
over 600 ballots were taken, the result standing each time Rodes 17, 
Rouse 14, and Major 11. On the 602d ballot the entire vote of Ran- 
dolph county, which had until then been cast for Rouse, was cast for 
Major. Before the vote was announced, however, Monroe county 
cast her vote of 17 solid for Rouse, and called on Randolph county 
to come to the rescue of her candidate, which was accordingly done, 
resulting in the nomination of Rouse. October 15, 1868, Mr. Rodes 
was married to Miss Mary Blakey, a daughter of Hon. M. D. Blakey. 
They have three children : Jennie C, Marcus T. and Willie C. He 
has lost one child, Fannie B., who died in 1880 at the age of two years. 
Mr. Rodes is a prominent member of the Masonic order, and his wife 
is a member of the Christian Church. 

ENOCH W. ROGERS 

(Post-office, Paris) . 

Mr. Rogers ranks as one of the conspicuous farmers and stock- 
raisers of that rich agricultural and grazing land, Monroe county. He 
resides on section four, in Jackson township, and was born May 24, 
1847. His mother died December 25, 1848, and his father making 
an overland trip to California in the spring of 1849, died there in 
1851, leaving him an orphan. He, young Enoch, received the care of 
his uncle Wilson, and when only 13 years old he began the struggle of 
life for himself, attending as time allowed with a noble ambition a dis- 
trict school. At 18 years of age he went to Wan-en county. 111., 
where he located for several years. Thence he returned to Missouri, 
and September 28, 1870, was married near Madison, to Mary Eliza, 
daughter of C. P. Love, a lady who has been a life long joy to him in 
his cares and struggles. After his marriage he purchased a farm in 
Audrain county, sold this and purchased and sold other places to ad- 
vantage. Finally, in December, 1883, he obtained the farm where he 
now resides, consisting of 165 acres of beautiful meadow land. His 
wife has borne him three children : Arthur P., Emma B. and Joseph 
C. Himself and wife are devout members of the Christian Church, 
while Mr. Rogers is a member of the Odd Fellows Lod<>;e. 

LOUIS ROSE 

(Dealer in Boots and Slioes, Paris). 

Mr. Rose, one of the leading business men and large property 
holders of Paris, commenced for himself without a dollar and learned 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 591 

the shoemaker's trade, at which he afterwards worked as journeyman 
for a number of years at a small pittance. Most of the salary he received 
for his work was generously given for the support of his orphaned 
brothers and sisters. From this apparently unpromising beginning, 
by his industry, intelligence and perseverance, he has steadily come 
up in life until he has reached his present enviable position. Mr. 
Eose is a native of Germany, born July 26, 1836. His father was 
John C. Rose. His parents continued in Germany for eight years 
after the birth of Louis, during the last few years of which he 
attended the schools of his native village. Coming to America in 
1844, the family settled at Cape Girardeau, where both the parents 
died a few years afterwards. At the age of 15, being left not only to 
look out for himself, but also to care for his brothers and sisters, by 
the death of his parents, he being the eldest in the family, Louis 
apprenticed himself to the shoemaker's trade, at which he worked as 
an apprentice four years and a half, two and a half at $4 a month and 
two years at $50 a year, receiving his board and washing besides. 
He then worked as a journeyman at a small salary, for shoemaker's 
salaries were not large then, and as has been said, practically, all he 
made went to help those dependent upon him, which at best was only 
too little. But some of the older of them grew up so that they could 
also assist, and in the fall of 1857 he was married to Miss Anna Klus- 
mer. Married now, he felt that it was time to begin in business for 
himself and to commence establishing himself in life. But he had not 
a dollar to begin on, and to think of continuing life as a journeyman 
seemed out of the question. In this emergency his generous and 
true-hearted wife came to his relief. She had saved up $27 from her 
own work before their marriage, and this she loaned him to buy 
a kit of tools. Buying a few tools, he opened a shop of his own, 
and from this beginning sprang his subsequent success. He 
now has the largest boot and shoe house in Paris, and is 
doing a heavy and prosperous business. He also owns the hand- 
some business house he occupies and the one adjoining which 
is occupied by a millinery store. He also has a handsome brick resi- 
dence, where he resides. In a word, Mr. Rose is one of the solid 
men of the town of Paris, and one of its valuable and useful citi- 
zens. Whether he has ever refunded the $27 borrowed to his wife, 
or not, deponent sayeth not. But if she ever lost anything by the 
transaction, she is the least dissatisfied creditor one would meet of a 
summer's day. Doubtless she has found it the best investment she 
ever made in her life. Mr. Rose has been in business at Paris for 
many years, and has an established reputation as a man and citizen, 
which is without reproach. He and wife have three children : John 
W., Charles H. and Martha H. He has been a warm friend of the 
public schools. He is a member of both the Masonic and Odd Fel- 
lows orders. 



592 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

THOMAS J. ROWE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Feeder and Dealei", Section 29) , 

S. S. Rowe, father of Thomas J., was a native of New York, but 
he came when a young man to Missouri. He was by profession a 
dentist and traveled a part of his time in the practice of it. He, in 
the course of events, married Miss Elizabeth F. Summers, of Ran- 
dolph county, and settled in the northern part of Audrain county. Af- 
ter trying several farms, he finally entered and purchased 1,500 acres 
of land and improved a place, upon Avhich Thomas J. now resides. 
He was twice mari;ied, the mother of Thomas J. being the second wife. 
There was one son by the first marriage, and four sons and a daughter 
by the last. Of these Thomas J. was the eldest. Mr. S. S. Rowe 
died in Monroe county, on the fjirm now owned by his son, in June of 
the year 1857. After his death Mrs, Rowe moved with her family to 
Randolph county and there the subject of the present sketch grew up 
on the farm. He was given a good English education at Mt. Pleasant 
College, Huntsville, Mo. After the completion of his studies, Mr. 
Rowe taught sciiool for three years in Randolph and Monroe counties, 
in the last named of which he finally settled in 1877. Two years later 
he married Miss Mary E., daughter of G. W. Vanlandingham, whose 
sketch may be found in this History. There are two children living 
by this union : Georgia Ann and Fannie Lena. One lovely babe, 11 
months old, Corda L., died February 17, 1881. Mr. Rowe is a 
farmer of unusual ability and is a most interprising man. He owns 
360 acres of land, all fenced, and about 300 acres are in meadow, pas- 
ture and plow land. His improvements are good and his place presents 
a very tidy and attractive appearance. Mr. and Mrs. R. are members 
of the M. E. Church South. 

FREDERICK SAGESER 

(Post-ofRce, Rowe). 

Mr. Sageser, like many of the stanch citizens of Monroe county, 
is a native of Kentucky, having been born September 6, 1828, in 
Jessamine county. Both parents died, leaving Frederick with eight 
brothers and two sisters, he being the eldest of the family. With such 
cares before him, it is a high commendation to say of his character that 
he strove to obtain a good education when the weather was bad and 
he could not labor in the field, allowing his brothers to attend when it 
was fair and he could toil ; and in November, 1853, he wedded Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Daniel Van Tice, she being a native of Jessamine. 
She died in 1856, leaving one son, Joseph Sageser, now a prominent 
physician of Chicago. Mr. Sageser was again married, February 14, 
1858, to Miss Aurend Jane Gully. Shortly afterwards the young 
couple located in McLean county. 111., 80 miles from Chicago, resid- 
ing there until 1882, when the property was sold and they removed to 
Monroe county. Here Mrs. Sageser passed away, August 21, 1881, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 595 

riage March 26, 1874, to Elenora Wills, also of Kentucky parentage. 
After this event, he purchased a farm three miles west of his pres- 
ent location, improving it for five years, when he removed in the 
spring of 1879 to a better place. Of his children three have died : 
Mary E., in August, 1876, aged 13 months, Nellie F., February 27, 
1884, aged three years; James F., March 1, 1884, aged 14 months. 
But one child is spared to them, William. R. Mr. Shrader, though 
one of the youngest prominent men of Monroe county, is an exeample 
of progress and a credit to success. He has risen steadily and held 
his place against the adversities which beset him and ere many years 
have passed, should he continue his steps, he will stand among the 
wealthiest and foremost farmers and stock-raisers of Monroe county. 

JEREMIAH B. P. SMITH 

(Blacksmith and Wagon-maker, Paris). 

Mr. Smith was born in Boyle county, Ky., April 3, 1836, and was a 
son of Ephraim Smith, of Garrard county, Ky., born November 19, 
1795, and Elizabeth Pope, born in Boyle county, July 4, 1802. When 14 
years of age his parents removed to Missouri, locating two miles north 
of Paris, where he remained with them for three years. He then came 
to Paris and apprenticed himself to the blacksmith's trade, and after 
he learned that, he went to Santa Fe, Jackson county. Mo., and 
worked there for about two years, but in about 1856 he established a 
shop of his own at this place. After a while he formed a partnership 
with Mr. Wilson and engaged especially in the manufacture of plows, 
which he followed with rapidly increasing success, their plows 'obtain- 
ing a wide sale and high reputation until the outbreak of the war put 
all sorts of business out of joint, including his own. He now traded 
his stock of plows off for a tract of land in Carroll county, taking the 
view very sensibly that whatever else the thieves stole during the 
war they could not carry his land off with them. He now farmed for a 
time and then went to California with Hugh Glenn, who took a large 
drove of mules. Returning from the Pacific coast two years after- 
wards by the way of the Isthmus and New York, he worked on a farm 
with his father until 1868, when he moved to his land in Carroll 
county, but his wife's health failing, he came back to Paris and re- 
sumed blacksmithino; and wao;on-makino:, which he has since followed. 
He is a man highly esteemed by all who know him, a first-class 
mechanic and has a large custom. March 3, 1868, he was married to 
Miss Mary B. Baughman, daughter of Samuel Baughman, of Boyle 
county, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church, and he is a clerk and deacon of the church at this 
place and has been secured several years as superintendent of the Sun- 
day-school. He was sent as a delegate to the Southern Baptist Con- 
vention at Waco, Tex., which was attended by about 10,000 people. 
While in Waco he was given a pass to Monterey and other points in 
Old Mexico by the superintendent of the Gould system, and visited the 
scene of Gen. Taylor's victory in the Mexican War, and also the 



596 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

Alamo where Davy Crockett fell gallantly fighting and overpoweringja 
number of assailants, several of whom fell pierced by Ills sword before 
he himself yielded up his life. Mr. Smith visited many places of interest 
in Mexico, and gives an intelligent and interesting account of the 
country, its climate, appearance, people and their character, habits, 
manners, religion, their churches, schools, etc., and of the products 
of the country, tropical and otherwise, plants, flowers, fruits, etc. 

JAMES A. SMITH M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Paris). 

Dr. Smith is a native Indianian, born May 10, 1846. His parents 
were Jesse and Henry B. (Beales) Smith, his father from North Car- 
olina, but his mother from Ohio. They married in Indiana, and 
resided there and in Iowa until 1857, when they came to Missouri, 
locating near Princeton, in Mercer county. In 1865 they moved to 
Grundy county, and three yeal's later to Montgomery county, where 
they made their home until 1881, when they came to Granville, in 
Monroe county, where the father is now engaged in merchandising. 
He was for 20 years engaged in the active ministry of the Christian 
Church, but now is, and for some years past has been, engaged in the 
mercantile business. Early in 1861 James A. (the Doctor) enlisted 
in the Fifth Kansas Volunteers, but soon afterwards became a mem- 
ber of the Tenth Kansas, under Col. Weir. He was then but 15 years 
of age, but nevertheless made a faithful and valliant soldier until after 
the close of the war, participating in no less than 26 battles and skir- 
mishes, including some 15 regular engagements. During a service of 
four years and three months he was wounded but once, at Nashville, 
Tenn., when he was struck on the head with a piece of Confederate 
bombshell, but he was too sound on the Union question to be broken 
up in any such a way as that. Space is not sufficient in the limits to 
which we must confine these sketches to permit us to give the details 
of his army career, for while it is quite thrilling and interesting, it is 
too lengthy to admit of publication here. Under 20 years of age 
when he was honorably discharged from the service, after the Union 
had been restored, he went to work at the carpenter's trade with his 
uncle, in Montgomery county, this State. Meanwhile he had mar- 
ried, being a brave soldier boy but 17 years of age when he was 
united in the silken bonds of matrimony to his fair bride. She was 
just past 14 years of age when they were married, and after this happy 
event, was permitted to return home on a furlough of 30 days, and 
took his young wife home with him, where she remained until after 
the close of the war, and the 30 days' honeymoon he spetit with her 
was his only absence from the army during the entire war. His 
wife was a Miss Ruth Quinby before her marriage. He worked at the 
carpenter's trade until 1869, when he began the study of medicine 
under Dr. V. A. Willis. He took his first course of lectures at the 
Indianapolis Medical College, and his second course at the Medical 
College of Fort Wayne, Ind., at which he graduated April 10, 1871. 



HISTORY or MONROE COUNTY. 597 

Dr. Smith began the practice at Price's Branch immediately after 
graduation, and afterwards moved to Pike county in 1877, and in the 
spring of 1880, he moved to Chipper, in Monroe county. From 
Clapper he came to Paris in February, 1884. He has a good practice 
here, and is vice-president of the County Medical Society and county 
physician. Dr. Smith's first wife died in 1871, leaving him two 
children : Charles E. and Hattie M. He was married to his present 
wife, September 1, 1874. She was a Miss Priscilla A. Watkins, a 
daughter of Jesse Watkins, deceased, one of the first settlers of 
Montgomery county. They have three children, Sanford M., Donie 
E. andEoy. One (Flora) is deceased. The Doctor was reared a 
Eepublican, but during the Greenback picnic coquetted considerably 
with that party, being one of its State central committee men, but he 
has now returned to his first and early love, and is happily for Blaine 
and Maine. The Doctor and wife are members of the Christian Church, 
and he is a member of the Masonic order and the Triple Alliance. 

WILLIAM H. SNELL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Paris). 

Among the prominent young farmers of South Jackson township, 
the subject of the present sketch occupies a justly enviable position. 
He is one of those energetic, business-like men who go at anythino- 
they undertake with the determination to succeed, and where their 
opportunites are at all favorable they rarely, if ever, fail. Mr. Snell 
is a native of Missouri, born in the county where he now resides, on 
the 27th of October, 1852. His father was Willis Snell, originally 
of Kentucky, but from Boone county. Mo., to Monroe, and one of the 
successful farmers and sterling, highly esteemed citizens of this county. 
He died here in the spring of 1882. " Mr. Snell's mother was a Miss 
Martha F. Woods before her marriage, a dauohter of W. A. and 
Elizabeth Woods,, of Monroe county^ but formerly of Kentucky. 
William H. was reared on the family homestead, where he was born, 
one and a half miles north of Middle Grove, and received his educa- 
tion in the district schools of that vicinity. On reaching his majority 
he engaged in farming on his own account and being a young man of 
industry and good business ideas, made substantial progress as a 
farmer. On the 11th of March, 1880, he was married to Miss Mattie 
Crow, a daughter of Dr. W. H. H. and H. E. Crow, one of the early set- 
tlers of Monroe county, or rather the Doctor's parents were early 
settlers, for he himself was in infancy when they came here from 
Kentucky, in 1826. Prior to his marriage Mr. Snell had bought the 
land on which he now resides and made some improvements on it. He 
now came to his place with his young wife and went to work with 
renewed energy and resolution to"'establish himself comfortably in life. 
He has greatly improved his place since then and now has good build- 
ings, excellent fences and all other necessary improvements and con- 
veniences for a grain and stock farm. His place contains nearly 300 
acres, all of which is under fence and about 240 acres are in me^adow 



598 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

and pasturage. Mr. Snell makes a specialty of breeding and raising 
good graded cattle, and has 50 head of fine cows. He and wife are 
members of the Christian Church. They have two children : Hattie 
Frances and Henry Willis. 

W. E. SPALDING 

(Of Spildiag & Speed, Cabinet Makers, Dealers ia Furniture and Upholsterers, 

Paris, Mo.) 

Mr. Spalding, whose career is a striking and remarkable proof of 
what industry, perseverance and good management can accomplish in 
cabinet making and the furniture business, as indeed in almost any 
other branch of industry or business, is a native Missourian, born in 
Kails county, November 29, 1829. His boyhood and youth were 
spent on the ftirm with his father, with whom he remained until after 
he was 18 years of age. He then started out for himself and learned 
the cabinet maker's trade, and after working at his trade at different 
places, located at Paris in 1855, where he established a shop of his 
own and where he has since resided. When he came to this place he 
had no capital. He rented a small room, 8x10 feet square, where 
he set up for himself and went to work. It is an old adage that, "If 
you keep your shop your shop will keep you," and his experience has 
given another proof of the truth of this. From that small beginning 
he has steadily come up until he now has one of the largest cabinet 
and upholstering establishments and furniture houses outside of a 
considerable city, in North Missouri, a house with a full plant of 
machinery, an immense stock of goods and a heavy business, command- 
ino- a trade which extends over a wide district of country and is 
constantly increasing. His business house is a large two-story brick, 
fitted with two flights of stairs for greater convenience in handling 
furniture, and in his display rooms he has every fashionable pattern 
and style of furniture, including all the latest designs and articles in 
house-fitting, marble-trimmed goods of every variety of marble and 
make, upholstered goods, damask, silk and plush finished, and, indeed, 
everything to be found in a first-class, full-stock, retail furniture 
house. Of course this has not all been accomplished in a day, nor a 
month, nor a year, but is the result of years of patient industry, close 
attention to business, fair dealing and enterprise and good manage- 
ment. After his little 8 x 10 room he secured one a little larger as his 
business increased, then another still larger, then one larger yet, and 
finally built a small house of his own which, after awhile, he furnished 
with machinery, and he kept on enlarging his facilities, until at last 
he built the handsome brick structure which he now occupies. In 1879 
he admitted Mr. Speed, who bought an interest in his business, into 
partnership with him, who, a thorough-going and enterprising busi- 
ness man, is doing a great deal to advance the interests of the firm. 
Prior to this Mr. Spalding had had but one partner, and that one only 
for a short time, so that this business is almost exclusively the pro- 
duct of his own muscle and brain, and stands out a worthy monument 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 595^ 

to his industry and personal worth. In 1862 Mr. Spalding was 
married to Miss Louisa E. Smith. She survived, however, less than 
two years after their marriage, their only child dying about the same 
time. In the spring of 186(3 he was married to Miss Eliza Speed, 
who still brightens his home. Mr. Spalding's parents were Benjamin 
E. and Matilda (Hager) Spalding, both originally of Marion county, 
Ky., and W. E. was the fourth of their family of six children. His 
great grandfather, on his mother's side, George Hager, was the 
founder of Hagerstowu, Md. His grandfather, Aaron Spalding, was a 
soldier in the Kevolutionary War. He was several times wounded 
during the war and carried bullets in his body to the day of his death, 
at a ripe old age, after independence had been won, which he received 
from the enemy whilst in the service of his country. Mr. Spalding's 
father came to Missouri in 1829 with his family and finally settled in 
Kails county, where he lived until his death at a good old age, highly 
respected by all who knew him. 

MATTHIAS W. SPEED 

(Of Spaldiug & Speed, Cabinet Makers, Dealers iu Furniture, aud Upholsterers, 

Paris, Mo.). 

It was in Casey county, Ky., that Mr. Speed was born, and he 
made his introitus into post-accouchement life January 17, 1834. 
His parents were Judge James Speed and consort, nee Dorinda 
Weatherford, both born and reared in Kentucky, and of old and 
highly respected families of the Blue Grass State. The same year 
that Matthias was born the family removed to Missouri and settled 
in Jackson township, of Monroe county. The father in early life was 
a tanner by trade, and followed that until his removal to Missouri. 
In this State he followed farming and after a while was elected con- 
stable of Jackson township, which at that time was an office of 
more importance than it is now and produced a neat income. By 
becoming generally acquainted over the county and justly popular 
wherever he was known, he was subsequently elected judge of the 
county court. Serving for four years with ability and satisfaction to 
the people, he was re-elected to that office, and during the responsible 
period of the erection of the county court-house he was president of 
the court, and had the principal burden of the responsibilities and 
duties incident to that important enterprise. Prior to this he had 
removed to Paris, and he held various positions of local consideration 
at this place, including the office of justice of the peace, which he 
held at the time of his death, aud had filled for 15 years before. He 
was also mayor of the city for some time. Judge Speed died in Jan- 
uary, 1874, at the age of 65 years. Matthias W., the subject of this 
sketch, remained at home with his parents until he was 20 years of 
age, assisting on the farm and attending the neighborhood schools. 
He then came to Paris and worked at grading the streets for some 
time, after which he drove a hack between Paris and the St. Joe Rail- 
road, and finally between Paris and Shelbina. In 1859 he bought an 

33 



600 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

interest in a livery stable at Paris, and selling out later along, in 
1860 he was made deputy sheriff, an office he tilled for two years. 
He then followed farming for two years, but after that returned to 
Paris and re-engaged in the livery business. Three years later he 
l>ought a half interest in a drug store, and was identified with it for 
about eight years. He then went into the fancy grocery business, 
but had the misfortune to be burned out soon afterwards ; yet he 
continued the grocery business until he became a partner with Mr. 
Spalding in 1879. His present business has been spoken of at 
length in the sketch of Mr. Spalding. It is thus seen that Mr. Speed 
is a self-made man and has come up in life by his own industry and 
business ability. March 6, 1860, he w^as married to Miss Eliza F. 
Gartin. They have five children : Uriah G., James F., Anna M. and 
Maude. One besides, Hattie Belle, is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
Speed are members of the Presbyterian Church. He has been an 
elder in the church for about 12 years. 

URIAH G. SPEED 

»■ (Of Cooper & Speed's Saddlery and Harness House, Paris). 

Mr. Speed was l)orn and reared in the place in which he is now 
engaged in business, and is therefore well known to the people of 
Paris and surrounding country. It is only due truth that he is as 
favorably as he is well known by the people of this community. A 
business young man of irreproachable character and popular manners, 
he is highly esteemed by all who know him. Mr. Speed was born in 
Paris, June 21, 1863, a son of Matthew W. Speed. He acquired his 
education in the public schools of this place, and took a thorough 
course in book-keeping under a private instructor. While still young 
he learned the saddler's trade, working at it at Paris for about three 
years. Subsequently he was book-keeper for Henry Roemer, a lead- 
ing grocer of Moberly. In 1882 he and John S. West engaged in his 
present line of business at Paris, and in the fall of the following year 
he sold out to Mr. West and formed a partnership with D, L. Cooper. 
Messrs. Cooper & Speed have one of the best saddlery and harness 
houses, manufacturing and mercantile, in the county. They have a 
ftiir trade and are doing a flourishing business. 

JOSEPH E. SPROUL, 

(Post-office, Paris) . 

Mr. S., one of the most substantial farmers in Jackson township, and 
one of its highly respected citizens, is a native of Kentucky, born in 
Lincoln county, January 25, 1813. In 1829 his parents removed to 
Missouri, and settled in Monroe county, which w^as then a part of Ralls 
county, where they made their permanent home. In 1836 Joseph E. 
Sproul Avas married to Miss Elizabeth A. McGee, a sister to Josiah J. 
McGee, whose sketch appears in this volume. Young Sproul was 
quite poor when he was married, and worked by the month for some 
time afterwards until he saved up enough to get a piece of land. His 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 601 

true-hearted and brave young wife did her full share towards getting 
a start. She carded, and wove and spun, attended to the household 
affairs, managed their home with economy, and assisted wherever she 
could to help along. Finally they accumulated enough to make a 
payment on an entry of 80 acres of land. Here Mr. Sproul made a 
neat little farm. After a while he sold this to good advantage, and 
bought a part of his present place. For a time, also, he \as in 
partnership with his brother-in-law, in the milling business, but sold 
out after a year or two, preferring to follow farm life exclusively. 
However, he helped to build the first water-mill ever erected in the 
county. Mr. Sproul has lived on his present farm for nearly half 
a century, and has added to his original tract of 80 acres from 
time to time until he now has a fine place of nearly 500 acres. His 
little log-house, erected years ago, has given place to a handsome, 
commodious dwelling, one of the best in the township. Although 
they have left their litttle house of former years, they have not for- 
gotten .it, for many memorable recollections'^ cluster about it, as dear 
as the memory of buried love, and as sweet as the prayer which 
childhood wafts above: — 

" Yes, a deal has happened to make this old house dear. 
Chrlstenin's, funerals, weddiu's — what haven't we had here? 
Not a log in this buildin' but its memories has got, 
And not a nail in the old floor but touches a'tender spot." 

They have five children: Thompson B., William E., John J., Belle, 
and Samuel D. 

FEENCH STROTHER 

(Principal of Strother Institute, Strother, Monroe County, Mo.). 

Very many of the professional men of Kentucky and Missouri are 
Virginians, either by nativity or by descent. This is true of Mr. French 
Strother, who was born on his father's farm near the county seat of 
Rappahannock county, Va. , January 14, 1825. His great-great grand- 
parents were Frank Strother and Susan Dabney. From them have 
sprung some of the noted men of the nation. Gen. Zachary Taylor, - 
who, Avith less than 5,000 men, defeated the flower of the Mexican 
army, 20,000 strong and commanded by their military hero ; Gen. 
Gaines, the hero of Fort Erie ; John S. Pendleton, at one time called 
" the lone star of Virginia ; " and Judge A. H. Buckner, the distin- 
guished chairman of the banking committee of Congress, with the 
subject of this sketch, these are some of the most prominent. To 
the same family belong D. H. Strother, widely known as Porte 
Crayon, and Judge J. P. Strother, of Marshall, one of the leading 
lawyers of Central Missouri. The descendants of Frank and Susan 
D. Strother are thought to be the true heirs on the mother's side of 
the immense estate of" the English capitalist, William Jennings, who left 
$5,000,000, still held undistributed by the British government. Mr. 
Strother' s great grandparents were John Strother and Mary Wade, and 



602 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

his grandparents, John Strother and Helen Piper. Helen Piper was 
noted for her beauty and talent, and her husband was a man of wealth. 

His parents were French Strother and Mary Ann P. Browning. His 
father, the child of wealthy parents and his wife an heiress, was ever the 
poor man's friend and noted for his honesty. He died the death of a 
Christian in his eighty-seventh year, having enjoyed remarkable vigor 
of body and mind up to the time of his fatal sickness. Mr. S.'s 
maternal grandfather, Charles Browning, was, at the time of his death, 
the sheriff of Culpeper county, Va., a popular and good man, loved 
and respected of all. His mother still lives, though she has passed 
her fourscore years and is fast approaching the ten. She has been a 
child of God from her infancy, not knowing when she became a 
Christian. For 80 years she has lived and served the Saviour, and 
there are many v/ho Avill gratefully point to her as having led their 
feet to Christ. Her home is in Callaway county. 

Mrs. Susan A. Strother, the wife of the subject of this sketch, is the 
daughter and only child of Thornton F, Petty and Mary Abbott, late of 
Culpeper county, Va. They gave her the benefits of an accomplished 
education, and with her were regular visitors at the fashionable water- 
ing places of Virginia. Their hospitality and neighborly kindness 
were unbounded, and they were equally noted for the humane man- 
ner in which they treated their servants. They both lived to a 
good old age. Mrs. Susan Strother has not only been a true wife 
to her husband and a faithful mother to her children, but she has 
gained a laudable reputation as a teacher and composer of music. 
She is an intelligent, cultivated Christian woman. They were married 
August 24, 1850, and have been blessed with seven children, two dying 
in infancy: Minnie T., who married John S. Goss, of Fort Smith, 
lived a beautiful life and died a Christian death ; Berta, the widow of 
Zach Baker ; Oscar Dabney, now living in Fayetteville, Ark. ; Lillibel, 
who died two years ago at the age of 12, of whom her pastor said she 
was one of the brighest examples of a young Christian he had ever 
known ; and Allie, the youngest child. 

Mr. French Strother, when a lad of 12 years, was sent to the cele- 
brated academy at Charlottesville, Va,, under the management of Alex- 
ander Duke and M. P. Powers, both graduates of the University of 
Virginia, that he might be fitted to enter the great university of the 
South. His collegiate course was pursued at that grand university. 
He then went while still young to Alabama, teaching there six years. 
Returning to his native State, he had charge of the Salem Female 
Academy for several years. He then came to Missouri, where he has 
lived ever since. He was first Principal of the Glasgow Female 
Seminary eight years ; then President of the Lindenwood Female Col- 
lege at St. Charles ; then President of the Independence Female Col- 
lege ; then Principal of the Carrollton public schools ; and now the 
Principal and proprietor of Strother Institute near Paris, Mo., which 
he is conducting with marked success. The prosperity of his school 
is sufficiently attested by the fact that he is compelled to build a sub- 
stantial two-story addition to accommodate his growing patronage. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 603 

So much for the mnin facts of his lineage and his life ; and now a 
brief estimate of his character. These lines are written by one who 
has known him intimately for nearly 25 years, and who believes, with 
Cicero, that " flattery, the handmaid of the vices, should be far removed 
from friendship." Mr. Strother will always be reckoned at less than 
his real worth by strangers. He is, however, what Pope says is the 
noblest work of God — an honest man. He is the true metal, through 
and through, without alloy. Take him when, and where, and how you 
will, and you will find that you can rely implicitly upon what he says, 
upon what he promises, upon what he ought to do. If he owes you a 
dollar, you are as sure to get it as the day comes when it is due. If 
he tells you a thing is so, you may rely upon it as surely as upon your 
own eyes. If he undertakes to educate your child, you may be confi- 
dent that he will never deceive you with claptrap or humbuggery. 

He is the most generous and faithful of friends. Not only does he 
never turn his back when his neighbor is in trouble, but his purse, his 
time, his labor, his influence are all at the free disposal of the unfor- 
tunate and the needy. The writer has seen him fully and fairly tested, 
and there was less flinching and more whole souled generosity than he 
has ever seen in any other man. He is a typical Good Samaritan. 

He is a superior teacher. There is no one to whom we would more 
confidently commit the education of a child. He has always had the 
confidence in his profession of the best and most intelligent men where 
he has lived. Education is his life work, to which he has already 
devoted 40 bus}^ years. Now that Prof. Kemper has gone, he is the 
Nestor of Missouri teachers. Mr. Strother is a sincere and active 
Christian. His parentage was Presbyterian, and so is he; but he 
finds room in his heart for all who love the Saviour. Monroe county 
is rich in having such a man, with such a wife, and such a school ; and 
it speaks well for her that she appreciates him. 

REUBEN L. TILLITT 

(Farmer, Sectiou 28, Post-office, Paris) . 

Mr. Tillitt, a thrifty and industrious farmer, owns 100 acres of land 
upon Avhich he has placed every desirable improvement. He is one of 
the hard working, honest and valuable citizens of the township, and 
possesses the hearty regard of all who know him. Mr. T. was born 
March 9, 1838, in Monroe county, Mo. His father, Henry Tillitt, 
born in Kentucky, in 1807, came to Missouri before it was a State, 
but went back to Kentucky, where, in 1836, he was united in marriage 
to Miss Lurena J. Lewis. The following year he again came to Mis- 
souri and settling in Monroe county, worked at his trade of stone- 
mason until his death, February 11, 1868. Mrs. Tillitt, after rearing 
a family of six children, her earthly toils ended, went to receive a 
heavenly reward, December 27, 1882. They were both members of 
the Christian Church. Reuben was the eldest of the family and lived 
at home until the beginning of the war. He fought for a time on the 
Southern side, then, thinking discretion the better part of valor, he 



604 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

went to Canada and remained until peace was restored. He then 
returned to Missouri and took up his present occupation. Mr. Tillitt 
was married June 13, 1867, to Miss Sallie F. Henderson, daughter of 
William J. and Clarissa Henderson. Mr. T. was born April 16, 1843, 
in Monroe county. Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Tillitt have not reared any 
children of their own, but have adopted a little neice, Cordelia Tillitt, 
by name, who was born August 10, 1871. Mrs. T. is a member of 
the Old School Baptist Church. 

LARKIN S. TOWLES 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Young's Creek) . 

Mr. Towles' father, Henry Towles, was at one time one of the lead- 
ing stock men and wealthy farmers of Bourbon county, Ky. He owned 
2,000 acres of fine land in that cQunty and handled stock on an exten- 
sive scale. He was broken up, however, by the vicissitudes in the 
stock trade and other reverses ; but later along he recovered somewhat 
from his losses, yet only to the extent of acquiring a comfortable com- 
petency. He died in that county in 1854. He was a native of Cul- 
peper county, Va., and came out to Kentucky when a young man, 
where he married Miss Sallie Bedford, whose parents were also 
from Virginia, and lived in Bourbon county until his death. During 
the War of 1812, he was a gallant soldier in the American army, and 
was twice wounded at the battle of Ft. Meigs, once in the hip and 
once in the left arm. He lost his arm from the effects of his second 
wound, and ever afterwards carried an empty sleeve as the evidence 
of the brave part he bore in the war. There were eight children in 
his family, five sons and three daughters, that grew to majority. Of 
these, Larkin S., the subject of this sketch, was the youngest. 'He 
was born in Bourbon county, January 28, 1833, and was married there 
after he grew up, September 3, 1861, to Miss Mildred A. Gass, a 
daughter of Mr. M. M. Gass, of that county. He continued to fol- 
low farming in Bourbon county after his marriage, and also stock- 
raising, for he had been brought up to both of these, until 1877, when 
he removed to Missouri, and resided one year at Mexico. Previously 
he had bouglit the firm where he now resides, and in the spring of 
1878 he came to his pi-esent place. He has a farm of 364 acres, 300 
acres of which are in cultivation or meadow. Mr. Towles has his farm 
fairly improved, and is doing something in the way of stock-raising in 
addition to farming in a general way. He is a regular Kentucky farmer 
and a Kentucky judge of stock, which is saying a great deal. Per- 
sonally, he is highly thought of by all in his vicinity and wherever he 
is known. Mr. and Mrs. T. have five children : Henry M., John G., 
Mary, Walter B. and Frank C. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 605 

GEORGE W. VANLANDINGHAM 

(Post-oflSce, Paris) . 

This estimable farmer aud stock-raiser resides on section 27, of Jack- 
son township. He is a native of Kentucky, born in Bourbon county, 
three miles from Paris, February 2, 1824. His father, Merritt 
Vanlandingham, was a veteran of the War of 1812, and came to 
Missouri in 1826, living on a farm near Columbia until his death, 
which occurred in 1840. Thus in Boone county George grew up to 
manhood. He married Lucy Anna Carter, September 11, 1856. She 
was tTie daughter of Peter Carter, of Monroe county, born in Ken- 
tucky, and personated that best of all boons, a loving and industrious 
wife. Mr. Vanlandingham removed after his marriage to Monroe county, 
and purchased a tract of raw land and began a course of improve- 
ment which has made it one of the most valuable farms in this section 
of the State. It consists of 240 acres, well fenced and cultivated. 
From the start he was successful, as he understood his business and 
allowed no opportunity to pass for increase of his resources. His 
wife has borne him six children : Thomas J., William H., George W., 
Jr., Mary E., all happily married ; James M. and Almeda A. He 
was captain of the militia under Gov. Edwards for four years during 
the war. 

JESSE VANCE. 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Paris). 

Mr. Vance is a native of West Virginia, born in Pendleton county, 
May 25, 1846, though the original stock of the Vance family was of 
olcl Virginia. Branches of the family have radiated from the Old 
Dominion into North Carolina, Kentuck3% Illinois, Missouri, and a 
number of other States. Several of the family have risen to great 
eminence in life. Jesse Vance was a son of Jesse Vance, Sr., and 
wife, Hannah Conrad, both natives of West Virginia. In 1854 the 
family removed to Illinois, Avhere the father bought a farm and 
lived until his death, in 1861. He had over 400 acres of fine land 
and left considerable other property. He was twice married, Jesse 
being the eldest of six children, five sons and a daughter, by his first 
marriage. Jesse Vance, Jr., was married in DeWitt countv, 111., 
September 10, 1876, to Miss Adda E. Tull, a daughter of Lewis Tull, 
formerly of Ross county, Ohio. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Vance 
removed to Missouri and the foUowino- sprino- l)ouaht the land on 

I'll CIO" 

which he now resides. This he improved and now has one of the 
valuable farms of the township. His place contains nearly 200 acres 
and is all fenced. Mr. Vance is a man of energy and a good fiirmer and 
is well respected in the community as a neighbor and citizen. Mr. 
and Mrs. Vance have three children : Hattie L., Jesse L. and James 
W. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church South, and he is 
a member of the A. F. and A. M. at Paris. 



606 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 



WILLIAM A. WALLER 

(Collector of Monroe County, Paris) . 

Mr. Waller came to Missouri in 1838, and located in Monroe county. 
He was from Scott county, Ky., and was then just past his twenty- 
first year. He came out to this State in company with his parents 
and he has continued to reside in Monroe county almost continuously 
from that time to this, a period now of 46 years. He has followed 
farming all his life, or from boyhood, and he has long held the posi- 
tion in this county of one of its most thorough-going and energetic 
farmers. On the 11th of February, 1841, Mr. Waller was married 
to Miss Susan Mallory, a daughter of Samuel Mallory, originally of 
Culpeper county, Va., but later of Fayette county, Ky. Mr. and 
Mrs. Waller have reared nine children: Permelia A., the wife of D. 
Phillips ; Sarah F., the wife of James T. Ball; Lucy, John S., James 
H., Ursula E., the wife of John Davis; Joseph A,, George W. and 
Ambrose B. , the latter of whom, Ambrose B. , died at the age of 27. In 
1880 Mr. Waller was solicited to become a candidate for county col- 
lector and finally consented to make the race. In this canvass, how- 
ever, he was defeated by a few votes, and four j^ears afterwards, when 
the office was again to become vacant, he made a second trial for it 
and was successful, being first nominated and then elected, defeating 
his opponents at the polls by a handsome majority. After his elec- 
tion he moved his family to Paris where he has since resided. He is 
now serving the term for which he was elected, and judging by the 
expressions of the people heard on every hand, he is making a most 
capable and efficient officer. The public have the utmost confidence 
in his integrity as a man and his fidelity as an official, while his busi- 
ness qualifications, as he has shown in his present office, and, indeed, 
for years past, are beyond question. Mr. Waller's ancestors have 
been settled in Virginia for gejierations and his father, John Waller, 
was born in Staff'ord county, of that State, in 1780. He lived in 
Virginia for a number of years after he grew up, and was a carpenter 
and millwright by trade. He followed these occupations in Virginia 
and also carried on a farm and was tobacco inspector for a number of 
years. Later along, however, he removed to Scott county, Ky., 
where he lived until his removal to this State in 1838. William A. 
was born while the family lived in Scott county, Ky., May 9, 1817. 
Mrs. Waller's father, Samuel Mallory, was born in Culpeper county, 
Virginia, in 1773, and came to Missouri in 1834, coming from Fayette 
county, Ky., to which State he had previously moved. He lived in 
Monroe county until his death, which occurred in 1863. 

LEWIS S. WATTS 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Physician, Section 3). 

Dr. Watts is one of the prominent men of the county. He is a 
native of Keutuckj^, born in Mason county May 7, 1835. His father, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 607 

Oeorge Watts, of Ireland, emigrated to the United States in 1801, at 
the age of 18 years. Here he served in the American army dnring 
the campaign of 1812, and was in the battle of New Orleans. After 
a long and honored career, he passed away April 11, 1867. Lewis S. 
Watts spent his youth in Hendricks county, Ind., occupied with 
study. At 19 years of age he entered upon a diligent career as school 
teacher, after which he devoted his attention to medicine, until, with 
too many arduous duties in the way, he discontinued it. He learned 
the cooper's and plasterer's trades, proving himself a capable and 
successful artisan. In 1859 he entered a wholesale establishment in 
Indianapolis, continuing until 1861, when he enlisted (August 10) in 
Co. B, Seventh Indiana Volunteer Corps, Col. Dumont, and served 
until October 21, 1864. He was present at the battles of Winchester 
and Greenbrier, receiving three wounds ; and, later on, at the battles 
of South Mountain, second Bull Run, Antietam, Chantilla, Gettys- 
burg, Chancellorsville and Wilderness, where he received a dangerous 
flesh wound. FaithfuUj^ during that terrible time did he serve his 
country, participating in 29 engagements, and well honored did he 
return home, knowing that he had not fought in vain. He was mar- 
ried November 6, 1864, to Miss Rassilla, the lovely daughter of Philip 
Waters, of Indianapolis. With his wife he located at Pittsboro, Hen- 
dricks county, following his trades until 1874, when he removed to 
Danville. Here he filled with credit the office of county treasurer. 
Then he engaged in the harness trade for a time, until he removed to 
his present farm, about six miles south of Paris. He was deprived 
by death, April 14, 1869, of his first wife, and was married June 28, 
1878, to Lizzie, daughter of Henry Keith, of Danville. He has five 
children: John E., Ulysses S., Nora E., Robert E., LuUi E. His 
wife attends the Christian Church, while the Doctor is a member of 
the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders. No man can be met who has 
more self-contained dignity or personal magnetism than Dr. Watts. 
He has learned by mingling with the world to temper afi^iibility and 
kindness with the virtues of an honorable man. 

ROBERT H. WEST 

(Of West & Conyers, Dealers in Staple and Fancy Dry Goods and Notions, Paris). 

No just and adequate survey of the business interests of Paris could 
be given without including in it at least a brief sketch of the establish- 
ment and trade of the above named firm. Both members are experi- 
enced business men and men who have achieved success by their own 
energy, enterprise and good management. They became partners in 
business in March, 1884, though Mr. West had previously owned and 
conducted the house. They carry a stock of from $12,000 to $15,000 
and occupy both stories of the large building over 22 feet wide by 
nearly 100 long. Their trade is extensive and profitable and they are 
doing a flourishing and steadily increasing business. Mr. West, the 
senior partner, comes of an old Virginia family, but he, himself, was 
born in Kentucky. His father, James W., came out to Kentucky in 



608 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

an Gcarly day with the latter's parents, and located in Bowling Green. 
He subsequently married Miss Johanna Pitts, of Georgetown. His 
father died in Kentucky, and JamesW. came to Missouri with his family, 
bringing his mother out also with him. They settled in Lewis county 
and he engaged in merchandising at Monticello. His first wife dying 
he was married a second time, and afterwards removed to St. Louis, 
where he became interested in steamboating and died there in 1849. 
Robert H. was born in Kentucky December 10, 1832, and was one of 
two children by his father's first marriage. He was principally reared 
at St. Louis, and when young, followed clerking there. At the age 
of nineteen he came to the interior of the State and clerked at Can- 
ton and Lexington, and attended school two years. He then spent a 
year in Nashville, Tenn., with his uncle, Rev. Fountain Pitts, his 
sister's home, where he had. previously visited and where she died. 
Returning to Missouri, he clerked at Monticello until the outbreak of 
the war. He was then in a wholesale house in Quincy, until 1866. 
While there^ October 30, 1864, he was married to Miss Anna R. Crut- 
cher, a daughter of Thomas Crutcher. Returning to Canton from 
Quincy the following year, in 1867 he came to Paris, and was with 
his father-in-law at this place in the hotel business for some time and 
subsequently alone in the hotel. Li 1880 he quit the hotel and the 
following spring engaged in his present line of business with J. A. 
Robinson. He had previously been in the mill with Mr. Crutcher, 
and in the tobacco trade. In 1882 he succeeded Robinson's interest 
in the same, and was in business alone until Mr. Conyers became his 
partner. Mr. and Mrs. West have two children, Robert H. (Harry), 
a young man of nineteen years of age, and Esther J., now 14 years of 
age. 

COL. PHILIP WILLIAMS (deceased) 

(Paris) . 

On the 19th of September, 1881, died at his homestead in this 
county Col. Philip Williams, for more than a generation one of the 
promment, highly respected and influential citizens of Monroe county. 
He was a man who achieved success in life solely by his own exertions 
and personal worth, by his sterling natural ability, his unremitting 
and untiring industry, his frugality and his intelligent appreciation of 
the conditions and opportunities of life around him. From early cir- 
cumstances but little or no better than the average of those of the 
youths among whom he was reared, he rose to more than an ordinary 
degree of success in life, both in standing and influence and in the 
accumulation of property. It is but the statement of a plain and 
actual fact in his career that he was fully and exceptionally successful 
in everything that he undertook. Early qualifying himself for the 
profession of the law, in an unusually short time after he was admitted 
to practice he rose to a position of marked distinction at the bar. As 
a lawyer he soon became one of the leaders of his profession in the 
circuit and higher courts of the jurisdictions in which he practiced. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 609 

Outside of his profession he also became eminently successful in 
affairs. At the time of his death, and for many years before, he was 
by all odds the largest tax-payer and wealthiest man in his county. 
But successful as he was at the bar and in material affiiirs, it is not 
alone or chiefly for the enviable record he made in these particulars 
that he was esteemed one of the first citizens of the county, or that 
now, being dead, his memory is cherished as that of a man in whose 
life and career all with whom he was associated, either as a citizen or 
neighbor, or in any of the relations of life, may feel a just pride. A 
man of great mental force and of sterling moral character, his quali- 
ties of heart — his generous, manly disposition, his just, fair and 
liberal regard for the feelings and opinions of others, his considerate, 
tolerant nature, his sympathy and interested concern for the distressed 
and unfortunate — for these and for his public spirit as a citizen and 
his exemplary life as a neighbor and friend, he was admired and 
esteemed far more than for all that wealth and ability and distinction 
could confer. Col. Williams came of one of the better families of 
Virginia, though on his ftither's side not of an old family in that State. 
His father, Thomas Williams, was an intelligent and well-educated 
Scotchman, who came over to this country shortly prior to the Revolu- 
tionary War and settled on the coast of Virginia, near the James 
river. From the " Official Register of Volunteers in the American 
Army during the War of the Revolution," it is learned that he enlisted 
from Virginia and before the close of the war rose to the rank of 
Lieutenant-Colonel through several promotions awarded for gallantry 
and the successful performance of difficult and perilous service. After 
the war he settled in South-western Virginia, where he was married 
and made his permanent home. He became a well-to-do and prominent 
citizen of Franklin county, that State. He was a fiirmer, or planter, 
by occupation, being a leading tobacco grower of his county. From 
time to time he held different county offices and was esteemed one 
of the popular and influential men of the county. He was an earn- 
est and exemplary member of the Presbyterian' Church, as was also 
his wife. He died at his homestead in Franklin county in 1831. His 
wife survived him less than a year. They reared a family of seven 
children, all of whom grew to mature years and themselves became 
heads of families. But all are now deceased, viz. : Susan, the wife of 
James Roberts ; Isaac, William, Thomas, Jesse, Philip and Robert. 
Col. Philip Williams, the sixth of his father's family of children, 
was born in Franklin county, Va., in 1801. His early youth was 
spent on the farm assisting at farm work and attending the neighbor- 
hood schools. He also at'tended the local academy of his county, and 
thence matriculated at Fincastle College in Botetourt county, where 
he took a thorough course in the htgher branches, including the 
classics, thus receiving an advanced general education. He was edu- 
cated with a view to the profession' of the law, and accordingly, on 
quitting college at once entered upon a course of legal studies. In 
due time he was admitted to the bar and then entered actively into 
the practice of his profession. In a few years, however, he carried 



610 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

out a purpose he had formed some tune before, of coming West, believ- 
ing as he did, that better opportunities were available in a new and 
fertile country for young men of character and ability to succeed in 
life than were to be found in the older States. Col. Williams at first 
located in Bloomlield, the then county seat of Callaway county, but 
the following year came to Monroe county, where he located and 
made his permanent home. His success in the legal profession has 
already been referred to. In the meridian of his activity and useful- 
ness he occupied a commanding position at the bar in North Missouri. 
He had an extensive and lucrative practice in the courts of this and 
neighboring circuits, and in the Supreme Court of the State. He 
was a lawyer, strictly speaking, and in the true and best sense of 
that word, thoroughly devoted to his profession, a constant and hard 
student and a constant and hard worker, faithful to his clients, fair 
and honorable in the management of his causes, and always frank 
and manly with the court, his brother attorneys and the jury and offi- 
cers of the court. He was not only thoroughly grounded in the rules 
and precedents of the law, but comprehended throughout the fullest 
scope the science and philosophy of civil jurisprudence, and had that 
admiration for his profession which every great lawyer, appreciating 
the law as the bulwark of justice and human rights, feels for a call- 
ing which, when not abused, must be admitted to be one of the most 
honorable and exalting in the affairs of men. He accumulated a large 
fortune by his practice and by his business abilit}^ outside of his pro- 
fession. Before he disposed of any of his property, he is said to 
have been worth over $150,000 in lands and public and private securi- 
ties. Col. Williams was in his eightieth year at the time of his 
death, and up to within a short time prior to his demise had enjoyed 
excellent health and retained his mental vigor and bodily activity to a 
degree much out of proportion to his years. He was a man of fine 
physical constitution and was rather of a sanguine temperament. 
He was very erect of form, and about six feet in height, having 
an average Aveight of 200 pounds. His complexion was fair, 
his eyes blue and his hair a dark auburn. For a man of his age 
he was of prepossessing appearance, and earlier in life was a man of 
fine presence. From youth he was particularly fond of reading and 
was highly cultivated in literature and in point of general informa- 
tion. Like most men of culture and bright minds he was especially 
fond of Shakespeare, and regarded the Bard of Avon as the greatest 
man who ever touched the planet. Milton was also one of his favorite 
authors in the department of verse. He was a man of fine social 
qualities, a pleasant and cultured conversationalist, and, what is rare 
in a good talker, a patient and respectful listener. In the society of 
Paris and vicinity, and wherever he was known, he was greatly 
prized, for both his character and social qualities were such as to ren- 
der him an esteemed member of the best social circles. Though tidy- 
ing no interest in politics as an aspirant for office, for he cared 
nothing for a political life or official prominence, he nevertheless 
manifested at all times a grave and intelligent concern for the proper 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 611 

administration of the law and the faithfnl and honest discharge of 
public duties by officials. As a citizen he voted and used his influ- 
ence for the best men ofl'ered for the different positions to be filled, 
and was identified and acted with the Democratic party. He was a 
close student of civil government and was thoroughly read in history 
and conversant with the principles of political economy. He was a 
prominent member of the Masonic order, and for years held the rank 
of Royal Arch Mason, being also master of the lodge at Paris. Dur- 
ing the Black Hawk War he was a gallant officer of volunteers in the 
campaign of the North-west. He left an estate at the time of his 
death valued at $100,000. He had previously given to his neice, 
Mrs. Annie E. Margreiter, $50,000 in U. S. four per cent bonds. The 
bulk of his estate at his death was also left to Mrs. Margreiter. She 
was a daughter of his brother, Robert Williams, her mother havincr 
been a Miss Harriet Menefee prior to marriage. Mrs. Margreiter was 
reared in Virginia, and her father being a man of ample means, he 
saw to it that she received the best of educational and social advan- 
tages. She was principall}' educated by a refined and accomplished 
governess specially employed for that purpose. Her father died in 
Virginia some 30 years ago, but her mother is still living on the old 
family homestead in that State. Miss Williams was early married to 
John Margreiter. There are no children, however, by this union, 
and she is now a widow lady, as she has been for some years. She 
is a lady of most estimable qualities of head and heart. Left with 
the large estate of her uncle, she has shown the force of character 
and business ability to manage it with marked success. She is un- 
questionably a lady of extraordinary business tact and discernment. 
Possessed of a large fortune, her charity and i)enevolence are not out 
of proportion to her ability to help those who are in distress and are 
worthy of assistance. Not to descend to minor acts of generosity, 
one of more than ordinary consideration may be mentioned. Having 
a mortgage lien on the Masonic building at Paris, which the lodge 
felt unable to i^ay when the debt fell due, she generously canceled 
the lien without receiving a dollar and made the lodge a present of 
the $5,000 and accrued interest. She is a devout member of the 
Baptist Church. 

WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS 

(Farmtir and Stock-trader, Section 7, Post-office, Paris) . 

John W. Williams, father of William A., was born and raised in 
Green county, Ky. He was one of the substantial fiirmers of the 
county, and married Miss Elizabeth S. Gibbons, also a native Ken- 
tuckiau. In 1828 they moved to Marion county. Mo., and there were 
born to them nine children, of whom but three survive: Maria L., 
Mary E. and William A. The latter, born February 20, 1832, lived 
for many long years in Marion county, farming and raising stock. 
His wife, to whom he was united September 1, 1853, was Miss Par- 
thesa Pemberton, a native of the same county. Their little family of 



612 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

three children, like April flowers, bloomed but to fade. Mr. Williams 
is a farmer of wealth and weight, and owes his position chiefly to his 
own efforts. His farm of 200 acres is as fair a picture of comfort and 
prosperity as the eye could wish to rest upon. His standing in the 
community is of the very best. 

LEMUEL P. WILLIS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Mr. Willis, one of the most intelligent and successful farmers of 
North Jackson township, is a native of Kentucky, born in Shelby- 
ville, February 6, 1845. His parents, John and Julia P. (Hunter) 
Willis, were both from the same county, Mr. Willis having come to 
Missouri in 1856. He bought 160 acres of land and improved the 
farm which is now the home of Lemuel P., and upon which he him- 
self lived until his death in August, 1879. Lemuel P. spent his 
3^outh on the farm in his native county. He was educated partly at 
the common schools aud partly at Shelby College. After leaving 
school Mr. Willis clerked at Shelbyville up to the time of his coming 
to Missouri, in 1856. When he began farming it was with his father, 
whom he assisted in improving the place. February 7, 1860, he 
married Miss Sarah S., daughter of Walter and Elizabeth B. Withers, 
of Monroe. Mrs. Willis is a lady of a very high order of intellect, 
and taught school both before and after her marriage. Mr. Willis has 
always lived on the home place. He has 160 acres of land, all fenced, 
with 125 in meadow and plow land. He has his place comfortably 
improved with good buildings, orchards, etc. He is of most pleasant 
disposition and of many sterling qualities. He is universally 
respected and liked in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Willis have two 
children : Lena, now a young lady, and Lura. The former, with her 
parents, is a member of the Missionar}^ Baptist Church. 

ABNER WILSON 

(Superintendent of the County Farm, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Wilson's father, Benjamin R. Wilson, came to Randolph county 
with his family in 1855. He was from Fayette county, Ky. He was 
a farmer by occupation, and lived in Randolph county until his wife's 
death. His wife Avas a Miss Agnes W. Haley before her marriage. 
She was a daughter of William Haley, of Kentucky. Abner Wilson 
was 14 years of age when his father's family came to this State, hav- 
ing been born in Fayette county, Ky., October 13, 1841. His first 
employment for himself was carrying the United States mail, which 
he followed for about four years. In 1873 he began railroading on 
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, and was engaged in that 
until four years ago. He then commenced selling sewing-machines, 
and although his experience in that business among the ladies was not 
unpleasant, it failed to yield the profits which he had hoped to realize. 
Still he did satisfactory business, but in 1882 he concluded to locate 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 613 

at Paris and open a restaurant. He conducted a restaurant at Paris 
for about two years. While in this business he became well acquainted 
with the people of the county generally, and being a man of intelli- 
gence and agreeable manners, he won the respect and good ophiions 
of the public. In 1884, when a competent and reliable superintendent 
of the county farm was needed, he was recommended for the position, 
and was daly awarded the contract for conducting the farm by the 
county court. Since then he has had charge of this place and is meet- 
ing with good success in carrying it on, and his administration thus 
ftir has proved satisfactory to the court and the public. On the 2d of 
November, 1861, Mr. Wilson was married in this county to Miss Mary 
E. Boyd, a daughter of Andrew Boyd. They have three children: 
Agnes J., Otto and Ernest. They have lost one, William H. Mr. 
and Mrs. Wilson and one daughter are members of the Christian 
Church at Paris. 

WILLIAM C. WILSON 

(Farmer, Section 9, Post-office, Paris). 

Mr. Wilson is a native son of Monroe county, where he first saw 
the light January 27, 1850. His parents were Sanford E. and Amanda 
( Abernathy) Wilson, the former a Kentuckian by birth, but both raised 
in Monroe. Mr. Wilson, Sr., was a successful farmer, and he and his 
wife were faithful members of the Christian Church. Thev raised a 
family of eight children: Ellen N., George, Wesley, Nannie, Alfred, 
Edward, Eva and William C. The last named, with whom we have 
now to do, was brought up principally in California, and there Decem- 
^ ber 21, 1860, he espoused in San Francisco a fair bride, one of the 
most beauteous daughters of Tennessee. The marriage is a childless 
one. Mr. Wilson is a farmer by occupation, and is one of the most 
highly honored citizens of the township. His place contains 200 
acres, delightfully situated and improved. He and his wife belong to 
the Christian Church. 

WALTER WITHERS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Paris). 

If this respected old citizen of Monroe county lives to see the 9th 
day of next December, he will then have rounded out the advanced 
age of four score years, ten naore than the allotted period of man's 
earthly career. Notwithstanding his venerable age, Mr. Withers is 
still in comparatively good health, and is quite active. Like most of 
the older citizens of Monroe county he is a Virginian by nativity. He 
was born in Culpeper county December 9, 1804. When he was about 
six years of age his parents removed to Kentucky and settled in the 
vicinity of Louisville, where his father followed farming until his 
death. After growing up to the age of majority, Mr. Withers, the 
subject of this sketch, was married near Louisville, and he continued 
to reside in Kentucky until 1837, when he decided to cast his fortune 



614 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

in the then new State of Missouri. He accordingly removed to this 
State and settled in Monroe county, about five miles from Paris, on 
Otter creek, where he improved a farm. Later along he sold this 
place and improved another farm on Middle fork of Salt river. He 
was residing on that place when the California gold excitement broke 
out in 1849. He, in common with thousands of others in Missouri, 
became a gold seeker, and in company with Dr. Bowers, a relative to 
the famous *' Joe Bowers, all the way from Pike," and several others, 
made up a train to cross the plains. They were on the way four 
months, and on the Humboldt river while they were at breakfast, their 
horses were stolen by the Indians. They pursued the savages, but on 
overtaking them found that they were too much like a hot potato to 
fool with — too well armed to tackle. They therefore gave up their 
horses and hitched their cattle on to their wagons, by which they were 
enabled to complete their journey. Mr. Withers spent 18 years on 
the Pacific coast engaged principally in mining and with varying suc- 
cess. Upon returning by the way of the Isthmus and New York 
to Missouri, he settled down again to farming near his first settlement 
on Otter creek, where he has ever since resided. Here he has a good 
homestead, the fruit of a lifetime of industry, and is living in retire- 
ment and in ease and comfort through the declining years of life. His 
good wife is still spared to accompany him down the hill side of their 
earthly journey. They have been the parents of 11 children, eight of 
whom are living: John, Gustavus, Adolphus, Perry, Susan, Sarah and 
Margaret. 

GEOEGE R. WITHERS 

(Of Grimes & Withers, Proprietors of the Paris Roller Mills) . 

This, one of the finest and best flour mills in Monroe county, and, 
indeed, throughout the surrounding counties, was erected in 1882 by 
G. R. Withers & Co. at a cost of "$20,000. Afterwards Mr. Grimes 
bought out the interests of the other members of the company except 
Mr. Withers', and Grimes & Withers thus became sole owners and 
proprietors. The mill was started to running early in 1883 and has 
since been doing a heavy business. The character of the mill and the 
extent of -its business has already been spoken of in the sketch of Mr. 
Grimes, which appears on a former page of this volume. Mr. Withers 
was born in this county December 19, 1841, and was a son of Walter 
and Elizabeth Withers, who now reside at Holliday. His father went 
to California in 1849 and was absent on the Pacific coast for 18 years, 
returning in 1867. George R.'s early youth was spent on a farm and 
he succeeded in obtaining a good ordinary education in the common 
schools. For a long time he was engaged in farming in the county 
and handling stock. He and his brother, Hiram B., now deceased, 
then commenced the drug business at Granville, which they followed 
for three years. February 3, 1870, Mr. Withers was married to Miss 
Susan O. Kipper, a daughter of John Kipper, deceased. Her mother, 
who was a Miss Jane Nickel, is still living, at the advanced age of 84, 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 615 

and finds a pleasant and welcome home with her daughter, Mrs. 
Withers. Mr. Withers has a good farm of 215 acres, four miles 
north of Paris. Before engaging in the milling business Mr. Withers 
was a prominent stock shipper of the county, but since then has given 
his entire time and attention to his present business. Mr. and Mrs. 
Withers have but one child, a son, George K., a^^ed 13. 

JUDGE STEPHEN M. WOODSON 

("Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofBce, Parish 

In the veins of Judge Woodson is mingled the blood of three old 
and well known Virginia families — the Woodsons, Lesueurs and 
Bacons. Each of these families have htid and have to-day conspicu- 
ous representatives in the various walks of life in different States of 
the Union. The Woodsons have long been prominent in Viroinia, 
ancl two of the family in Kentucky have represented their State in 
Congress, whilst all in this State are aware of the eminent public 
services of Gov. W^oodson. The Lesueurs are of French oriirin, the 
founder of the family in this countrj^ having come over with Lafayette 
to assist the colonies in their struggle for independence. For 300 
years they have been one of the most eminent families in France. 
Eustace Lesueur, born in 1617, was the greatest of French painters, 
called the French Raphael. J. Lesueur, born in 1624, was the emi- 
nent French historian. Peter Lesueur was the great wood eno-raver, 
born in 1636, and his son, grandson and great-grandson named, 
respectively, Peter, "Vincent and Nicholas, all became men of distinc- 
tion. J, F. Lesueur, born in 1763, was the distinguished French 
composer, and all the world is familiar with the name of Thomas 
L€?sueur, the famous mathematician. Hon. Mr. Lesueur, at present 
a candidate for Secretary of State, is a lineal descendant of this French 
family. The Bacons are of English origin. Judge Stephen M. 
Woodson's grandparents on his father's side were John S. and Anna 
S. Woodson, and his grandi)arents on his mother's side were Martelle 
and Elizabeth (Bacon) Lesueur. His parents were Benjamin and 
Martha (Lesueur) Woodson, of Franklin county, Va. Judge Wood- 
son was born in that county February 3, 1814, and was reared on a 
farm, receiving a good education under his father, who was a promi- 
nent teacher of the south-western part of Virginia. Judge Woodson 
came to Missouri in 1840 in company with his father's family, who 
settled in Monroe county. Here Judge Woodson followed farming 
until 1849, when he engaged in the manufacture of wheat fan-mills,, 
which he carried on with success up to the third year of the war. 
After the war he engaged in farming here and raising and haiidlino- 
stock, in which he has been quite successful. He is comfortably situ- 
ated in life. In 1869 he was elected judge of the county court and 
served for six years on the bench. He has been justice of the peace, 
an office he still holds, for many years, and is one of the leading and 
influential men of Jackson township. Judge Woodson has been twice 
married. November 24, 1850, he was married to Miss Marinda 

.34 



616 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

li'iiwkes, a daughter of Jerarcl Favvkes and wife, nee Nancy Rodgers, 
formerly of Kentucky. Judge Woodson's first wife died April 2, 
1855. She left him two children: Richard W". (deceased) and Ben- 
jamin, now 29 years of age. To his present wife the Judge vvas mar- 
ried February 9, 1863. She was a Miss Martha E. Spillman, a daughter 
of John S. and Elizabeth (Waymen) Spillman, formerly of Virginia. 
They have had three children : Martha E., deceased ; George H. and 
Mary E., the last two now attending high school at Strother. The 
Judge and wife are members of the Regular Baptist Church. 

JAMES WOODS (DECEASED) 

(Paris) . 

The subject of this memoir, who was one of the early settlers of 
Monroe county, died at his residence in Jackson township on the 25th 
of June, 1867. He reached the age of 70 years and 9 months, and 
had resided on the farm where at last the light of his life went out for 
a period of over 33 years. He was therefore a personal witness to, and 
a participant in the growth and development of the county from an 
uninhabited wilderness to one of the first counties in the State. To the 
great change thus brought about in the county he contributed his full 
share by his industry and intelligence as a pioneer, farmer and citizen. 
He was a native of Kentucky, born in Mercer county, on the 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1797. In 1824 he was married to Miss Mary S. Starns, of that 
county, and after residing there for ten years he removed west to Mis- 
souri, coming to Monroe county, where he entered the land on which 
he made his farm and resided until his death. His first wife died Jan- 
uary the 24th, 1842, having borne him nine children : Elizabeth, 
Malinda, Lucy, Katie, Jackson, James, David, Mary and Thomas. 
To his second wife, previously a Miss Elizabeth Moore, of Callaway 
county, he was married January 1, 1843. This union proved a long 
and happy one and five children are the fruits of their married life : 
Sallie, Robert, Martha, Fannie and Susan. Fannie, who became the 
wife of Peter Campbell died January 17, 1884, leaving two chil- 
dren, Bessie and Fannie Mat, whom their good-hearted grandmother 
is rearing. Mrs. Woods resides on the old family homestead, one 
of the estimable, neighborly and motherly-hearted ladies of the vicin- 
ity. The farm contains 280 acres and is an excellent place. She 
is a worthy member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, as was 
also her husband prior to his death. 

JAMES M. WORREL 

(Proprietor of the Glenn House, Paris). 

Mr. Worrell, one of the popular hotel landlords on the line of the 
Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, and who keeps a first-class house 
in every particular, a house that bears an enviable reputation not only 
at Paris and throughout the county, but with the traveling public gener- 
ally, is a native of Monroe county, but was reared in Virginia. His 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 617 

father was Kobert P. Worrell, Jr., a sen of Robert P. Worrell, and was 
bom and reared in Maryland. When a young man he went to Ken- 
tucky and was there married to Miss Elizabeth Woods, whose father 
originally owned the land, now the site of the city of Lexington, in 
that State. Mr. Worrell (James M.'s father) was a merchant tailor 
and after his marriage removed to Missouri, locating at Big Leg in 
Monroe county. He shortly went to Virginia, however, with his 
family and settled at Danville. He and wife reared a family of 
seven children: Robert H., Mar}' A., Richard B., James M., Wake- 
field C, Emma and Charles. James M. was born while his parents 
were residents of Monroe county, March 31, 1846. He was reared at 
Danville, Va., however, and in 1861 enlisted under Col. Withers, of 
Gen. Pickets division of the Confederate service, and served until the 
close of the war. After the war he went to Illinois, where he was mar- 
ried in December, 1868, to Miss Mary A. Parker, a daughter of Capt. T. 
A. Parker. He followed the painter's trade at Lebanon, III., until his 
removal to Paris, Monroe county, in 1878. He continued at his trade 
at this place for about two j^ears and then engaged in the book store 
business, Subsequently he was in the grocery business and in 1882 
he took charge of the Glenn House, which he has since conducted and 
with excellent success. Mr. and Mrs. Worrell have one son, Henry 
B. 

JAMES L. WRIGHT 

(Druggist, Paris). 

Mr. Wright has had over 16 years' experience in business life, and 
is a skillful and thorough druggist. He has a neat stock of fresh and 
well selected drugs, and is prepared to supply the trade in and around 
Paris with everything usually to be found in a first-class retail drug 
store, and at prices which can not be undersold by any responsible 
house. Mr. Wright was born on his father's farm, four miles north- 
west of Paris, August 22, 1847. His parents, Walker and Jane 
(Greer) Wright, were early residents of this coimty, his father com- 
ing here when quite young, as early as 1837. They were married in 
this county, and resided here for many years afterwards. In 1867, 
however, he removed to Randolph county, and he afterwards repre- 
sented that county in the State Legislature. At the age of 19 James 
L. began teaching school, and taught for about two years. He then 
became a clerk in the store of T. G. Harley & Bros., for whom he 
clerked some four years. He subsequently clerked for other parties, 
and taught a term of school. In 1875 he and E. K. Stone began the 
grocery business at Paris, and they discontinued two years following. 
He afterwards followed clerking until 1880, and then engaged in the 
drug business at Madison; and in December, 1882, he removed to 
Walker, in Vernon county, whei'e he continued the drug business 
until his return to Paris, in the sprinu' of 1884. Here he has since 
carried on the drug trade and with excellent success. November 21, 
1873, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Emma F. McNutt, a daughter 
of Dr. E. G. B. McNutt, deceased. . She was born April 11, 1851. 
They have one child, Mattie L., born March 31, 1877. 



618 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

S. P. WRIGHT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Long Branch) . 

Mr. Wright was left an orphan when in infancy by the death of his 
father, and he was reared by his grandi)arent8, of Pike county. They 
resided on a farm, and he was therefore brought up to a farm life. 
He had the usual school advantages of that time, and when 21 years 
of age, anxious to see something of the world, as well as to look out 
for an opportunity to make something for himself, he went to Texas, 
that State then being regarded, as it still is, as a favorable place to 
get a start in life. He was not favorably impressed with Texas, how- 
ever, and returned after a short sojourn there. He now engaged in 
farming in Audrain county, and was busily occupied with his crops 
and stock when the war broke out in 1861. It had not been in prog- 
ress long before it became evident that he would have to join one 
army or the other, or leave the country. He accordingly did as his 
sympathies and principles directed, joined the Southern forces under 
Col. Porter. Subsequently he participated in the fights at Newark, 
Kirksville, Walnut Branch, and several skirmishes. The command 
was disbanded at Walnut Branch, for it was impossible to remain 
together longer without being captured, and Mr. Wright was cap- 
tured after all. He was soon afterwards paroled, however, and it 
being impossible to get to the Southern army, he went to California 
in company with Hugh Glenn in his train of emigrants, stock, etc. 
He remained in California until the clouds of war rolled by, and 
was engaged in farming in the Sacramento Valley until the fall of 
1866. He then returned to Missouri by way of Panama and New 
York, and located in Monroe county, where he has since been 
enijaoed in farming. On the 9th of December, 1867, he was mar- 
ried in this county to Miss Virginia T. Dowell, daughter of James 
Dowell. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have five children: Lucy C, James 
S., Mary A., Bettie E. and Peyton D. They have lost three: Charles 
F., an infant and Jason M, the first of whom died at the age of 
three, and the last at two years of age. Mr. Wright began in this 
county as a renter, but has succeeded so well that he was soon able 
to buy a farm, and has an excellent place of 180 acres, all improved. 
He is engao-ed in breeding horses and mules in addition to general farm- 
ing, and has first-class fine blooded representative animals for that pur- 
pose, as good as there are in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Wright are 
members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Wright, as indicated above, is a 
native Missourian, born in Ralls county, January 2, 1838. He was a son 
of Peyton P. and Susan (Enlow) Wright, his father of Virginia and 
his mother formerly of Kentucky. His father came out to this State 
when a young man, and settled in Rails county after his marriage. 
He died, however, soon afterwards, while Sanford P. was less than a 
year old. 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 619 

ROBERT L. YOWELL 

(Farmer, Sectioa 17, Post-office, Stoutsville). 

The subject of this sketch was born August 30, 1835, in Madison 
county, Va., of Ephraitn Yowell and Susan Eddings, his wife, both 
natives of the Old Dominion, where Mr. Yowell, Sr., was a success- 
ful farmer. With that desire for change which seems common to 
youth, and which, in many instances, proves fatal, not only to all 
hopes of success in life, but to that stability without which there can 
be no real strength of character, Mr. Yowell, Sr., a happy exception 
to the above possibility, moved in 1837 to Monroe county. Mo. Of 
a family of 10 children, called respectively, Clara, Albert, William 
P., Harriet, Francis, Joseph S., Mary V., Tlieophilus and Emma N. 
Robert L., was their youngest child. Left motherless at the age of 
three years, and when still a boy suffering the additional loss of a 
watchful and tender father, it was his hard fate to find himself, at a 
time when most he needed a parent's guiding hand, thrown upon the 
world to face alone and unaided, the cold indiiference, or worse still, 
the cruel contempt which Init too frequently falls to the lot of the 
friendless orphan. With a heart for every fate and a will indomitable 
and fixed as the decrees of death, he looked neither to the right nor 
left, but fixing his eyes steadily upon the distant but ever nearer 
goal, guided as the mariner by the North Star, by the brilliancy of 
its gleam, he has steered his course with a sure and unerring hand 
through shoals and quicksands, treacherous rocks and adverse 
gales to a harbor, the smiling beauty of which puts to the blush his 
fairest dream. Mr. Yowell selected for his vocation in life the ele- 
vating pursuit of agriculture. Reared in Monroe county, he has 
always made it his home and triumphing over all obstacles, he is now 
the proud owner of one of the finest farms in the county with every 
natural advantage that energy and determination, which have ever 
been his closest companions, have added to the comforts and conven- 
iences of cultivation and improvements. On the 30th of May, 1861, 
Miss Lucy E. Marr, one of the most charming daughters of Monroe 
county, became his blushing bride. Of this heaven-made union were 
born six children, of whom four are living, viz. : Rickson L., 
Henry E., John H. and Ira S. Li the bosom of his family Mr. Yowell 
enjoys a richly earned repose. He and his wife worship according 
to the faith of the Methodist Church. 



ADDENDA. 



Notwithstanding the efforts made to secure the history of the fol- 
lowing churches that they might be inserted in their proper pUice, our 
endeavors proved unsuccessful. Hence we give them here. The 
reader is referred to the chapter on Ecclesiastical History, pp. 278- 
291, for other church history. 

CHURCHES. 

The Congregation of Disciples at Paris. — This congregation was 
organized March 10, 1832, with seven members, only one of whom 
survives (Abernathy) to-day. They now occupy their third house of 
worship, which is a structure of modern design, built of brick with 
four rooms, viz. : class-room, dressing-room, pastor's study and 
experience-room. The latter has a seating capacity of 450. The 
class-room can be used in conjunction with the audience department, 
which enables the church to seat comfortabl}' about 600. The bap- 
tistry is just to the left of the pulpit and under the platform, but 
entered from the study in a very convenient way. The building is 
gothic in design throughout, with windows of beautiful stained cathe- 
dral glass, and was built at a cost of about $11,000. The congrega- 
tion has had seven regular pastors, three of whom survive : Alexander 
Proctor, J. W. Mountjoy and H. B. Davis, the last named being the 
present incumbent. The present membership is about 250. The 
names of Alfred Wilson, Henry Thomas, A. H. Rice and Thos. Allen 
are revered by those who survive them, as ministers who labored 
faithfully and successfully among them. Also Peter Donan did noble 
service for the Master in their community. The following are the 
names of the charter members: J. C. Fox and wife, Jno. Forman 
and wife, J. R. Abernathy, John Shoot and wife. Marcus Wills is 
remembered as an eflScient minister among this people. 

First Baptist Church of Monroe City. — The organization of this 
church was effected January 23, 1869, the original members being as 
follows : J. M. Proctor and wife, Ellen ; T. J. Canterbury and Jennie, 
his wife; Geo. W. Swan and wife, Eliza; Wm. B. White and his 
dauo-hters, Gallic M., Anna and Nellie White, and Mrs. J. H. Brown, 
Mrs. Mary Fuqua, Wm. Ashley and wife, Deborah I. ; David Minor 
and Esther A., his wife ; J. A. Peirsol and wife, Susan E. ; and Mr. 
Eaton K. Glark. The erection of a frame church edifice was com- 
menced in the fall of 1869, and was completed and dedicated in the 
summer of 1870. Its cost was about $1,100. This building has 
become too small for the congregation and a new brick structure will 
be put up this year. The estimated cost of this new building is from 

(620) 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 621 

$5,000 to $6,000. Wm. C. Busby was the first pastor of the church, 
serving from February, 1869, to February, 1872; he was followed 
by Pierre K. Ridgely, from February, 1872, to June, 1875, the latter 
being succeeded by James S. Green, from September, 1875, to the 
present time. The church now has a membership of 78 — 35 male 
and 43 femiale members. A Sunday-school has been sustained since 
the organization of the church. The superintendent is Thomas Proc- 
tor. The church officers have been : Clerks, G. W. Swan (at organi- 
zation), R. B. Bristow, J. W. Paul and J. A. Peirsol ; Treasurers : P. 
A. Pendleton and J. M. Proctor. The present officers are: Clerk, 
J. A. Peirsol ; treasurer, J. M. Proctor; deacons, J. M. Proctor, J. 
A. Peirsol, L. C. Burdil, George Lee and R. D. Woods. This church, 
while not having had such an extensive career, has been uniformly 
progressive and is now in a good spiritual condition. The only ordi- 
nation which has occurred here was that of Pierre R. Ridgely, Febru- 
ary 24, 1872. 

Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church — Is located at Holliday, 
and was organized between 1830 and 1840. Rev. Jas. Sharp is pastor 
at this time. The church house is a frame structure about 32x40 feet 
in size. A Sabbath-school of from 50 to 75 scholars is maintained 
here. 

Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church — Is situated about four 
miles west of Paris. It was organized about 1878 or 1879, and now 
has some 70 members. Rev. T. W. Baker has been pastor ever since 
its organization. A Sunday school is held regularly. 

Bluff Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church — Is situated about 
seven miles south-east of Paris. The congregation are removing and 
rebuilding a church at this date, August, 1884. 

The A. M. E. Church (Methodist) — Was organized by I. N. 
Triplitt in the year 1870. Those who have served as pastors are as 
follows : J. W. Shropshire, six months ; D. Bell and H. H. Trip- 
litt, each one year; W. Martin, two years; F, M. Dale, J. Thomas 
and H. H. Triplitt, each one year; J. R. Loving, two years; J. P. 
Watson, three years, and R. H. Congdon, two years, and now the 
pastor. The membership at present is 75. Their house was built in 
the year 1880 by J. P. Watson, and in size is 34x48, and 14 feet high, 
costing about $1,200. 

Colored Baptist Church. — The Second Baptist Church of Paris 
(colored) was organized in 1867. The pastors here have been James 
Hawkins, Clay Vaughn, Wm. P. Brooks and James Hawkins, who is 
now the pastor. The brick church edifice which they occupy is 36x60 
feet in dimensions and is valued at $1,200. It was built in 1864 by 
the Old School Baptists (white) and purchased by the colored church 
in 1880. 

LODGES. 

Granville Lodge ISfo. 240, A. F. and A. 3/. — Organized May 26, 
1865, had as its charter members William S. Streeter, W. M. ; J. A. 
Sparks, S. W. ; T. Saunders, J. W. Other original members were 



622 HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. 

C. Hanger, J. C. Kipper, S. Houcheus and T. Burton. There are at 
present 30 members, the officers being George W. Webb, W. M. ; 
George S. Jones, S. W. ; William G. Smiser,' J. W. ; T. O. Bailey, 
treasurer ; N. M. Read, secretary ; George M. Curry, S. D. ; John W. 
Adams, J. D., and W. T. Delaney, tyler. 

Monroe Council JSfo. 43, of Missouri, Order of Chosen Friends — 
Was organized August 12, 1884. The officers and charter members 
were George L. Turner, past chief councilor ; George A. Hawkins, 
chief councilor; William A. Bird, vice-councilor; George W. Tomp- 
kins, secretary; Noah A. Sidener, treasurer; Henry G. Johnson, 
prelate ; John W. Strean, marshal ; John R. Griffith, warden ; Harry 
E. Schofield, guard; William S. Whitehead, sentry; George L. Tur- 
ner, John Hanley and Nicholas Lasson, trustees. Charter members — 
Noah A. Sidener, Mrs. Zer. L. Lively, Henry G. Johnson, William 
S. Whitehead, Mrs. Teresa M. Simpson, John W. Strean, Harry E. 
Schofield, Samuel H. Ryan, George W. Tompkins, Albert R. Wheeler, 
Eugene L. Anderson, Samuel F. Henderson, George A. Hawkins, 
John Hanley, George L. Turner, John R. Griffith, Horace J. Kent, 
William A. Bird, Thomas E. Garrett, Mrs. Mary S. Torrell, Felix 
Wunsch, Andrew Grimm, Nicholas Lasson, Mrs. Roxanna Johnson and 
Mrs. Harriet E. Kent. 



MONROE TOWlSrSHIP. 



PROF. R. D. WOODS 

(Principal of tlie Public School, Monroe City). 

Prof. Woods is a native of Kentucky, born in Nelson county, Feb- 
ruary 11, 1832. His parents were John A. and Nancy G. (Davis) 
Woods, and his father was a sou of Michael and Esther Woods, also 
of that county. His fjither was born April 9, 1800, and had four 
brothers : James, Michael, Samuel and William ; and three sisters ; 
Susan, who becan)e the wife of Mr. Massey ; Mary, who married a 
Mr, Barclay ; and Jane, afterwards Mrs. Hardy. John A. Woods was 
reared a farmer, and received a good common school education. In 
March, 1827, he was married to Miss Nancy G. Davis, a daughter of 
Richard G. and Frances Davis, of Goochland county, Virginia. Sub- 
sequently he followed farming in Nelson county until 1839 when he 
removed to Ralls county, Missouri. In a short time he bought a farm 
in Pike county, where he resided until his death in 1849. He left his 
wife with nine children, of whom seven are living ; Michael, the eldest, 
died en route to California in 1850 ; Mary, died at the family home- 
stead in Pike county ; Elizabeth became the wife of John H. Davis, 
and now resides at Waxahachie, Tex., her husband being dead ; Jane 
is now the widow of Arthur Maupin ; Julia is the wife of N. B. Langs- 



HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY. ' 623 

ford ; Louisa is the wife of William Kelly, of Audrain county ; William 
is married and a resident of Jackson county; J. Thomas is a resident 
of Texas ; and Prof. R. D. Woods, the subject of this sketch. Prof. 
Woods was reared to a farm life, but being disabled for farm work by 
an affliclion of the erysipelas, he prepared himself for the profession 
of teaching. He took a course at Bethel College and began teaching 
in the fall of 1854. He has been engaged in his chosen calling con- 
tinuously ever since that time. Prof. Woods has achieved a wide 
and enviable reputation as a teacher and has held the position of 
principal of some of the best public schools of the State, including 
those of Mexico, Liberty and Kearney. He is now principal of the 
public schools at Monroe City and has given unqualiified satisfaction 
in this position. April 2, 1863, he was married to Miss Margaret 
Bodine, a daughter of Richard and Margaret (Gore) Bodine, of this 
county. Her mother is still living at the advanced age of 80 years. 
Mrs. W. has two brothers living: Martin, and Massey G., of Paris, 
and two sisters : Mrs. Amanda Birkit, wife of S. P. Birkit, and Ella, 
both of Paris. Mr. and Mrs. Woods have three children; Archie B,, 
a telegraph operator on the Missouri Pacific Railway, Bessie and 
Ella. Prof. W. is a member of the Baptist Church, and also of the 
A. F. and A. M. Mrs. Woods and her daughters are members of the 
Christian Church. 




SHELBY COUNTY. 



HISTORY 



OF 



SHELBY COUNTY, MO. 



CHAPTER I. 

PIONEER SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS AND EARLY HISTORY. 

The First Cabins, Norton's Hog- Keeper's, Maj. Dickerson's, and Others — The Set- 
tlers of 1833— Surveying — Cholera — First Death tn-the County — First Store and 
Post-office — First Election — Sketch of Maj. Dickerson — Miscellaneous Historic 
Incidents up to 1839— The Indians — Game and Wild Animals — Early Marriages — 
Pioneer Preaching and Preachers — Pioneer Life Generally. 

THE FIRST CABINS. 

It is not possible to state at this late date, with exactness, and 
without possibility of error, who was the first actual settler within 
the present confines of Shelby county. As long ago as 1817 a party 
of explorers from Kentucky, Edward Whaley, Aaron Foreman and 
three others entered the county from the west, having come from the 
Boone's Lick country, on the Missouri river, on their way to the Mis- 
sissippi. Hunting for the head waters of Salt river, they struck those 
of North river instead, and traveled down it to its mouth. They 
made some exploration of the country in this quarter, but finally 
settled in Marion county and in Ralls. Before them trappers had 
ascended Salt river, then called Auhaha, or Oahaha, and hunters had 
visited the primeval forests here when they were peopled, if at all, 
by red men only. 

It is reasonably certain that no permanent settlements were made 
here until after the year 1830. In the spring of 1831 a man named 
Norton came up from Monroe county and built a cabin on Black 
Creek, right on the bluff, a little more than half a mile from its 
mouth (in section 33 — 57 — 9). He brought with him a 
drove of hogs to feed on the wild mast, which was then so abundant 

(625) 



626 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

in this quarter, and he left a man in the little cabin to attend to them. 
The name of this swineherd can not now be learned, but he certainly- 
had a most lonesome existence. He had a large pen close by the 
cabin into which he had to confine the hogs every night to keep them 
from the wolves, and during the day he had to watch them as well as 
he could. He remained here during the year. Afterward David 
Small wood settled on the locality of the old " hog cabin." 

In the fall of 1831 Maj. Obadiah Dickerson came up from Marion 
county and built a cabin on the north side of Salt river (about the 
center of section 17 — 57 — 10), near where the' present road between 
Shelbina and Shelbyville crosses that stream. This cabin is now 
(1884) standing, although a little the worse for its 53 years of 
existence. It seems that the major did not bring his family with him 
at this time, but that they came the next fall or winter. It is prob- 
able (according to the testimony of Russell W. Moss, who came in 
1832, and is positive on the point) that Maj. Dickerson was the first 
bona fide white settler in Shelby county, 

John Thomas was another very early settler in the county, locating 
in 1831 or the spring of 1832, on a claim on Clear creek, where after- 
ward Miller's mill was built (section 18 — 58 — 9). Old Jack 
Thomas used to say that he was the first settler in the county " that 
high up," or as far north, and that when it was built his house was 
the picket post of civilization in that direction. It may be that one- 
or two old hunters followed soon after Jack Thomas, but nothing pos- 
itive about the matter can now be asserted. 

Russell AV. Moss came to section 28 — 57 — 9, or three miles north- 
west of Hunnewell, and built a cabin in the fall of 1832. In the 
spring of 1833 he removed his family up from Monroe county, where 
he had first settled on coming to Missouri from Jessamine county, 
Ky. It is from Mr. Moss, who is still living, that the compiler has 
obtained much information regarding the early settlement of the 
county. 

Henry Saunders settled on the south-east quarter of section 
6 — 56 — 9, or half a mile north-east of the present site of Lakenan, 
in the spring of 1833, and below him — probably in Monroe county — 
were his brothers, Albert and Addison. 

In the early spring of 1833 came Samuel Buckner to the west half 
of section 31 — 57 — 9, west of Salt river and a mile and a half north 
of Lakenan. He was a bachelor, but brought with him a number of 
slaves. He was a man of education and intelligence, and was well 
known for his generosity and hospitality, but he was loose in morals 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 627 

in a certain direction. One of his female slaves he kept for a mis- 
tress, and by her had a number of children. Afterward he took her 
dauo-hter and she bore him children. Mr. Buckner treated those of 
his slaves whom he knew to be his own offspring with great consider- 
ation. He had himself appointed their guardian — having first given 
them their freedom — and upon his death divided his vast property 
fairly and equitably among them. He belonged to the well known 
Buckner family of Kentucky. 

THE SETTLERS OF 1833. 

In the year 1876, Hon. William J. Holiiday, who came to Shelby 
county, Mav 7, 1833, and was nearly always thereafter prominently 
connected with its affairs, wrote a series of interesting and valuable 
historic sketches, which were published in the Shelbyville Herald. 
From these sketches much information has been obtained. To Mr. 
Holiiday, since deceased, not only the compiler hereof, but the people 
of the county are under obligations for his valuable contributions, 
brief and incomplete as they were. His sketches only came up to 
about the outbreak of the Civil War. 

According to Mr. Holiiday — whose memory was something phe- 
nomenal, and whose mind was clear and active — there were in the 
spring of 1833 but 26 families in what is now Shelby county. 
These were mostly in the south-eastern part of the county, in the 
neighborhood of Oak Dale, in what is now Jackson township. Here 
it was where Mr. Holiiday settled, on Black creek, on the south-west 
quarter of section 6 — 57 — 9. Prior to that time other settlements 
had been made as follows : 

Henry Saunders had located on Salt river, north of but near the 
present .village of Lakenan(sec. 6 — 56 — 9) and Samuel Buckner 
lived north-west of the same point. The majority of the settlers had 
located north of this, in township 57, range 9, where Thomas Hol- 
man lived on section 17, two miles south of Oak Dale; Russell W. 
Moss and Robert Duncan were still further south, on section 28 ; 
William B. Broughton was on section 5 and his house was called Oak 
Dale ; George Parker was on the north-west quarter of section 8 on 
Douglass' branch, and near by, on the same section, was Abraham 
Vandiver ; Thomas H. Clements had built his cabin home on the 
south half of section 21, near what is now Hardy's school house, 
four miles south-east of Oak Dale ; Cyrus A. Saunders lived on sec- 
tion 9, nearly two miles south-east of Oak Dale. Levi Dyer lived on 
Congress lands west of Black creek, in this township and range. 



628 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Westof Oak Dale, and more nearlysouth of Shelby ville, in congressional 
township 57, range 10, were some other settlers. Angus McDon- 
ald Holliday had located near Black creek, on section 1, two miles 
west of Oak Dale. Thomas H. Bounds located and built a cabin on 
the west bank of Salt river, at the mouth of a small branch, and near 
a fine spring (ne. cor, e. V2 sec. 23), about three and a half miles 
north-east of where is now the town of Shelbina. Samuel Bell lived 
near A. McD. Holliday, in the north-east corner of section 1, five 
miles south-east of Shelbyville. 

John Eaton and George Eaton were on section 9, north of Salt 
river, east of the road from Shelbina to Shelbyville, and about four 
miles east of south of the latter place. West of the Eatons, a mile or 
so, lived George and James Anderson, on section 8, north of Salt 
river. On the north side of Salt river, on the first farm north of the 
" long bridge " on the road between Shelbyville and Shelbina (sec- 
tion 17), lived Maj. Obadiah Dickerson in the cabin before mentioned. 
A little farther up the river, but on the same side, north of where is 
now Walkersville, were Peter Kofi" and Nicholas Watkins, both on 
section 7. South of Watkins, nearer Walkersville and on section 18, 
was E. K. Eaton, called King Eaton. On section 19 a little south of 
Eaton, lived James Blackford. 

North of Oak Dale, up in township 58, range 9, on Clear creek, 
lived John Thomas, in section 18, on the farm where afterwards Mil- 
ler's mill was built. Elijah Pepper had his home about five miles 
west of Shelbyville. 

James Swartz lived on North river, about six miles north-east of 
Shelbyville, on the south-east quarter of section 12 — 58 — 10, just 
below where the road crosses the stream. 

In 1876 six of these settlers were living, W. J. Holliday, James 
Anderson, James Blackford, Nicholas Watkins, George Eaton and 
Cyrus H. Saunders; but now (1884) all have passed away to the 
better land. Peace to their ashes. 

SURVEYING. 

In the month of August, 1833, R. T. Holliday, a deputy United 
States surveyor, began a survey for the government of ranges 11, 12 
and 13, the territory west of where the principal settlements had been 
made. The survey was begun at the south-east corner of section 
36 — 59 — 11. Mr. Holliday surveyed andsectionized the ranges north- 
ward about 60 miles, or to township 68, completing his work in the 
winter of 1834-35. Soon afterward the land in this quarter began to 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 629 

settle up. Addison Lair relates that while he was assisting in surveying 
range 10, townships 59 and 60, the famous '* star shower" of Novem- 
ber, 1833, came off, and frightened the surveyors so that they actually 
abandoned their work. 

CHOLERA. 

The year 1833 was long knosvn by the settlers in this quarter of the 
State as the " cholera year, " because of the prevalence of that dread 
malady and its destructive character. June 3, it broke out in Pal- 
myra, then a town of 600 inhabitants, and before it disappeared 105 
persons had died. Many fled to this county for safety. 

A young man named William P. Matson, a step-son of Maj. Oba- 
diah Dickerson, was in Palmyra when the cholera broke out. In a 
day or two he started for his home in this county, and came to the 
house of A. McD. Holliday, on Black creek, which stream was so 
swollen at the time as to be past fording. He concluded to remain 
until the next day to allow the water to subside, but during the ni»ht 
was attacked with cholera and died next morning in great agony. 

At the burial of young Matson, his host, Mr. Holliday, was seized 
with the dread contagion and died the next day. There was great 
alarm and uneasiness among the settlers for some weeks. Numbers 
of fugitives from the infected district were in the country, and our 
people made no attempt at quarantining against those who might come 
or expelling those who were here. Fortunately there were no other 
deaths, and by the middle of July the disease had entirely disappeared. 
While it lasted, however, the settlers were cut off from Palmyra, then 
their supply point, where they purchased their dry goods, groceries, 
etc., and which town was their post-office, where they procured their 
mail. 

The death of William P. Matson, in June, 1833, is the first authen- 
ticated case on record in this county. Probably there were other 
deaths before this, but if so the particulars have not been learned. 

THE FIRST STORE AND POST-OFFICE. 

As stated, at this time Palmyra was the point where supplies were 
obtained. Breadstuff was ground at Gatewood's and Massie's mills, 
on North river, north and west of Palmyra a few miles. In the winter 
of 1833-34, however, Mr. William B. Brouo-hton brousfht on a small 
stock of general merchandise and opened a sort of "store" in his 
own house. The same winter he procured a numerously signed peti- 
tion asking for the establishment of a post-office, and this petition 



630 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

being forwarded to Washington was graciously received by the Post- 
office Department and its prayer granted. The office was established 
at Broughton's residence and called Oak Dale, the name it has borne 
ever since. Mr. Broughton was the first postmaster and this was the 
first post-office in the county. Mails came in from Palmyra once a 
week. 

FIRST ELECTION IN BLACK CREEK TOWNSHIP. 

In May, 1834, what is now Shelby county, and indeed, some addi- 
tional territory, was formed by the county court of Marion (to which it 
then belonged) into Black Creek township, as noted elsewhere. At 
the ensuing August election Maj. Obadiah Dickerson and S. W. B. 
Carnegy were elected to the Legislature from Marion county, defeating 
John McAfee and John Anderson. It was quite a compliment to the 
'* back township " of the county to send one of its citizens to the 
Legislature, but Maj. Dickerson was well qualified and well known 
to many people in the county. He was one of the founders of Pal- 
myra — indeed, he was the real founder of that town — the first post- 
master, county seat commissioner, etc. 

MAJ. OBADIAH DICKERSON AS POSTMASTER. 

Speaking of Maj. Dickerson, the History of Marion County (p. 
829), describing the early settlement and history of Palmyra, says: — 

The town grew rather rapidly, and in 1820 had 150 inhabitants. 
Those interested made efforts to increase the number of settlers, and 
in 1821 the first post-office was established, the mail coming, when it 
did come, from St. Louis on horseback by way of New London. 

Maj. Obadiah Dickerson was the first postmaster. He kept the 
office in his hat a great portion of the time. Being frequently absent 
from home, in the woods hunting, or attending some public gathering 
of the settlers, the few letters constituting " the mail" were depos- 
ited under the lining of his huge bell-crown hat, often made a recep- 
tacle for papers, documents, handkerchiefs, etc., by gentlemen of the 
olden time. Asked why he carried the office about with him in this 
way, the old major replied : "So that if I meet a man who has a letter 
belono-ino; to him I can give it to him, sir ! I meet more men when I 
travel about than come to the office when I stay at home." 

On one occasion a man from a frontier settlement came to Palmyra 
for the mail for himself and neighbors. Both post-office and post- 
master were away from home. Going in pursuit, as it were, he found 
them over on North river. Maj. Dickerson looked over the contents 
of his office, selected half a dozen letters for the settler and his neigh- 
bors, and then handing him two more said: " Take these along with 
you, and see if they belong to any one out in your settlement. They 
have been here two weeks and no owner has called for them yet. I 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 631 

don't know any such men, and I don't want to be bothered with them 
any longer." 

As the mail at the Palmyra oflSce increased, the major petitioned 
the department for a new and a larger hat ! In' 1829, on the accession 
of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency, Maj. Dickerson, who was an 
Adams man, was removed, and Gen. Benjamin Means was appointed 
postmaster at Palmyra. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

In January, 1835, Shelby county was organized, the territory hav- 
ing previously been divided into two townships, North River and 
Black Creek (see official history). 

For a long time the year 1835 was remembered by the settlers of 
Shelby county as " the cold year," The winter of 1834-35 was un- 
commonly severe. The memorable *' cold Friday " was in February 
of the latter year. The following spring was very late and cold. On 
the night of the 12th (or 13th) of May there was a heavy frost and 
indeed a severe freeze. The ground was frozen to the depth of two 
inches in some places. Everything liable to be affected by the frost 
that was exposed was killed. The buds were well expanded on the 
bushes and shrubbery, and it is said that even many hickory and oak 
saplings and trees were killed. 

The fall of the year was unusually cold. On the night of the 16th 
of September there was another heavy freeze, and a killing frost, 
which did great damage, especially to the corn, so much of which was 
very late, by reason of the previous backward spring. There was 
much sickness this fall and taking it all in all, the lot of the people 
was by no means a happy one. 

In the summer of 1835 cholera again broke out in Palmyra, and in 
the panic that ensued, dozens of families fled to this county and else- 
where for safety. Some persons built pole cabins along the streams 
or near the springs, and camped out until the danger was over. There 
were no cases in this county. 

Crops were very excellent during the early days. Wheat was a cer- 
tain crop, and Mr. HoUiday says, would yield sometimes 50 bushels 
per acre. Corn and oats did well, while hemp was also a good and 
valuable crop. No insect pests disturbed the grain until after 1840. 
Stock flourished well on the prairies from early spring until June, at 
which time the settlers would burn off a large tract of ground partially 
covered with dry grass, and then the cattle for miles around would 
congregate and feed on the young and tender grass that sprang up. It 
was a common saying, that " a late burn was better to keep the cattle 

35 



632 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

together than a fence with stakes and riders." A great many cattle 
died with bloody murrain. 

Mr. Holliday says that in early days there were no poke-weeds, 
Jamestown (" jimson") weeds or pursley, and no clover, blue grass 
or timothy in this county. Neither were there any fruit trees or 
locust trees, but nearly every immigrant brought a supply with 
him. 

On the 4th of July, 1836, there was a celebration at the spring on 
Clear creek, five miles a little north of eastof Shelbyville, (section 18 — 
58 — 9) where Miller's mill was built — in the south-western portion of 
Tiger Fork township. A grand barbecue and free dinner were 
given. About 200 persons were present, and the day was spent 
pleasantly. 

The next year (1837), the " glorious fourth " was celebrated on the 
banks of the Black creek, south of Shelbyville, at Carnegy's spring. 
A large crowd assembled, and a number drank too freely at the gro- 
ceries in Shelbyville, and a general row was imminent. Only by extra 
and prompt exertions on the part of the peace officers was a big free 
fight and a disgraceful scene prevented. 

In the fall of 1838 an agricultural fair was instituted in Shelbyville, 
and a number of farmers contested for the premiums offered. Col. 
William, B. Lewis, Judge William Gooch and Charles H. Smith were 
contestants for the premium to be awarded the person raising the 
largest quantity of corn on an acre of ground. Each of them claimed 
to have gathered over 95 bushels, but it is not remembered who 
claimed the prize. Other farmers proved that they had raised more 
than 50 bushels of wheat on an acre of ground. The next year there 
was so much dissatisfaction over the awards of premiums that soon 
after the fairs were discontinued. 

In January, 1838, the first school township in the county was 
organized, and preparations were begun for a public school. The 
inhabitants of Congressional township 58, range 11, Mr. John Dunn 
at their head, petitioned the county court to organize their township, 
under the name of Van Buren, and this was done. 

THE INDIANS. 

Only upon the very first settlement of the county were there any 
Indians here. They soon left the country, and their stay here there- 
after was only transient. Occasionally hunting parties passed through. 
They belonged to the Sac, Fox and Pottawatomie and Iowa tribes — 
chiefly to the first three named. In 1839 a band of Pottawatomies 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 633 

came into the county, and camped not far from Hager's Grove for a 
few days. These were about the last Indians seen in the county. 

GAME AND WILD ANIMALS. 

Upon the first settlement of Shelby county the woods were full of 
game of all kinds and the county was a paradise for hunters. Bears, 
panthers and wolves abounded. In the western and north-western 
portions of the county they were quite numerous in early days. 
Bears were plenty in the north-eastern portion of the county in 
1835 and 1836. Many were killed along Tiger fork. The fierce 
panther made its home here. Many an early settler, as he sat by his 
fireside, felt his blood chill as the piercing scream of a prowling pan- 
ther was borne t® his lonely cabin on the night wind. They were 
frequently encountered, and many of them killed by the pioneer hun- 
ters. Wild cats or catamounts were quite numerous. 

As late afe 1841 two large black bears passed Dunn's school house, 
on Black creek, west of Shelby ville, going westward. Twelve miles 
westward, and near Vienna, in Macon county, these animals were 
quite numerous at that time. A large bear was killed near Stice's 
mill (Bethel) in 1840. 

In 1841, south-west of Shelby ville, John B. Lewis was frightened 
half out of his senses by a panther, whose cry he mistook for that of a 
person in distress until he came near to the animal. Kindred Feltz and 
some others killed a panther up in the northern part of the county in 
1840. The animal measured nine feet. 

In the winter of 1835 one John Winnegan, a small man in stature, 
but bisr as a hunter, who lived near where the road from Bethel to 
Newark crosses Tiger fork, killed two panthers of enormous size near 
his house. The neighbors called them tigers, and named the stream 
on which they were killed the Tiger fork of North river. 

As to wolves, the country was infested with them. There seems to 
have been three varieties, the large black, the gray and the coyote or 
prairie wolf. The first two varieties made many a foray on the settlers' 
flocks and herds, and sometimes it was a difficult matter to raise sheep 
and pigs on account of the depredations of these marauders. The 
sheep had to be penned every night and the hogs carefully looked 
after. The latter ran in the woods, and pigs were in great danger. 
Many a little porker was snapped up by the wolves and carried away. 
In time as the hogs continued to run in the woods and feed on the 
*'mast," they grew wild and vicious, and often, when attacked by 
wolves, would turn and fight and drive off their assailants. 



G34 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

In the year 1845, after the county had been pretty well settled, 
Robert McAfee was attacked by a pack of grey wolves while riding 
through tlie timber west of Shelbyville. The animals chased him, 
snapped at and cut his legs, and injured his horse considerably. In 
1855 a wolf formed an intimacy with Frank Dunn's dogs, near Shelby- 
ville, and slept and ran with them for some days until Dunn killed it. 

Deer were very plentiful. They could be found on every section. 
A settler could kill a deer almost anywhere and almost any time — 
before breakfast, if he wanted to — and the juicy venison steaks of 
the old time were long remembered. Wild turkeys, squirrels and 
other edible game were so numerous and so easily obtained as scarcely 
to be worthy of consideration. Rabbits, pheasants and quails were 
scarce. 

Numerous hunting stories, narratives of adventures with wild beasts 
of the forest, and exploits in the chase might here be printed if there 
was room, and if they were deemed of sufficient historic interest and 
importance. These tales are best when told in the graphic style of 
the old hunters themselves, by a winter's fire, or under favorable cir- 
cumstances of some other character. They somehow lose much of 
their interest when given in print, unless they are colored and exag- 
gerated. 

EARLY MARRIAGES. 

Doubtless the first marriage in Shelby county — certainly the first 
after its organization — was that of Bradford Hunsucker and Miss 
Dicy Stice. The ceremony was performed by Esq. Abraham Van- 
diver, at the residence of Peter Stice, the father of the bride, near the 
present town site of Bethel. The date of this marriage, as duly 
recorded, is April 30, 1835. 

The next was that of William S. Townsend and Edena A. Mills, May 
10, 1835. Esq. William J. HoUiday performed the ceremony. 

Gilbert Edmonds and Minerva J. Vandiver, and Tandy Gooch and 
Susan Duncan, were married November 12, 1835, the same day. Both 
marriages were solemnized by Rev. Richard Sharp. 

Charles Kilgore and Catherine Cochrane were married by Esq. 
Abraham Vandiver, February 18, 1836. 

Samuel S. Matson and Mary Creel, by Rev. Richard Sharp, 
February 28, 1836. 

William Holliday and Elizabeth Vandiver, by Rev. Sharp, March 
31, 1836. 

Fantley (Fauntleroy ?) Rhodes and Sarah Stice, by Rev. Sharp, 
April 7, 1836. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, 635 

James Shaw and Eliza Beavens, b}^ A. E. Wood, judge of the county 
court, May 24, 1836. 

Benjamin F. Firman and Sarah Rookwood, by Rev. Henry Louthan, 
October 20, 1836. 

Baptist Hardy and Martha Davidson, by Rev. Richard Sharp, 
November 17, 1836. 

James Rhodes and Mary Musgrove, by Rev. Sharp, December 1, 
1836. 

A pioneer wedding in Shelby county in early days would not com- 
pare, in point of elegance and finish, with one in these days. For 
there were lacking the paraphernalia of display and the pomp and 
circumstance attendant in this age upon affairs of that character. In 
those days few people wore " store goods," Their apparel was for 
the most part of home-spun. A "Sunday suit" resembled an 
'♦ every day " suit so far as general appearances went. The material 
of which the clothing was made was principally cotton or flax and 
wool. The men wore buckskin, jeans, cotton and linsey ; the women 
wore linsey, cotton and buckskin. 

A bridal toilet, therefore, was not expensive ; neither was it elab- 
orate, fanciful or very showy ; neither was it extensive. But it was 
sensible, for it was sufficient, and it was appropriate to the times, the 
manners and the circumstances. Yet she was as well dressed as the 
groom — with bis 'coonskin cap, his jeans coat, his linsey or cotton 
shirt, his jeans or coarse linen trowsers, his feet in home-tanned shoes, 
and without a glove to his hand or his name. 

But for all this, and for all of many other discomforts and disad- 
vantages, the marriages were as fortunate and felicitous, and the 
weddings themselves as joyous as any of those of modern times. It 
is not a matter of silk and satin, this affair of a happy marriage. 
The wedding was seldom or never a private one. The entire settle- 
ment was invited, and uniformly accepted the invitation. To neglect 
to send an invitation was to give ottense ; to refuse was to give an 
insult. There were all sorts of merry-making and diversion during 
the day. A shooting match was quite common. There were foot 
races, wrestling matches, and other athletic sports — sometimes a 
pugilistic encounter. At night a dance was had, in which there was 
general participation. Many of the dancers were barefoot, it is true, 
and the ball room floor was composed of split puncheons, from which 
the splinters had not all been removed, but the soles of the feet were 
covered with a coating impenetrable almost as a coat of armor, and 
bade defiance to any fair-sized splinter. Indeed, one old pioneer says 



636 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

that a real merry dance always resulted in smoothing a puncheon 
floor, as if it had been gone over with four and twenty jack-planes ! 

The wedding feast was always worthy of the name. The cake was 
corn-pone ; the champagne and claret consisted of good old Kentucky 
and Missouri whisky, clear and pure as mountain dew, unadulterated 
by mercenary " rectifiers " and untouched and untaxed by ganger and 
government. The latter article was usually imported for the occasion. 
Then there were venison steaks and roasts, turkey, grouse, nectar- 
like maple syrup and other edibles toothsome and elegant, the bare 
mention of which is sufficient to make an old pioneer's mouth water in 
these days. 

There were no newspapers then to chronicle all the details of a 
wedding in consideration of some of the cake, and print a list of 
alleged " presents " including plated tea spoons, fifteen-cent napkins, 
and ten-cent salt cellars, ad nauseam, and that was one point in favor 
of the pioneers. 

But some of the early weddings in this county were not such rude 
afiairs, for the parents were fairly well-to-do, and were able to provide 
the contracting parties with suitable outfits, and have everything done 
decently and in order. 

When babies came, as they did come — and as they always will 
come into every orderly and well-regulated settlement, heaven bless 
them! — they were quite often rocked and lulled to sleep in cradles 
fashioned by the hand of the fond father, with seasoned hickory bows 
attached to them for rockers. Within this little trough there were 
placed a few folds of flannel or linsey or some other kind of cloth — 
sometimes a pillow — sometimes soft " hatcheled " but unspun tow or 
flax, and into these nests there were snuggled the innocent, cunning 
little darlings. 

PIONEER PREACHERS. 

Following close upon the footsteps of the first settlers came the 
ministers. Sometimes they were the first settlers themselves. They 
labored without money and without price. They did not make mer- 
chandise of their mission. Freely had they received and freely they 
gave. They gained their substance as did their neighbors, by the 
rifle, and by their daily toil in the clearings and corn fields. Nearly 
every pioneer preacher was as expert in the use of the rifle as any of 
the laity. 

Services were usually held in a neighbor's cabin. Notices of the 
" meeting" were promptly and generally circulated, and the people 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 637 

generally attended, uniformly bringing their rifles, to procure game 
o-oing and coming. The assertion of scripture that he who will not 
provide for his own, " and especially for those of his own household, 
is worse than an infidel," found credence with the pioneers. The 
practice of carrying fire-arms was not abandoned even on the Sab- 
bath. 

In the fall of 1837 there was not a church or a school house in the 
county. The Methodists held a camp meeting that season at a spring 
(nw. 32-58-9) about a mile north of Oak Dale. A circuit had been 
established, of which the south-eastern portion of the county was 
made a part. Rev. Richard Sharp, a local preacher, who lived at 
Sharpsburg, Marion county, frequently preached in this county. 
Rev. Henry Louthan, a Baptist, settled in this county at an early day 
a«d labored at his calling. Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, another Baptist, 
who lived in Marion, preached in this county prior to 1840. For the 
names of other pioneer preachers see the township histories. 

PIONEERS AND PIONEER LIFE. 

It is customary to indulge in a great deal of gush and extravagant 
adulation in speaking of the first settlers of a country. Their virtues 
are extolled immoderately, their weaknesses — it is never admitted 
that they had any vices — are seldom ever hinted at. The true 
hearted pioneers of Shelby county would not wish to be written of 
other than fairly. Our first settlers were mere men and women, with 
all of the virtues and graces, and all of the vices and frailties of that 
number of people taken at random from rural communities. They 
were neither any worse nor any better than their descendants. 

The pioneers were hospitable and generous as a rule ; so are their 
posterities and successors. Some of them would get drunk and fight ; 
so will some of their successors. There was the doing of good works, 
the rendering of generous deeds, and there was cheating also in early 
days. There was industry and there was laziness ; there were thrift 
and penury, misery and happiness, good men and bad men, and after 
all, in very many respects, Shelby county people in 1834 were about 
like Shelby county people in 1884. 

The life of the early settlers of Shelby county was that of the pio- 
neers of the West generally, which has been written of and described 
so frequently that it need net be detailed here. The people, while 
they dwelt in log cabins and were plainly appareled and fed on hum- 
ble fare, lived comfortably, happily and well. It can not well be said 



638 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

that they suffered hardships, since the deprivation of certain modern 
luxuries and conveniences was well sustained by ample substitutes. 

There was a scarcity of purple and fine linen, but there was an 
abundance of comfortable and durable linsey and jeans and homespun 
cotton, much better suited to the rough and tumble life. Fine clothes 
and gay raiment would have been as much out of place in the primi- 
tive log cabins and among the clearings of early days, as would 'coon- 
skin caps and buckskin breeches in the parlors and drawing-rooms of 
the baronial residences that stand upon the well improved manor lands 
of the county to-day. In that day as now, people dressed and lived 
according to their circumstances. 

In their somewhat isolated positions the settlers were dependent 
upon one another for many things. Men were willing to help a neigh- 
bor because they felt that they might at some time need help them- 
selves. A house-raising would start all the settlers for ten miles 
around. A new settler was always gladly received. He first selected 
his claim, cut his house logs and hauled them to the spot he had 
chosen for his home, and then announced his " raising." It did not 
take long to put up the cabin. The neighbors came from far and 
near, and whoever refused to attend a raising, that could do so, and 
had heard of it, was guilty of a serious offense. The work of rais- 
ing a cabin was often facilitated by a jug full of whisky, plenty and 
cheap in those days, and when the work was all done there were those 
not too tired to indulge in a scuffle or other rough sport, and some- 
times there was a fisticuff. 

The first farms were opened up in timber. The timber was all 
cut down. That which would make rails or fencins: was so utilized. 
The rest was piled and rolled together and burned. The stumps of 
the saplings were grubbed up, and then the land was plowed. The 
plow used was a very simple affair, with sometimes an iron point, and 
sometimes without, and always a wooden mold-board. It is said that 
some farmers used a plow made from the fork of a tree. The soil in 
the bottoms was like an ash heap for mellowness, and almost anything 
in the shape of a plow would serve to fit it for the reception of the 
seed corn. There was, of course, the usual difficulty in plowing 
regarding the stumps, and as the most of the pioneers were not pro- 
fane men, their sufferings at times were intense ! 

Up to 1835 not much farming had been done in the county, and 
indeed not a great deal attempted. Every settler had his "truck 
patch," wherein grew potatoes, a little corn, a few vegetables, etc.; 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 639 

and he had also a corn field corresponding in extent to the length of 
time he had been in the county, his means or his desires. 

Corn was the principal crop, and if enough of this was raised to 
supply the family with pone, Johnny cake and honey, the settler was 
satisfied. There was no wheat raised of any consequence. 

Flax was among the first crops raised. The seed was rarely sold, 
and the crop was cultivated for the bark, of which linen and linsey 
were made. Nearly every family had a flax patch and a flock of 
sheep — the dependence for clothing supplies. To be a good flax- 
breaker was at one time considered a great accomplishment among 
the men, and the woman who was a good flax or wool spinner and 
weaver was the envy of many of her sisters. 

The dress of the pioneers comported well with their style of living. 
The women usually went barefoot in summer, and in inclement 
weather wore on their feet shoes made of home-tanned leather. 
When they could procure enough calico to make for themselves caps 
for their heads they were happy, and the woman who could wear a 
dress made entirely of store goods was the envy of dozens of the less 
favored of her sex. It is said that when the pioneer woman first 
came in possession of a pair of calf-skin shoes they were very careful 
of them, and wore them only on important occasions. They would 
walk barefoot and carry their shoes until within a short distance of 
the meeting or wedding, or whatever they were attending, and then 
stop and clothe their feet. This, however, is a story told of all pio- 
neer women, and may or may not be true. 

Old pioneers say that buckskin makes a very fair article of panta- 
loons, but when it is wet it shrinks or contracts. Quite often a pio- 
neer came home after wading through streams and wet grass with the 
bottoms of his pantaloons nearly up to his knees. In such a case, 
early the next morning he had to slip out of doors with his trowsers, 
tie one end to the logs of the cabin or to a sapling, take hold of the 
other end, and stretch them out again to a proper length. 

The early settlers of this county raised almost everything they ate, 
and manufactured nearly everything they wore. Their smoke houses 
were always well supplied with meats of various kinds, and honey of 
the finest flavor. After the first year or two there was plenty of meal 
in the chest and butter and milk in the cellar. Very little coffee and 
sugar were used and tea was almost unknown. The family that had 
cofffee two or three times a week were considered " high livers." 
Often it was only used once a week — Sunday morning for break- 
fast. 



640 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The hogs and cattle of the settlers increased very rapidly and throve 
abundantly — living almost exclusively on the wild <' mast " then to 
be found everywhere. Bacon and lard were plenty — beyond the 
wants of the owners, but there was no market at home for them. 

In the early history of the settlements mechanical conveniences were 
few and of an inferior character. Few of the settlers had been regu- 
larly trained to the use of tools, and in consequence, every man became 
his own mechanic. Vessels and articles required for household use 
were hewn out of blocks and loojs of wood. Althouffh these articles 
presented a rough and uncouth appearance, they answered every pur- 
pose, and the families were as happy in their use as are the most 
favored people of later generations with the multiplied devices of 
modern invention. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the pioneers of this county were with- 
out very many of the modern conveniences and luxuries of life, they 
lived happily. The necessaries of life were cheap, and they had little 
to complain of in that regard. People who have plenty of venison, 
wild turkeys, bacon and corn bread are in no danger of starvation, 
even if their corn must be brayed in a mortar to produce the meal. 

Sugar, coffee and tea were expensive, it is true, and produce and 
labor were cheap, but then not much sugar, coffee and tea were used. 
Sometimes a cow was worth but $10 ; a horse $25 ; a good hog only 
$1.25 or $1.50; wheat (when the country began to produce wheat) 
35 cents a bushel, while honey was but 20 cents a gallon and fine 
venison hams 25 cents each. 

It was customary in these days for the settlers to help each other, 
and of their sons to work in the harvest field or help to do the logging 
to prepare for a new seeding. This was a source of wealth to the 
early settler and to his rising family. They raked in from twenty-five 
to fifty cents a day and board. That was wealth. It was the founda- 
tion of their future prosperity. It was the first egg laid to hatch them 
a farm, and it was guarded with scrupulous care. Economy was often 
whittled down to a very fine point before they could be induced to 
take or touch that nest egg, the incipient acre of the first farm. And 
then again, a week's work meant something besides getting on the 
shady side of a tree and three hours for nooning. It meant labor in 
all its length, breadth, and thickness, from holding the breaking-plow 
behind two yoke of oxen, to mauling rails. Rails were made at 
twenty-five cents a hundred. Just think of splitting rails at twenty- 
five cents a hundred ! It is enough to take the breath away from 
every effeminate counter-jumper in the State. 



CHAPTER 11. 

EARLY OFFICIAL HISTORY. 

When Shelby Belonged to Marion County — First Division of the Territory into 
Townships by the Marion County Court — Organization of the County — The 
Organizing Act — First Sessions of the County Court — The First Roads — Mis- 
cellaneous Proceedings — First Circuit Courts — First Grand Jury and First 
Indictments — A Fight Between Lawyers — Miscellaneous Items — The First 
Elections. 

EARLY OFFICIAL HISTORY. 

Upon the acquisition by the United States, in 1803, of the Terri- 
tory of Louisiana, including what is now the State of Missouri, the 
territory embraced within the present metes and bounds of Shelby 
county belonged to the ''District " of St. Charles. October 1, 1812, 
St. Charles county was organized by proclamation of Gov. Clark, and 
this county was made a part thereof. December 14, 1818, upon the 
organization of Pike, it became a part of that county. November 16, 
1820, when Kails county was created, it was included therein. Upon 
the organization of Marion, December 23, 1826, the territory was 
*' attached to the said county of Marion for all military, civil and 
judicial purposes." 

After 1831 and up to 1834 what is now Shelby county was virtually 
a part of Warren township, Marion county. In May, 1834, the 
county court of Marion made the following order: — 

It is ordered that all that portion of territory formerly included in 
Warren township lying west of the range line dividing ranges No. 8 
and 9; also, all that portion of territory lying west of the western 
boundary line of Marion county which by law remains attached to 
said county shall compose a municipal township, to be called and 
known by the name of "-Black Creek Township,'' and it is further 
ordered that the clerk of this court shall transmit to the office of the 
Secretary of State a description of said township. 

Elections in Black Creek township were to be held at the house of 
William B. Broughton. The first judges of election were Thomas H. 
Clements, Richard Gartrell and George Parker. The first justice of 
the peace was Thomas J. Bounds ; constable, Julius C. Gartrell. 

In November, 1834, the Marion court formed out of Black Creek a 
new township, called North River, the following being the order: — 

* * * All territory bounded on the north by the Lewis county 
line, east by the range line between ranges 8 and 9, and south by 

(641) 



642 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

a line drawn from a point in the western boundary of Warren town- 
ship on the dividing rid^e between the waters of Black creek and 
North Two-rivers ; along said dividing ridge, in a north-westerly 
direction between the waters of Black creek and North Two-rivers, to 
the western boundary of the county, is hereby created into a new 
municipal township, to be called North River Township. 

The first justices of the peace for this township were Alexander 
Buford and Abraham Vandiver ; constable, Oliver H. Latimore. 
No elections were held so long as the township was attached to 
Marion. 

This portion of territory was settling up fast, and being so remote 
from the seat of justice of Marion, a demand for its organizati&n into 
a separate and distinct county became so imperative that on January 
2, 1835, the Legislature heeded the prayers of a number of petition- 
ers and erected the county of Shelby. The county of Stoddard was 
organized at the same time. The following is the section of the act 
defining the metes and bounds of Slielby county : — 

The territory bounded as follows : Beginning at the south-east 
corner of township 57, range 9 west ; thence west with the line 
between townships 56 and 57 to the range line between ranges 12 and 
13 ; thence north with the last mentioned range line to the line 
between ranges 8 and 9 ; thence south with the last mentioned 
range line to the place of beginning, shall bo a distinct county, called 
Shelby county. (See Territorial Laws, Mo., 1835, Vol. ii, p. 426.) 

The county was named in honor of Gen. and ex-Gov. Isaac Shelby, 
of Kentucky. 

The commissioners to select the seat of justice were Elias Kinche- 
loe, of Marion ; James Lay, of Lewis, and Joseph Hardy, of Ealls. 

The Governor (Daniel Dunklin) was authorized to appoint three 
county judges and a sheriff "to serve until the next general elec- 
tion." 

The act provided that the courts of the county should be " held at 
the house of Mr. Broughton,^ until the county court shall fix on a 
temporary seat of justice." The county courts were ordered to be 
held on the first Mondays in January, April, July and October. The 
county was made to form a part of the Twelfth Senatorial district, 
Marion and Lewis being the other counties. 

FIRST SESSION OF THE COUNTY COURT. 

The first session of the Shelby county court convened at the resi- 
dence of Wm. B. Broughtou (the "Mr, Broughton" referred to in 



1 William B. Broughton. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 643 

the organizing act) on Tliursday, April 9, 1835. There were present 
as justices: James Foley, Thomas H. Clements and Adolphus E. 
Wood, all of whom had been commissioned by the Governor. Mr. 
Broughton lived at Oak Dale (section 5 — 57 — 9) in what is now Jack- 
son township. 

Upon the assembling of the court, James Foley was made presiding 
justice, Thomas J. Bounds was appointed clerk, and Russell W. Moss 
appointed assessor. There being no other business the court adjourned 
to meet a week later. 

April 17 the court re-assembled, all the judges being present. John 
H. Milton, who had been appointed by Gov. Dunklin the sheriff of 
the county, appeared and took the oath of office. J. C. Gartrell 
resio-ned as constable of Black Creek township, and Samuel J. Parker 
was appointed in his stead. 

At the regular May term the only business done was the recommend- 
ing to the Governor that Robert Duncan be appointed sheriff in the 
room of John H. Milton, who had failed to give bond according to 
law. 

At a special term begun May 18, 1835, Robert Duncan was appointed 
elizor until he could be commissioned sheriff. At this term the first 
roads in the county were duly and legally established, as follows : — 
A road running from the county line between Shelby and Monroe 
counties at the termination of the Florida road, to intersect a road 
passing W. B. Broughton's, at his residence. 

A road from Broughton's " to where the ' Bee road ' crosses Black 
creek." 

A road from "the large branch nearly a tnile east of George Ander- 
son's house to the range line between ranges Nos. 10 and 11; " but, 
on the remonstrance of Anderson and others, the order establishing 
this road was rescinded. 

Prior to the establishment of these highways there were no roads 
in the county worthy of the name. What were known as the " Bee 
roads " were the only roads running north and south. (See descrip- 
tion of these elsewhere.) 

Of the first justices of the county court it may be stated that they 
were all gentlemen of intelligence and experience, and made efficient 
officers. A. E. Wood, a New Yorker, lived at Oak Dale, and was a 
brother of the Hons. Fernando Wood and Ben. Wood, of New York 
City, the former a well known politician and statesman, the latter a 
prominent capitalist, newspaper publisher, member of Congress, etc. 
Judge Foley was a Keutuckian and lived two miles east of Bethel. 



644 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

He died in Shelbyville before the Civil War. Judge Clements was 
also a Kentnckian . He resided in the south-eastern part of the county, 
three miles from Oak Dale, and died many years since — before 1850. 

MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS. 

County and circuit courts were held at the house of W. B. Brough- 
ton, at Oak Dale, until July 6, 1836, when the first term was held at 
Abraham Vandiver's, in Shelbyville. This house was called "the 
court-house," until the completion of the real building of that name, 
in December, 1838. 

Upon the first assembling of the county court there was no attempt 
to change the township division which had been made by the Marion 
county authorities. Our court left the municipal division as it found 
it for some years — not even confirming the action of the Marion 
court — perhaps because it was not deemed necessary. 

In August, 1835, W. B. Broughton was appointed treasurer, and 
Robert Duncan collector. 

The co^unty tax levy the first year of the county's existence was 
12| cents on the $100 ; poll tax, 371 cents. Collector Duncan, in 
December, reported the delinquent tax to be $2.60, due from the fol- 
lowing persons: Levi Dyer, 75 cents; Wm. D. B. Hill, $1.00; 
Michael Lee, 85 cents. 

The first store in the county was opened by W. B. Broughton, at 
Oak Dale, in the winter of 1834. In June, 1835, Broughton & Holli- 
day received license '*to retail merchandise for the period of one 
year" at the same place. Broughton's residence, it will be remem- 
bered, was called Oak Dale. The first post-office in the county was 
established here, in the spring of 1834, and Broughton was made post- 
master. 

In November a road was opened from the county line, near Lyle's 
mill, on the North Fabius, in Marion, to Peter Stice's (Bethel), in 
this county, giving the settlers in the eastern and north-eastern por- 
tions of the county a road to mill. 

In the absence of any official record on the s'ubject, some idea of 
the amount of taxable property in the county this year may be gained 
from the fact that there was paid Eussell W. Moss for his services as 
county assessor the sum of $12.75. 

In December, 1835, the plat of the seat of justice, as prepared by 
T. J. Bounds, was adopted by the county court, and the town called 
Shelbyville. T. J. Bounds was appointed county seat commissioner, 
and ordered to lay out the town into lots and blocks as soon as con- 
venient. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 545 



MISCELLANEOUS COUNTY COURT PROCEEDINGS IN 1836. 

In February Broughton & Holliday were licensed to keep an inn 
and tavern at Oak Dale for one year, on the payment of $10. 

In May the first administrator was appointed, George Parker, on 
the estate of John G. Gillis. 

In June four free mulatto children were bound as apprentices and 
servants to Samuel Buckner. Their names were Leannah, Clarinda, 
Maria and Theodoric. As stated elsewhere, these were the children 
of Mr. Buckner by his negro mistresses. 

In June the first grocery stores were established in Shelby ville. 
Jaines W. Eastin and Robert Duncan each obtamed a grocer's license 
at this time ; fee, $5 per annum. 

On the 6th of July the first terra of the county court was held in 
Shelbyville, at the house of Abraham Vandiver, the first in the place. 
At this term a road was established from Shelbyville to the Lewis 
county line in the direction of Fresh's mill, on the South Fabius. 
This mill stood about one mile south-west of the present town of 
Newark, Knox county. 

The first case of insanity in the county was that of William R. Ford, 
who was pronounced insane by a jury, in August of this year, and 
James Ford was appointed his guardian. 

The county expenditures for the year 1836 were about $300, and 
the delinquent tax list was $5.70. 

Obadiah Dickerson was appointed superintendent of public build- 
ings in November, and preparations were begun at once to build a 
court-house. 

FIRST CIRCUIT COURTS. 

The first term of the circuit court of Shelby county convened 
Thursday, November 26, 1835, at the house of W. B. Broughton, at 
Oak Dale. Hon. Priestly H. McBride, then judge of the second 
judicial circuit, presided. Sheriff Robert Duncan opened court, and 
Thomas J. Bounds was the clerk. 

The grand jury was composed of the following : William Moore, 
foreman ; George Parker, George W. Gentry, William S. Chinn, 
Peter Stice, Bryant Cockrum, Joseph West, Elisha K. Eaton, Silas 
Boyce, James Blackford, Samuel Bell, Albert G. Smith, Josiah Beth- 
ard, Cyrus A. Saunders, Hill Shaw, John Thomas, Robert Reed, Rus- 
sell W. Moss, Henry Musgrove, Ezekiel Kennedy, " twenty good and 
lawful men," says the record. 



646 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Three attorneys were present at this term of court, all of whom. lived 
at Palmyra: J. Qiiinn Thornton, John Heard and James L. Minor. 
The latter gentleman (afterwards Secretary of State) was appointed 
circuit attorney pro tern. Thornton was an editor and politician as 
well as an attorney, and subsequently conducted newspapers at Palmyra 
and Hannibal. John Hearn became circuit attorney in a year or two. 

The grand jury reported that they had no business before them, 
and were discharged. 

The following were the only cases before the court and the disposi- 
tion made of them: " Graham Williams vs. Sundry other heirs of 
Elisha Williams, deceased ; petition for partition. Uriel Wright 
appointed guardian ad litem for the minor heirs." " John H. Milton, 
assignee of Robert Reed vs. Silas Boyce ; petition and summons. 
Motion to dismiss sustained." 

On the third day of the term Elias Kincheloe, one of the county 
seat commissioners, made a report of the actions of the commission- 
ers, and submitted the title papers for the land on which they had 
located the seat of justice. These papers, says the record, "were 
examined and pronounced good and sufficient in law to vest the title 
in said county." 

On the third day court adjourned till " court in course." The total 
expenses of the term were $16.87V2, as follows : To W. B. Broughton, 
for house rent, $4; Robert Duncan, sheriff's fees, $9.50; T. J. 
Bounds, clerk's fees, $3.37V2. 

The July terra, 1836, was the second term of the circuit court. It 
was held at Mr. Broughton's. Hon. Ezra Hunt was judge, A. B. 
Chambers, of Pike county, was circuit attorney. Other new attorneys 
admitted to practice before the court were Thomas L. Anderson and 
S. W. B. Carnegy, both of Palmyra, and both now (1884) living. 

The third term was held in December, 1836, at the house of the 
clerk, Thomas J. Bounds, in Shelbyville. Ezra Hunt was judge, A. 
B. Chambers, circuit attorney. William Porter was a new lawyer,^ 
and James Lear was foreman of the grand jury. 

In 1837 the March term was held at the house of Ezekiel Kennedy, 
in Shelbyville. Hon. P. H. McBride was on the bench, and John 
Heard circuit attorney. New attorneys were Uriel Wright, J. R. Aber- 
nathy, P. Williams and W. R. Van Arsdall. 

The July term was held at the house of Thomas O. and H. W. Esk- 
ridge, in Shelbyville. McBride, judge ; Heard, circuit attorney. Maj. 
Obadiah Dickerson was foreman of the grand jury, which found the 
tii-8t criminal indictment in the county, against Henry Meadley, for 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 647 

grand larceny. He was arrested, but the charge was dismissed, and 
he brought suit against James Lair, the prosecuting witness, for 
damages for false imprisonment. He could not give security for the 
costs, however, and was compelled to ask a nonsuit. No cases of any 
consequence were tried at these terms. 

At the March term, 1838, which was held at the house of Abraham 
Vandiver, in Shelbyville, a number of indictments were found against 
some of our people for gaming. Some of the indicted parties were 
among our best and most prominent citizens. Times were dull and 
amusements scarce, and it is scarcely to be wondered at that the old 
pioneers should seek some form of diversion other than toiling in the 
woods and clearings. 

The parties indicted for gaming were Bryant Cockrum, George 
Gentry, William Payne, Isaac Wooley, Elijah Owens and Kobert 
Joiner, "for playing at loo;" Joseph Holeman and Abraham Van- 
diver, "for playing seven-up ;" Elijah Owens, John Ralls and Abra- 
ham Vandiver, "for playing three-up." Wesley Halliburton and 
Joseph Holeman were indicted "for permitting gaming in their 
house." Only three of the parties were ever convicted. George 
Gentry was fined $2, William Payne $5, and Isaac Wooley $1. The 
others had the charges nolle prosed, or were tried and acquitted. It is 
said that the indictments were the result of malice. That the pioneers 
were playing merely for sport is quite certain ; that they were gamb- 
ling for the money that was to be made out of it is preposterous. 

At the same term Matthias Meadley was presented as a vagrant, 
and James Shaw was indicted for " selling spirituous liquors to be 
drank in his house without license." The latter case was dismissed. 

A FIGHT IN COURT. 

The pioneer lawyers were not only powerful in polemics, but when 
the occasion demanded they were plucky as pugilists. Arguments 
took the form of blows sometimes. During the July term, 1838, two 
of the attorneys had a fisticuff in court. Samuel T. Glover, then a 
young lawyer, and E. G. Pratt, both of Palmyra, let their angry pas- 
sions rise and fought bravely with fists and feet until separated. 

The fight took place in the court room, in the immediate presence 
of His Honor, Judge McBride, who fined Glover $10 "for contempt 
of court in striking E. G. Pratt," and then fined Pratt "for insulting 
language used and for striking S. T. Glover." The matter did not 
rest here. The grand jury took it up, indicted both parties ; they were 
arraigned, pleaded guilty, and were fined $5 each. 

36 



648 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Mr. Glover, it will be remembered, rose to distinction as a lawyer, 
heino- justly regarded as one of the ablest in his profession in the State. 
He died in January, 1884, in St. Louis, where he had resided for 
many years. Mr. Pratt died in Palmyra years ago. 

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS FROM THE EARLY COURTS. 

The first term of the circuit court held in the court-house was the 
March term, 1839. 

The first foreigner naturalized in Shelby county was Ole Rierson, a 
native of Norway, who took out his papers at the March term, 1839. 

In November, 1839, Wm. P. Adkins was fined $5 for appearing in 
court as a grand juror " while in a state of intoxication." 

In July, 1842, Lucy, a slave belonging to George Gaines, was con- 
victed of arson. She was sentenced to " receive thirty-nine lashes on 
her bare back, to be well laid on by the sheriff of said Shelby county," 
and also to be banished from the State of Missouri for the term of 20 
years. 

THE FIRST ELECTION. 

The first election in Shelby county after its organization was the 
Auo-nst election of 1835. There were but two townships and two 
voting places at the time. In Black Creek township, the voting place 
was at the house of Wm. B. Broughton, and George Parker, Wm. 
HoUiday and Anthony Blackford were the judges. In North River 
the polls were opened at the house of Alexander Buford, and Robert 
Joiner, Wm. Moore and Wm. Chinn were the judges. 

About 85 votes were cast, and at this time there were perhaps 100 
voters in the county — not more. 

The officers to be elected were two members of Congress, a circuit 
and county clerk, assessor and surveyor. The sense of the people 
was also taken on the question of holding a State Constitutional Con- 
vention. At that date and until 1846, the Representatives in Con- 
o-ress from Missouri were elected by the voters of the State at large, 
and not by Congressional districts, as is now the case. All voting 
was by the viva voce method which prevailed in Missouri until 1863. 
(See Laws of 1863, p. 17 ; Statutes of 1865, p. 61.) The total vote 
in this county was : — 

Congressmen — Wm. H. Ashley, 66 ; Jame.'s H! Birch, 45 ; Geo. 
F. Strother, 30; Albert G. Harrison, 30. 

Clerk — ThomiXB J. Bounds, 44; Thomas Eskridge, 40. 

Assessor — Thos. Holeman, 42 ; Abraham Vandiver, 41. 

Surveyor — Wm. J. Holliday, 82. 

Convention — For, 34; against, 27. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 649 

At this election, and at many another for some time afterward, 
party lines were not strictly drawn, but it is quite probable that a 
majority of the voters in the county in 1835 were Whio;s, or " Clay 
men," as Gen. Ashley and Mr. Birch were Whigs, while Judge Har- 
rison and Gen. Strother were "Jackson men," or Democrats. 

Four justices of the peace were chosen at this election, as follows : 
Black Creek, Montillion H. Smith and Josiah Abbott ; North River, 
Abraham Vandiver, B. F. Forman, Samuel Cochran and Alexander 
Buford. 

AUGUST ELECTION, 1836.^ 

Governor — Ulhurn W. Boggs (D.), 66 ; Wm. H. Ashley (W.), 39. 

Lieut. -Governor — Franklin Cannon (D.), 59; Jones (W ) 28 

Co7i^7-m — Albert G. Harrison (D.), 77; John Miller (dV'sG- 
George F. Strother (W.), 19; James H. Birch (W.), 19- S. c' 
Owens (Ind.), 4. ' 

State Senator — Wm. McDaniel (D.), 71 ; Wm. Carson (W ) 55 

Bepreseniative-Wm. J. Holliday ( ), 70; Abraham Vandiver 
( ), 50. 

Sherif — Robert Duncan, 101. 

Justices County Court — Dv. A. E. Wood, 68 ; Wm. S. Chinn 69 • 
Wm. B. Broughton, 68 ; Anthony Blackford, 82 ; Thomas H. Clem- 
ents, 77. Two were to be chosen. 

Assessor — Thomas Holeman, 38; Samuel Parker, 23; Robert 
Blackford, 14; Samuel Smith, 10; Wm. Moffitt, 31. 

Coroner — Silas Boyce, 81. 

About 125 votes were polled, of which nearly 100 were from Black 
Creek township. 

AUGUST ELECTION, 1838. 

Congress — AXhevl G. Harrison (D.), 152; John Miller (D.), 151 ; 
John Wilson ( W.), 119 ; Beverly Allen ( W.), 116. 

State Senator— G. M. Bower (D.), 157; Joshua Gentry (W.), 

Representative — YAidiS Kincheloe (D.), 158; James Foley (W.), 
158. 

Sheriff— Uohevi Duncan, 201 ; Robert A. Moffitt, 67. 
^s^mor — Joseph Holeman, 88; John J. Foster, 82; Robert 
L/air, 57. 

Circuit Attorney — SsimQs R. Abernathy, 159; S. W. B. Carn- 
egy, 69. 

, County Justice — Wm. J. Holliday, 164; John B. Lewis, 93. 

» No record of the vote at the Presidential election, 1836, can be found in this 
county, and the copy sent to the Secretary of State was burned in the fire that con- 
sumed the Capitol building, in 1837. 



650 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



AUGUST JELECTION, 1839. 

Assessor — Wm. Gooch, 127 ; Wm. W. Lewis, 108. 

/Surveyor — Wm. H. Davidson, 162; John Bishop, 74. 

A special election was held October 28, 1839, to choose a member 
of Congress in the room of Hon. Albert G. Harrison, who had died. 
The candidates were John Jameson, Democrat, and Thornton Grims- 
ley, of St. Louis, Whig. Li Shelby county the vote stood : Jameson, 
81; Grimsley, 67. 



CHAPTER III. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1835 TO 1840. 

The Settlers of 1835 — When the County was Organized — Naming the Streams — 
Fatal Accidents -Got Lost- "New York "-The "Pottawatomie War"- 
Building the Court House -Pioneer Mills -The " Bee Trails " - List of the Set- 
tlers in 1837 -The Mormon War-The " Iowa War " -The First Bridge-The 
First Homicide, Killing of John Bishop by John L. Faber. 

SOME SETTLERS OF 1835. 

The following are the names of more than 70 of the settlers of the 
county who were here upon the organization of the county, or in the 
spring of 1835. It is believed that this list comprises nearly all of 
the voters and heads of families who were in the county at that 

time : — 

George Anderson, Josiah Abbott, James Y. Anderson, Thomas J. 
Bounds" W. B. Broughton, Anthony Blackford, James Blackford, 
Isaac Blackford, Samuel Bell, Alexander Buford, Silas Boyce, Samuel 
Buckuer, Thomas H. Clements, William S. Chinn, Bryant Cochrane, 
Samuel Cochrane, J. W. Cochrane, Charles Christian, Obadiah Dick- 
erson, Robert Dnncan, William H. Davidson, Levi Dyer, George 
Eaton, Elisha K. Eaton, John Eaton, James Foley, Benjamin F. 
Forman, Jesse Gentry, George W. Gentry, Julius C. Gartrell, James 
G. Glenn, William J. Holliday, Thompson Holliday, Elias L. Holli- 
day, Thomas Holeman, Charles A. HoUyman, Bradford Hunsucker, 
William D. B. Hill, Julius C. Jackson, Robert Joiner, Ezekiel Ken- 
nedy, Isham Kilgore, Charles Kilgore, Robert Lair, Addison Lair, 
Peter Looney, Oliver Latimer, Michael Lee, Russell W. Moss, J. M. 
Moss, John H. Milton, William Moore, William T. Matson (died 
same year), J. C Mayes, S. W. Miller, Henry Musgrove, John 
McAfee, Samuel J. Parker, George Parker, Elijah Pepper, W. H 
Payne, Peter Roff, John Ralls, Hiram Rookwood, Robert Reed, 
James Shaw, Cyrus A. Saunders, Henry Saunders, James Swartz, 
Peter Stice, MontiUion H. Smith, Hill Shaw, John Sparrow, William 
Sparrow, Maj. Turner, William S. Townsend, John Thomas, Abra- 
ham Vandiver, Dr. Adolphus E. Wood, Nicholas Watkins. 

The following are some who came in the fall of 1835 or in 1836 : 
John Dunn, James Graham, Alexander Gillaspy, Lewis Gillaspy, 

(651) 



652 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Stephen Miller, James L. Peake, Samuel Bell, John Jacobs, Joseph 
West, James Ford, William Conner, Robert R. Moffitt, William 
Moffitt, Jesse* Vanskike, Samuel M. Hewett, Francis Leflet, Samuel 
S. Matson, Elisha Moore,' J. T. Tingle, G. H. Edmonds, S. O. Van 
Vactor, M. J. Priest. 

After the organization of the county settlers came in rather plenti- 
fully for a few years. The majority of them located along the 
streams in the timber, and some came to Shelbyville as soon as it 
budded out into a town. 

NAMING THE STREAMS. 

The principal streams were all named when the settlers came here. 
The original name of Salt river was Auhaha, or Oahaha, but it was 
soon called Salt river from the salt springs near it, in Ralls county. 
Black creek was originally called Jake's creek, and is so spoken of 
in the early records of Marion county. It is said that some time 

about the year 1820 a trapper named Jake built a cabin on its 

banks and lived there some time. Afterward the surveyors called it 
Black creek because of the dark color of the water when they first 
saw it. North river was originally called North Tw;o-rivers, and 
South river, in Marion county, was South Two-rivers. The two 
streams unite half a mile from the Mississippi, into which they flow, 
in the eastern part of Marion. Tiger fork was named for the two 
panthers or "tigers" that John Winnegan killed in the winter of 
1835. There were already two " Panther creeks " in this part of the 
State. 

The small streams were named for the men who first settled or 
located upon them. Pollard's branch, in the western part of Black 
Creek township, was named for Elijah Pollard, Chinn's branch for W. 
S. Chinn, Hawkins' branch for William -Hawkins, Broughton's branch 
for W. B. Broughton, Pay ton's branch for John Pay ton, Bell's 
branch for Samuel Bell, Parker's branch for George Parker, Hol- 
man's branch for Thomas Holman, etc. Clear creek, in the south- 
western part of Tiger Fork township, and east of Shelbyville, was so 
named because it was fed by springs and the water was very clear. 
Otter creek, in the south-western part of the county, contained not 
only otters, but beavers, at an early day, but more of the former, 
and so derived its name. Board branch was so named for the 
abundance of board timber along its banks at an early day. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. ^^3 



FATAL ACCIDENTS. 

In the summer of 1837, John Payton, a settler who lived in the 
western part of the county, on the branch bearing his name, was 
dashed against a tree by his horse and instantly killed. Payton had 
been to Shelbyville to do some trading and became intoxicated. His 
wife and brother-in-law were with him, and all the parties were on 
horseback. On the way home, while east of the Salt river bottom, 
or about five miles from Shelbyville, in the direction of Clarence, 
Payton wanted to return to town and finish his spree. To induce 
him to continue on home his brother-in-law proposed -a horse-race 
and Payton accepted. A tree leaned across the main road on which 
the men were running, but a path ran around it. It was believed 
that Payton turned his horse into this path and leaned over to one 
side to" avoid being knocked off, but suddenly the horse turned 
again, and before Payton could recover himself he was dashed 
against the tree and killed in the presence of his wife and brother- 
in-law. Others thought his death was due to his intoxicated condi- 
tion that he swayed to one side as he ran and so struck the tree. 

An inquest, the first in the county, was held on Payton's body, and 
a verdict of accidental death was returned. The fatal tree, black oak, 
stood for many years, and was often pointed out and known as 
«' Pavton's tree." 

Not far from this time a party of men were engaged in raising a log 
house west of Shelbyville, and while raising a heavy log it slipped and 
fell upon a slave mam named " London," killing him instantly. The 
slave belonged to Capt. James Shaw. 

GOT LOST. 

A small colony of Norwegians settled on the head waters of North 
river in about 1839. One of the colony, a man named Peter Galena, 
came down to Shelbyville, and on his return towards his home he lost 
his way. His family became alarmed at his continued absence, and a 
number of citizens turned out to hunt for him. After searching for 
him a day and a half he was found wandering about on the prairie in 
the north-western part of the county, nearly dead from exposure, and 
half demented from terror and fright. He was taken home and cared 
for. 

" NEW YORK." 

In the fall of 1835 a company of speculators, at the head of which 
was Col. William Muldrow, of Marion county, entered about one-third 



654 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

of the laud in this county, thousands of acres at a time. Extensive 
tracts were entered in other counties. The money was furnished by 
Eastern capitalists, Rev. Dr. Ely, John McKee, Allen Gallaher and 
others, all from Pennsylvania. Dr. Ezra Stiles Ely was a prominent 
divine of Philadelphia, Pa., and put into the enterprise (and lost) 
$100,000. 

The company founded the towns of Philadelphia, Marion City, and 
West Ely and Marion College, in Marion county, and sold thousands 
of dollars worth of lots to credulous Eastern investors, many of whom 
were persons of moderate means, who desired to secure homes in the 
great West. • Some of these came on, and found that the flourishing 
" towns " and "cities " that had been described to them existed but 
on paper, and returned to their former homes disgusted and 
much poorer financially. 

Col. Muldrow and his associates came over into Shelby and laid out 
a town in the north-western part of the county in the fall of 1835. 
This town was called New York. It was located on sections 1, 2, 12 
and 13, in township 58, range 11. It was well and regularly laid out 
in streets, lots and blocks, and the plat was very pretty to look at. 
Quite a number of lots were disposed of to gullible parties else- 
where, but "New York" was always a town without houses. 

Eventually the speculators came to grief. Other investments 
proved disastrous, and they soon found that people were acquainted 
with their schemes and would not bite. It is perhaps but fair to say, 
however, that Muldrow was only about 40 years ahead of the times. 
Such investments in 1875 as he proposed would have been profit- 
able. 

THE "POTTAWATOMIE WAR." 

In the fall of 1836 occurred the " Pottawatomie War," as it was 
derisively called for many years afterward. It was indeed no war at 
all, but was simply a ridiculous and altogether groundless scare or 
fright. 

A party of about 60 friendly Pottawatomie Indians, men, women, 
and children, on a hunting expedition from Iowa into Missouri, — or, 
as some say, on the way from Iowa to the South-west, whither they 
had been ordered to remove by the Government, — passed through 
the western part of this county, and caused the trouble. The Indians 
were hungry and a few stragglers among them climbed into a settler's 
cornfield, west of Salt river, and helped themselves to a half dozen 
pumpkins for themselves and to an armful of corn for their ponies. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 655 

The Indians had sent forward no notice of their coming, and came 
upon the settlers unawares. Some of the hitter discovered the savages 
in the cornfield, and at once concluded that an Indian war, with all its 
woes and horrors, was upon the country, and that the pumpkin thieves 
were but the advance guard of the red-skinned and red-handed army 
foUowinor close after, bringing fire and slaughter and merciless torture 
and all the evils of savage warfare. 

The alarm was given and messengers were sent throughout the 
county — to the isolated settlers instructing them to repair to a cer- 
tain formidable log house for safety — to Shelbyville and Palmyra 
for help — and to other quarters in various " wild goose " chases. 
The messenger reached Shelbyville with his hair on end, his eyes 
a-bulge, and his horse a-foam. It was in the evening, but a company 
of men was soon raised and armed. It was too late to start out that 
night, and it was resolved to wait for reinforcements from Palmyra, 
and not to move out unless word was obtained that help was wanted 
immediately, or unless firing was heard in the threatened quarter. 
Pickets were put out and the men were read}^ to move at the sound of 
the trumpet. 

Some of the settlers came galloping into town. Old Malachi Wood 
mounted himself on one horse, and placing his wife and a child on 
another, set out in a canter for safety. Presently his wife called 
out : 

" Stop, Malachi, stop ! I've dropped the baby! Stop, and help 
me save it 1 " 

Without drawing his bridle-rein or even turning his head Malachi 
shouted back : — 

"Never mind the baby. Let's save the old folks! More babies 
can be had! " 

A Mr. W. O. Peake was the messenger sent to Palmyra for help. 
He reported that the Indians were ravaging the western part of Shelby 
county, that the inhabitants were fl.eeing from their homes, and that 
unless reinforcements were sent the county would be laid waste and 
no end of misery occasioned. 

Palmyra at once flew to arms. In an hour or two a company of 
well-armed men were in the saddle and on the way to help our people. 
Gen. Benjamin Means loaned them some dragoon swords and other 
arms that had survived the Black Hawk War. Gen. David Willock 
gave them orders. John H. Curd was chosen captain. After a hard 
march all night the company reached Shelbyville next morning at 
about 9 o'clock. 



656 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Here they found the Shelby ville company waiting for them. Of 
course the Marion volunteers were hungry and thirsty. Something 
was given them to eat, and then something to drink. Dr. Long, of 
Shelbyville, stood treat for the entire company. Then somebody else 
"set up "the whisky for both companies. Then the men began to 
treat themselves. The whisky on draught was of the fighting variety, 
and the men were warriors and on the way to fight a stubborn foe, and 
of course it was proper that a great deal of stimulus should be 
indulged in. 

The volunteers drank and drank, and grew first friendly, then gar- 
rulous and demonstrative, then spirited, then bellicose ! A quarrel 
broke out between the two companies ! Some Palrayreans treated 
themselves at the bar and tried to make Dr. Long pay for the whisky 
because he had first invited them to drink. Capt. Curd said it was 
** a hell of a way to do — invite men to drink and then make them pay 

for it." Dr. Long said that Capt. Curd was a *'d d liar." A 

fight between them resulted on the instant. To call a man a liar at 
that day meant fight, every time. 

A general row resulted. Drunken men having pugilistic tendencies 
need but little provocation to induce them to fight. The pioneers of 
Marion and Shelby were not exceptions to this rule : — 

" They fought like brave men, long and well," 

in regular Donnybrook style. Only one man was seriously hurt. 
Russell W. Moss hit a Marion county man named Dixon in the " short 
ribs," and as Dixon died not long after, and as he spat blood until his 
death, some thought the blow indirectly killed him. 

As soon as Capt. Curd was through fighting he called up his com- 
pany, he and Dr. Long shook hands, the other combatants shook 
hands, and soon both companies were friendly. Their enmity died out 
when the whisky did. Mounting their horses the two companies set 
out for the Indians, going in a westwardly direction. That night they 
encamped on Payton's branch. 

The next morning they learned that the Indians had been gone nearly 
two days, and were then 50 miles away. Only one family had been 
left behind with a very sick squaw and a sick child. They were peace- 
able enough to be sure I An investigation showed that the " bloody- 
minded savages " had skinned, roasted alive and actually eaten some 
captive pumpkins ; had murdered a hundred pound shoat and devoured 
it, entrails and all ; had kept themselves to themselves and interfered 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 65 7 

with no man, and finally had roamed on in search of other pumpkins 
to devour. 

The volunteers were not coming back without accomplishing some- 
thing. The Indian family was ordered to " puck-a-chee," that is, to 
evacuate the territory immediately, and they did so. In vain did the 
old squaw remonstrate that she was "heap sick," the fierce Palmyra 
dragoons, sword in hand, demanded that she should depart at once 
from the territory made sacred to white men and their posterity for- 
ever, and she departed. 

The companies then turned to the right about and returned every 
man to his home. The Palmyra company would not pass through 
Shelbyville on its way back. The memory of its whisky and its 
pugilists was yet too vivid and painful. The men took the lower route 
and rode gravely away, gazing ruefully upon one another's blacked 
eyes, bloody noses and skinned faces. 

The Shelby settlers soon returned to their homes. Nothing had 
been disturbed and no harm done. The Shelb}'^ county military com- 
pany disbanded, after first returning thanks to the Palmyra volunteers 
*' for the assistance they rendered us and the entertainment they furn- 
ished us !" 

John B. Lewis was then living in a half finished cabin down in the 
sparsely settled country south-west of Walkersville. He had about 
13,000 in gold, which he had brought to the country. A son of John 
Payton came galloping along calling out to all he met: ^^ Indians I 
Indians! Fly for your lives!'' Mr. Lewis put his wife and little 
children, three in number, all on one horse and started them for the 
Moore settlement, south a few miles. Mrs. Lewis rode away without 
making much of a toilet. She remembers that she went away bare- 
headed. 

Mr. Lewis hastily buried his money and set out on foot. At Mr. 
Moore's the party " forted up," as they called it, until the next day. 
Two or three other families had gathered at Moore's for safety, 
converting his large, strong house into a fort. 

Mr. Lewis states that the Indians had lost one of their number by 
death, and one or two others were sick. They killed a dog, which 
they hung up and shot full of arrows, and arranged arrows in a circle 
pointing towards the animal's carcass. This was done to kill and 
exorcise the evil spirit which they believed had infested their afflicted 
people. The white people, however, interpreted this token to mean 
hostility towards them. The suspended dog, the arrows in a circle, 
certain pow-wowing, and above all the raid on the pumpkin patch, 
they thought meant war and bloodshed ! 



658 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



BUILDING THE COURT-HOUSE. 

The first steps taken by the county authorities towards the building 
of a court-house were at the November term, 1836. Maj. Obadiah 
Dickerson was appointed superintendent of public buildings and 
ordered to prepare and submit a plan together with the estimate of 
the cost of a court-house. At this time there was some money in the 
treasury and more to come, and the need of a capitol ])uilding for the 
county was most imperative. The court-house had been on wheels, 
as it were, and moved about from one private residence to another. 
The building could not well be longer delayed. 

At the February term, 1837, the county court appropriated $4,000 
to erect a court-house according to certain specifications. It was to 
cover an area 40 feet square; to be built of good, well burned brick 
laid in lime and cement, the foundation of stone ; the first story was 
to be 14 feet high, and the second eight feet six inches ; the wood 
work was to be well done, etc. It was at first specified that the build- 
ing was to be painted and ornamented, but afterward these specifica- 
tions were stricken out. 

In September, 1837, the contract for the brick work of the building 
was let to Charles Smith for the sum of $1,870, and the wood work 
was let to Wait Barton for $2,175. An advance in cash was made to 
each of the parties upon their giving bond for the faithful performance 
of their contract. 

The building progressed slowly. The country was quite new. 
Lumber yards were not in existence, and nearly all the material for 
the wood work had to be hauled in from Hannibal and Palmyra. 
There was not a brick house in the county, and the brick must be 
made and burned before they could be laid up in the walls. Nowa- 
days the same building could be completed in two months ; then it 
required more than a year to finish it. 

Smith finished his part in the summer of 1838, and Barton his in 
November following. The following was Maj. Dickerson's report to 
the county court, accepting Barton's work: — 

To the Shelby County Court — I, Obadiah Dickerson, appointed by 
the Shelby county court-superintendent of the erection of the court- 
house for the said county, do certify that I have superintended the per- 
formance of the contract of Wait Barton made for tha erection of part 
of said building, and that said Barton has fully completed the work 
stipulated for on his contract in that behalf, and the work done by 
him as aforesaid is received, and there is now due him the sum of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 65i) 

$215.00, the painting left out. Given under my hand and seal this 
9th day of November, A. D. 1838. 

Obadiah Dickerson, 

[l. s.] Supt. Public Buildings. 

The brick of which the court-house was constructed were made on 
the premises near town owned by Josiah Beathards. The lumber was 
sawed at Gay's mill, on North river, in Marion county, near where 
Ebenezer Church now stands (sec. 18 — 58 — 8). In his sketches Mr. 
HoUiday madvertently calls this mill "Lyell's mill," which was on 
North river. 

PIONEER MILLS. 

The pioneers of Shelby county were not so badly off for mills as 
some of their compeers in other counties, who were quite often com- 
pelled to resort to the hominy block and the hand mill. Hand 
mills made their appearance almost if not quite with the first settle- 
ments, and soon after came the water mills. 

At the November terra of the circuit court, 1835, Peter Stice asked 
for a writ of ad quod damnum in order that there might be deter- 
mined the propriety of erecting a water mill on the North river, on 
the east half of the north-west quarter of section 33, township 59, 
range 10, exactly at the present site of the town of Bethel. Stice 
built and furnished this mill in 1836, but it never did much grinding. 
About the same time Silas and Asa Boyce began the erection of a mill 
on Salt river, three and a half miles south-east of Shelby ville (se. 
nw. 10 — 57 — 10). The mill was completed by Anthony Blackford, 
Nehemiah Redding and others, and Boyce' s mill was a well-known 
institution of the county for many years. John Gay, of Marion, 
was the millwright. 

The next mill was built by Mr. William J. HoUiday, in 1837, on Black 
creek, on the west half of the north-east quarter of section 27 — 58 — 10 ; 
this was about two and a half miles south of east of Shelbyville. Hol- 
iday's application for leave to build was made in March, 1837. 

William H. Clagett, T. P. Lair and others made application the 
same time as HoUiday, and built a mill afterward on the South Fabius, 
where the Newark road crosses that stream (nw. se. 11 — 59 — 9), 
which they operated for some time. 

Mr. HoUiday says that the first mill in the county was built on Black 
creek (sec. 6 — 57 — 9), near Oak Dale, by Julius A. Jackson, in 1835. 
It was a saw and grist miU combined, and was of great value to the 
people. It was destroyed by fire eight or ten years afterward. Other 
early settlers think this mill was not built until in 1837 or 1838. 



660 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Dutton's mill, on the north fork of Salt river, three miles south- 
east of Hager's Grove and 10 miles south of west of Shelbyville 
(ne. 35 — 58 — 12), was built sometime in the fall of 1837. It was 
begun by Julius A. Jackson, and before being fully completed the dam 
washed out. 

In March, 1838, Hill Shaw built a mill on Black creek, in the south- 
eastern part of the county (ne. se. 29 — 57 — 9), two miles north-east 
of the present town of Lakenan. 

In July, 1838, Adam and Michael Heckart made application for 
leave to build a mill on the North fork of Salt river, five miles south- 
west of Shelbyville and about three and a half miles north of where 
Lentner Station now stands (ne. 4 — 57 — 11), but it is not remembered 
that this mill was ever built. The Heckart' s ran a horse mill for some 
time in this neighborhood, and afterward Heckart and Stayer oper- 
ated the Walker mill, at Walkersville. 

In March, 1839, or some time in the spring of that year, Samuel 
Buckner put up a mill on North river, nearly two miles below Bethel 
(ne. 3 — 58 — 10), and it ran for some time. 

Some time in 1838, Edwin G. and Warren Pratt built a mill on the 
Little Fabius, in the north-eastern corner of this county or in Knox. 

In 1839 a Mr. Williams, of Marion county, entered the 80-acre 
tract on which the mill at Walkersville now stands, and contemplated 
the erection of a mill on the place, but died before the work was 
accomplished. The land was sold by the administrator, and David 
O. Walker and George W. Barker purchased it and built the mill and 
started the town of Walkersville, which was named for Mr. Walker. 
The mill was built in 1840. 

Prior to the erection of these mills — and in truth occasionally aft- 
erwards — the settlers resorted to Gatewood's and Massie's mills, 
near Palmyra, and to Hickman's mill, at Florida, for ttieir grinding. 
Nearly all of our home mills were but " corn-crackers " and were not 
prepared to grind and bolt wheat. 

THE FIRST ROADS THE '* BEE TRAILS." 

The State Legislature, at the session of 1836-37, attached to Shelby 
county, for civil and military purposes, all of ranges 11 and 12 of 
township 60 — now Knox county. At the same session a State road 
was established from Paris, Monroe county, to the mouth of the Des 
Moines river, by the way of Shelbyville. The road was opened to 
Shelbyville the same year. 

Previously the only roads running north were what were called the 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 6f)l 

*' Bee roads." These were two in number, and in character were lit- 
tle better than trails. They ran through the central and eastern por- 
tion of the county in a general direction north and south, and were 
made by the settlers of the lower counties, who every autumn 
resorted to this country in quest of honey. The woods abounded 
with bee-trees, and the honey hunters took away with them each 
year tons of the delicious nectar. Where the trail crossed a stream 
it was called the "Bee ford," and thus there were the " Bee ford of 
Salt river," the "Bee ford of South Fabius," etc. 

One of these roads was called the " Callaway trail," being the route 
commonly pursued by the honey hunters of CalUiway county. It did 
not cross Black creek, but came on the divides between Black creek 
and North river to a point nearly four miles north-east of Shelbyville 
(sec. 14 — 58 — 10), where it left the divide and crossed a branch in 
the north-western part of that section, where there was plenty of 
water, and the bee hunters made it a general camping place and ren- 
dezvous. This branch was called Camp branch by the first set- 
tlers and hunters. 

The " Boone trail," made by the bee hunters from Boone county, 
crossed Salt river above Walkersville, and Black creek south-west of 
Shelbyville, and came up to the bluff into the arm of prairie on which 
the town now stands, bearing north-east across the divide, and joining 
the Callaway trail south of the North river timber; from thence it 
wriggled along through the timber up to the headwaters of the Fabius 
And even up into the waters of the Des Moines, in Iowa. 

A Mr. Christian had a ferry at the " Bee ford " over Salt river, in 
1836. The location was below the Warren ford, near the mouth of 
Watkins' branch. The boat was a flat, propelled by poles. 

LIST OF THE SETTLERS IN 1837. 

In 1837 the following were the settlers then living in the county. 
At this time the north-western portion of the county was but sparsely 
settled, as the land in that quarter had not yet come into market; — 

Township 57, Range 9. — Two Mr. Hickmans, Peter Rinkston, 
Gabriel Davis, Randolph Howe, Kennedy Mayes, George P. Mayes, 
Harvey Eidson, Samuel B. Hardy, Samuel Blackburn, George Barker, 
William B. Broughton, Russell W. Moss, Fontleroy Dye, Ramey 
Dye, Elijah Moore, John Thomas, Henry Saunders, Cyrus A. Saun- 
ders, Hill Shaw, Robert Duncan, Thomas J. Bounds, Joseph Holman, 
Joel Musgrove, Thomas H. Clements, David Smallwood, Richard Gar- 
trell, Josiah Abbott, Julius C. Gartrell, Mrs. Desire Gooch, and others. 



662 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Township 58, Range 9. — Kindred Feltz, Stephen Gupton, Mrs. 
Temperance Gupton, William Montgomery, Edward Wilson, Henry 
Louthan, Robert Lair, Addison Lair, Robert Joiner, Anthony Minter, 
Alexander Buford, Charles N. Hollyman, Elisba Baldwin, Solomon 
W. Miller, Mrs. Caroline Looney, Oliver Latimer and George W. 
Gentry. 

Toionship 59, Range 9. — Caleb Addiiddle, Benjamin Jones, Mrs. 
Morgan, Thomas P. Lear, John Cadle, William White, Kemp M. 
Glasscock, Benjamin P. Glasscock, Daniel Wolf, Benjamin Talbot, 
Thomas G. Turner, Perry Forsythe and Mr. Whitelock. 

Townsliip 57, Range 10. — Samuel Buckner, Anthony Blackford, 
James Blackford, Isaac Blackford, Dr. Wood, George Eaton, Jeffer- 
son Gash, Col. William Lewis, John Eaton, Charles Smith, Samuel J. 
Smith, Maj. Obadiah Dickerson, George Anderson, Peter Roff and 
Samuel C. Smith. 

Township 58, Range 10. — Albert G. Smith, Samuel Beal, Elijah 
Pepper, James Swartz, Mrs. Elizabeth Creel, Lewis H. Gillaspy, Alex- 
ander Gillaspy, Abraham Vandiver, Montilliou H. Smith, Joseph 
West, Maj. H. Jones, John Easton, Ezekiel Kennedy, James C. Haw- 
kins, Dr. Hawkins, Elijah Owens, E. L. Hollida}^ Mrs. Nancy Holli- 
day, John Lemley, Josiah Bethard and Thomas Davis. 

Township 59, Range 10. — James Ford, John Ralls, Samuel Coch- 
rane, James G. Glenn, Robert McKitchen, Peter Looney, Joseph 
Moss, James Turner, Ferdinand Carter, John Moss, Peter Stice, John 
Serat, Lewis Kincaid, Elijah Hall, Hiram Rockwood, Sanford Pickett, 
James S. Pickett, William S. Chinn and Nathan Baker. 

Township 57, Range 11. — David D. Walker, David Wood, Malcom 
Wood, William Wood, James Carothers, William Coard, Nicholas 
Watkins, Perry B. Moore, Isaac W. Moere, Mrs. Mary Wailes, Pet- 
tyman Blizzard, James R. Barr, Lacy Morris, Stanford Drain, James 
Carroll, Barclay Carroll, John B. Lewis, James Parker, George Par- 
ker, Capt. B. Melson, Major Taylor, Robert Brewington and Henry 
Brewington. 

Township 58, Range 11. — John Thomas, John Dunn, Elijah Pol- 
lard, Philip Upton, John T. Victor, William Victor, Aaron B. Glass- 
cock, Martin Baker and Michael See. 

THE MORMON WAR. 

For a condensed history of what came to be known as "the Mor- 
mon War" in Missouri, which closed with the year 1838, the reader 
is referred to pages 54-7 of the State history in this volume, an 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 663 

acquaintance with which is necessary to a proper understanding of 
the part borne by Shelby county in that alleged "War." 

In the fall of the year 1838, upon the calling out of Gen. John B. 
Clark's division, the militia of this county mustered, pursuant to the 
orders of Gen. David Willock, brigade commander for the brigade 
composed of the militia of this district. From Shelby county there 
was one company, mounted, numbering 70 or 80 men, and officered 
as follows: Captain, Samuel S. Matson ; first lieutenant, Peter Roff; 
second lieutenant, Albert G. Smith ; orderly sergeant, William H. 
Davidson. The company organized at Shelby ville and started south- 
ward for Paris, the general rendezvous, about the 20th of October. 

The first night out the company encamped at Madison Buckner's, 
in Monroe count3^ At eventide the weather was mild, even balmy, 
and the sun went down like a huge, glowing disc of gold. But 
after nightfall the weather chano-ed and down came, AVith almost 
the velocity of a cyclone, a severe cold wind that brought with it a 
storm of rain and sleet and fine snow. The men, as yet unprovided 
with tents, and having but few blankets, etc., suffered severely. The 
baggage had not all been brought up, and there was no such thing as 
shelter to be had there, and so the only way in which the men kept 
from freezing was by building huge fires around which they sat till 
daylight. 

The next day Paris was reached. Here other companies were 
found — from Marion, Lewis, Ralls and Monroe. The other side of 
Paris the regiment to which the Shelby county company belonged was 
organized. O. H. Allen, of Lewis county, was elected colonel. The 
weather cleared off with a heavy frost ; it was cold, and the experience 
of the militia severe. 

Marching was kept up toward the westward until Keytesville was 
reached, when word was received to halt and await further orders. 
Gen. Willock sent Mr. William J. Holliday as an express to Gen. 
John B. Clark, who returned orders to Willock to march his troops 
to Huntsville, Randolph county, and disband them. This was done 
and the Shelbyville company returned home, arriving about Novem- 
ber 15, having been absent over two weeks, accomplishing nothing 
but their own fatigue, discomfort and distress. 

THE "IOWA WAR." 

In the late fall of 1839 the State of Missouri and the Territory of 
Iowa had a serious disputation regarding the boundary line between 

37 



664 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

them, which dispute or quarrel was called in this State the " Iowa 
war," and in Iowa is known as "the boundary war," or the "Mis- 
souri war. ' ' The Missouri authorities claimed that the northern bound- 
ary of their State was about ten miles north of where it is at present. 
The lovvans denied this. The sheriff of Clarke county, Mo., went on 
the disputed tract to collect taxes, and the lowans arrested him. 

Warlike measures were adopted, and Gov. Boggs, of Missouri, and 
Gov. Lucas, of Iowa, called out their militia on each side. Gen. 
David Willock was sent to the Iowa border, and ordered the militia 
in this quarter of the State to follow him. Willock commanded a 
division of militia, and one of the brigade commanders was Gen. O. 
H. Allen, of Lewis, the same who had been the colonel of the militia 
in the Mormon war. 

About the 12th of December, 1839, the company of Shelby county 
militia was again ordered out, this time to serve as infantry and to 
join Gen. Allen's brigade, in Clarke county. About 60 men mustered. 
The captain was Samuel S. Matson ; the lieutenants, Russell W. Moss 
and Albert G. Smith, and the orderly sergeant was either William H. 
Davidson or J. M. Ennis. The men were poorly equipped, and it 
seemed that another season of suffering, such as had been experienced 
in the Mormon war, was again to be undergone. The company set 
out on foot, but only reached John Glover's pasture, a point a mile 
and a half north of Newark, where they learned that peace had been 
declared, and they returned home. The dispute was referred to Con- 
gress, which decided in favor of Iowa. 

TH^ FIRST BRIDGE. 

In the spring of 1839 the first bridge was built in the county. It 
was thrown across Black creek, west of Shelbyville. The following 
petition, written by Elijah G. Pollard, was presented to the county 
court : — 

"We, the undersigned petitioners, are subject to many inconven- 
iences for the want of a bridge across Black creek, at or near the 
ford on the road leading from Shelbyville to Holman's cabins, on Salt 
river. We pray the county court to take into consideration the neces- 
sity of building a bridge at the above named place, for the benefit of 
the settlers living west of Shelbyville. We, the undersigned, are 
willing to pay one-half of the amount the bridge may cost, as fol- 
lows : — 
Elijah G. Pollard . . .$10 00 Thomas J. McAfee . .$10 00 

John Dunn 15 00 John McAfee .... 10 00 

A. B. Glasgow .... 10 00 Eobert McAfee . . . 10 00 
Madison J. Priest . . . 10 00 Maj. H. Jones ... 500 

William Gooch, $1 00. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 665 

It is not believed that the county rendered any assistance in building 
this bridge, and the settlers did it themselves. Two long logs were 
thrown across the stream for stringers or cords, and across these 
strong slabs were laid and pinned. On the ends of the stringers dirt 
was thrown and they were securely fastened. The middle of the 
bridge sank down, and when the creek was high the water ran over 
it, sometimes to a depth of five feet, but the stringers held, and the 
bridge lasted many years. 

FIRST HOMICIDE. 

In 1839 occurred the first homicide in the county. John L. Faber 
shot and killed one, John Bishop, in the brick tavern on the south- 
west corner of the public square in Shelby ville, now (1884) Smith's 
hotel. The victim died against the east wall of the bar-room. 

Faber was a bachelor and lived in Knox county. He was a great 
trader, and it is said bought everything oflered for sale to him. He 
owned a dozen old hunting rifles, shot pouches, etc., and one of his 
houses was a perfect museum of trumpery. He bought a horse of 
Thomas J. McAfee, of this county, which Faber said McAfee war- 
ranted to work, but which, when hitched up, would not pull a pound. 
Whereupon Faber said McAfee had just as good a right to steal the 
money he received for the horse, and was just as much of a thief as 
if he had. 

McAfee had married a step-daughter of Major Obadiah Dickerson. 
The old Major said sternly to him : " If yon don't properly resent 
this charge and these insults of Faber' s I will disown you, sir, for- 
ever." The first time the two met they were in the tavern before 
mentioned. McAfee at once assaulted Faber, catchiuir him around 
the body. Bishop was Faber's friend, and he ran in and caught 
McAfee around the body and tried to separate the struggling com- 
batants. Faber, finding he was in McAfee's strong grasp so tightly 
that he could not release himself, drew his pistol, and passing it 
around his antagonist, felt the muzzle come in contact with a body, 
which he thought was McAfee's. Instantly he pulled the trigger. 
The shot killed Bishop, as the pistol was against his body, and not 
McAfee's. Faber surrendered himself, and was released on prelimi- 
nary examination. He was never indicted. 



CHAPTER ly. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1840 TO 1850. 

Miscellaneous Matters — Killing of Daniel Thomas by Philip Upton — The Sixteenth 
Sections — Stock Raising and Shipping — Crops — Hard Times — The First Jail 
and Its Inmates — During the Mexican War — The Gold Fever and the Argonauts 
of 1849— Elections. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

The population of the county in 1840 was 3,056. 

In 1842 the chinch bugs did a great deal of damage to the growing 
crops. Fields of wheat and oats were entirely destroyed, and they 
covered the j^oung corn so thickly that the rows resembled long black 
stripes across the fields. Crops were " short " this year. 

In 1842-43 times were very hard on our people. Money was scarce, 
and hard to get and produce and wages ridiculously low. The market 
report in the fall of 1842 showed that the best ilour per barrel, even 
in St. Louis, was onl}^ $2.50 in gold, and $3 in " city money." Wheat 
was only 45 cents per bushel, and went down to 35. Potatoes and 
corn were 18 cents per bushel each. Nice, well-cured hams brought 
5 cents per pound. Tobacco, "firsts," brought only $3.10 per 
hundred. On the other hand, groceries were proportionately cheap. 
Cofi'ee was IOV2 cents per pound ; the best sugar 7 cents ; molasses 
25 cents per gallon ; whisky, by the barrel, 18 cents per gallon ; by 
the single gallon, 25 cents ; by the pint, 5 cents. In this county, 
prices were even lower. Pork sold in Shelbyville for $1.50 per 
hundred ; beef, $1 per hundred ; corn, 62V2 cents per barrel, or I2V2 
cents per bushel ; bacon, 2 cents per pound. A good steer, five years 
old, was considered well sold at $8. Cows brought from $6 to $8. 
No land, except the best improved tracts, could be sold for any price. 
The government monopolized the land business, getting $1.25 per 
acre for all land entered under the pre-emption law. 

In 1845 a colony of Germans came in from Pennsylvania and Ohio 
and purchased some farms west of Shelbyville. They also entered a 
considerable quantity of government land, and started the towns of 
Elim and Mamre. They also laid out and established the town of 
Bethel. (See history of Bethel.) 

The Legislature of 1842-43 altered the county boundaries of Shelby 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 667 

to what they are at present, adding 24 sections of township 56, range 
12, which were taken from Monroe, and from the four-mile projection 
in the south-western portion of the county. The county includes all 
of townships 59, 58, 57, and the two northern tiers of sections in 
township 56, lying in ranges 9, 10 and 11 ; and all of townships 59, 
58, 57 and 56 in range 12. 

In the winter of 184-, three young girls, the daughters of Mrs. 
Vaunoy, a widow lady, who lived on Salt river, above Walkersville, 
were drowned. One of them went on the ice on Salt river, and the 
ice giving way she fell into deep water and was unable to extricate 
herself. Her two sisters going to her assistance, they, too, broke in, 
and all three were drowned. 

In the spring of 1844, North river was out of its banks on account 
of the high waters of that season. Some think it was higher than it 
has ever been before or since. All the streams in the county over- 
flowed, and were impassable for some days at the principal fords and 
bridges. This spring the Mississippi and the Missouri overflowed 
their banks and were miles wide in many places. 

In 1844 Daniel Taylor sunk a tanyard on Clear creek, east of Shelby- 
ville (sec. 18 — 58 — 9), just below where Miller's mill was afterward 
situated. Mr. HoUiday says that Taylor made leather there for some 
years, but owing to the scarcity of tan bark, and the poor quality of 
what was obtaiued, he quit the business, and allowed the tanyard to 
go to destruction. He had a splendid spring, which afibrded him 
water at all seasons of the year. 

Some time in 1844 the mail was carried regularly in hacks and 
stages from Hannibal through Palmyra, Shelby ville, Bloomington, 
and on through the county seats westward to St. Joseph. When not 
delayed by high waters the stages made daily trips, and mail facilities 
were beliaved to have attained the hiohest degree of excellence. 

Rates of postage varied. From the beginning of the postal system 
in this country up to 1845, there were from six cents to 25 cents on a 
letter weighing a half ounce or less, depending on the distance it was 
carried. For each additional half ounce additional postage was 
charged. From July 1, 1845, to July 1, 1851, the rates were five 
cents for half an ounce or less, if carried less than 300 miles, and ten 
cents if conveyed 300 miles and over. From July, 1851, to October 
1, 1883, the rate was uniformly three cents for any distance within the 
United States and less than 3,000 miles. At one time letters to Cali- 
fornia, Oregon, and elsewhere on the Pacific coast, were charged 



668 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

double postage. Since October, 1883, letter postage has been two 
cents. 

Toward the close of the decade of 1840 the county began to take 
on the forms of settled civilization. Schools were common enough in 
1848. In 1847 a lodge of Odd Fellows was organized in Shelbyville, 
and in 1848 the Masonic lodge was established. The farms were in a 
good state of cultivation ; the primitive log cabins began to give way 
to comfortable frame and brick structures, and life was begun in earn- 
est and to some purpose. 

Shelbyville, the only town in the county worthy the name, was a 
thriving little village with fair prospects for the future. In 1849 the 
county court had a fence built about the public square. Thomas J. 
Bounds was the contractor. During the same year Mr. William H. 
Vannart planted the square with locust trees and a few rose bushes. 
Prior to that time the square presented a very unsightly appearance. 

KILLING OF DANIEL THOMAS BY PHILIP UPTON. 

On Christmas Day, 1842, Philip Upton killed one, Daniel Thomas, 
and this was the second homicide in the county. The killing took 
place in Upton's field, in Tajdor township, about five miles north-west 
of Hagar's grove, where Upton lived at the time. The circumstances 
were these : — 

Upton was an old man, at least 55, and had a considerable family, 
three or four members of which were adult daughters. Of one of 
these daughters Thomas had spoken words seriously affecting her 
character, alleo-ino; that she had admitted to him that she was unchaste 
and had at least three paramours. This he stated to Peter Greer, who 
informed Upton of what Thomas had told him. 

A bitter quarrel resulted between Upton and Thomas, but was 
finally, as alleged, made up, and the parties agreed to be friendly. 
It was in evidence, however, that Thomas had threatened Upton with 

personal violence — to " mash his d d old head," to " beat him 

half to death," etc. 

Thomas was a young man, unmarried. On Christmas Day he had a 
pistol and half a pint of whisky. He loaded his pistol with paper 
wads and fired it off occasionally that morning, seemingly in honor of 
the day. About nine o'clock he came to the residence of Jonathan 
Michael, where another young man, named Jeff. Shelton, was em- 
ployed. Michaels directed Shelton to go to Upton's residence after 
a gun which Upton had obtained to repair and put in order. Shelton 
asked Thomas to accompany him, and the two set off together. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 669 

Reaching Upton's house, they found that the old man was out in a 
corn field, engaged in husking corn from the shock. They set out for 
him, and on the way met two of Upton's daughters, who had been 
out to where their father was. A dog with them barked furiously, 
and Shelton took Thomas' pistol and fired at the animal to frighten 
him. 

Upton saw the two young men approaching him, and started to 
meet them. He habitually carried his rifle with him — never left 
home without it. Picking up this rifle from a pile of fodder, he 

leveled it at Daniel Thomas and called out, "Now, d n you, 

Where's your pistol? " and fired. Thomas fell, shot through the body, 
and died in less than two hours, where he had fallen, half covered 
with snow. 

Upton was arrested without difficulty, and on examination before a 
magistrate was released, as his daughters swore that when their father 
fired, Thomas was in the act of drawing a pistol. In a few months 
Upton removed to Adair county. At the September term of the 
Shelby circuit court, 1843, he was indicted and soon after arrested. 
His trial did not come off until July 12, 1844, when a special term 
was held at Shelbyville by Judge McBride to try him. The jury in 
the case was composed of Anthony Gooch, John Gullett, Albert G. 
Smith, James A. Sherry, Jonathan Rogers, Charles Duncan, Samuel 
Blackburn, James E. Utz, John C. Utz, Robert K. Mayes, Thomas B. 
Mayes and James Davis. 

The prisoner was ably defended by Hon. Samuel T. Glover, and Hon. 
J. R. Abernathy, the circuit attorney, was the prosecutor. The trial 
lasted about two days, and on the second day the jury returned a 
verdict of " guilty of manslaughter in the second degree." As they 
could not agree upon his punishment the judge fixed it at three years' 
imprisonment in the penitentiary. Steps were taken to appeal the 
case to the Supreme Court, but they were never perfected. Upton 
served out about two-thirds of his term, when he was pardoned by 
Gov. Edwards. 

In the meantime his family had removed to Putnam county. Hither 
the old man repaired. Not long afterward he became involved in 
a difficulty with a son-in-law, named Cain. One day when Upton 
was at work in the woods, digging out a trough from a huge log, 
and while his wife and a daughter were washing on the banks of 
the Chariton river, not far away, he was bushwhacked by Cain, 
who came stealthily upon him and shot him fatally with a rifle. 
Upton lived about as long after he was shot as Thomas did after he 



670 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

was shot, and both were struck in the same part of the body. Cain 
fled for California, but at St. Joseph a desperado quarreled with him 
and killed him. Then a mob rose and killed the desperado ! 

The following is an abstract of the important testimony delivered 
on the trial of Upton: — 

JEFFERSON SHELTON. 

Was hired to work at Jonathan Michael's. On Christmas morning, 
1842, Thomas, the deceased, came to said Michael's house ; witness 
had to water the horses that morning ; said Thomas also had to water 
his own horse. Michael asked Avitness to go to Philip Upton's for a 
gun which Upton had to fix ; told witness to ask if the lock was fixed, 
if not to bring it away. Witness and Thomas went and watered the 
horses. Thomas told witness to hasten back from Upton's and they 
would go together to Mr. Forman's; witness asked Thomas to go 
with him to Upton's ; Thomas went with him. When they got there 
witness asked Mrs. Upton about the gun-lock ; she said that Mr. 
Upton was in the field, to go and see him ; we walked out of the 
house, and witness proposed to Thomas to go straight back to Mich- 
ael's ; but Thomas opposed it, saying they should go and see about 
the gun-lock ; witness said it was not worth while, and that they 
ouo^ht to o-o and take the horses back ; Thomas then said if witness 
would go by the field where Upton was, he, Thomas, would go back 
with witness and help drive the horses up ; witness agreed to go with 
Thomas to the field where Upton was ; as they went along from the 
house they met two Miss Uptons, daughters of the prisoner, riding 
on horseback, coming out of the field ; " a dog that was with the girls 
kept barking at us;" Thomas had a pistol with which he had been 
shooting paper wads, and witness took the weapon and shot at the 
dog to scare him ; " also shook my coat-tail at the dog. We went on 
to near where Upton was ; the pistol was loaded with paper and pow- 
der ; / saio it loaded; as we went up Thomas says, 'I think Mr. 
Upton has a horse hitched there.' Upton came from where he was 
in the field towards us, and when he was about ten or fifteen feet from 
us, he stooped down and picked up a gun that was lying on the 
ground, then said to Thomas, ' Now, damn you, where is your pistol ? ' 
and fired;" Thomas fell and witness picked him up; Upton came 
near with his gun and witness thought he would strike him with it ; 
witness put Thomas' cap under his head and went for help ; Upton 
stepped before witness with his gun drawn ; witness changed his 
course, and Upton again got before him ; witness then ran off to the 
fence. " The place where Upton shot Thomas was about halfway 
between the place we first saw him and the fence;" witness looked 
back after he got over the fence and saw Upton with his gun down as 
if reloading it. On the Sunday previous to the shooting, witness was 
at Upton's, and Thomas was there; Thomas and Upton talked; wit- 
ness never had heard of any difference, and thought they were friendly. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 671 

Thomas was shot on Christmas, died of the wound in about three- 
quarters of an hour ; the ball entered the left side. 

Cross-examined. — Witness said it was between ten and eleven 
o'clock in the morning that they went to water the horses ; that nothing 
was said about Thomas' going to Upton's with him until after the 
horses were watered ; witness did not remember of Thomas' saying, 
just as they were leaving Upton's house: " Let's go up to the field 
and fix the d — d old rascal ; " that he never heard Thomas threaten 
or abuse Upton ; that Thomas once told him that Upton had forbid- 
den him (Thomas) to come on his (Upton's) place; that Thomas 
prevailed on him to go up to where Upton was in the field, by telling 
him he would go back with him and drive the horses up ; that the 
road by which they left Upton's house forked after going a little dis- 
tance, one fork leading to Michael's, the other leading up in the field 
to Avhere Upton was ; that when witness and Thomas came to the fork 
witness took the road to Michael's and Thomas took the road that 
went up in the field where Upton was ; that he said to Thomas, 
"Hello, Thomas, where are you going?" to which Thomas said, 
"Oh ! I have took the wrong road ; " that Thomas then came across 
into the road witness was in ; that they looked across the field and saw 
the girls they had met running up the patch to where Upton was ; 
that they had a little talk together, and concluded to go back to where 
Upton was; that nothing was said in the conversation about Upton ; 
that Thomas wanted to go up there and they concluded to go ; that 
witness did not strike or strike at Upton ; that he did not see Thomas 
in the act of drawing a pistol when Upton shot him ; that he was not 
looking at Thomas at the time, but was looking at Upton ; that, as far 
as he saw, Thomas gave Upton no provocation whatever ; that when wit- 
ness came back to the field with help the pistol was found in Thomas' 
breast coat-pocket ; that he did not know whether Thomas had the 
pistol in his hand when shot or not ; that Thomas turned and walked 
five or six steps before he fell. [The witness further swore that soon 
after the killing he left the county and went over into Monroe ; but 
that his leaving was not for fear of Upton, but to go to school. After- 
ward, however, in private conversation, he admitted that the principal 
reason why he did leave was that he feared Upton Avould kill him, as 
he was the principal witness against him.] 

JONATHAN MICHAEL. 

On Christmas morning, 1842, Daniel Thomas and Jefterson Shelton 
were at his house ; the latter was hired for the year, with privilege to 
quit at the end of any month on notice ; witness asked Shelton to go 
to Upton's and " get my gun ; " Shelton asked Thomas to go with 
him ; they were at the house before they went to water the horses ; 
the next witness saw of Thomas, he was lying nearly dead in Upton's 
field ; Thomas lived an hour or an hour and a half after witness saw 
him. Upton did not go off after shooting Thomas, but remained 



672 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

from three to four months in the county, then moved with his family 
to Macon [Adair?] where he resided until arrested. 

Cross-examined. — Immediately after Thomas' death Shelton became 
dejected and depressed in mind and seemed exceedingly unhappy ; he 
said that he was afraid if he stayed about there Upton would kill him, 
as he Avas the only witness against him. 

For the defense several witnesses testified to Upton's quiet, peace- 
able character. One witness said : " He is a peaceable man till you 
get him roused." 

GEORGE LIGGET. 

In September or October, just before Thomas was killed, witness 
had a conversation with Thomas ; this was the first time witness had 
ever seen Thomas ; they were passing by Upton's, and witness asked 
Thomas who lived there, and Thomas said: "Old Phil. Upton ; " 
said I would find him out soon enough ; that the whole of 'em were 
*' a d — d ornery pack ; " witness said, " how? " Thomas said, " every 
way ; " "Thomas asked me what would be the consequence if he were 
to catch a man out and beat him nearly to death — what would be the 
law ; I told him I did not know the laws of the State ; told him it 
might be a dangerous thing to attempt ; asked him how big a man 
Upton was ; I said he might get the advantage of him ; Thomas said 
he was not afraid of that, and laid his hand on his breeches-pocket 
and said, ' I have something here in that case ' — said he had a pistol 
for him ; besides, Thomas said he intended to have a man by to help." 
Some time after this witness told Upton what Thomas had said. 

MISS ALCINA UPTON. 

On Christmas morning witness and her little sister had been up in 
the field with her father and had returned nearly to the house ; as they 
came up nearly to the house, Jefferson Shelton and Thomas were 
standing by the corner of the house talking; she heard Thomas say to 
Shelton, " Jeff"., let's go up to the field and fix that d d old ras- 
cal ; " they passed along the road with that, and she and her little 
sister turned and followed them ; they went a little way up the road 
and Jefferson Shelton shot the pistol oft' at their dog that was coming 
down the road ; witness and her sister passed on at the forks of the 
road ; one of the roads went past Michael's, the other passed where 
her father was in the field ; when Shelton and Thomas came to the 
forks one took the road to Michael's then the other one crossed over 
and started towards Michael's. Witness swore that after she passed 
the forks of the road she looked back and saw Shelton and Thomas 
standing face to face talking, and that they turned and got on a log and 
looked towards the field ; when witness got up to her father her little 
sister was telling him what they had done aiid said ; that her father 
said nothing but turned and walked towards the men ; that Shelton 
and Thomas came up, one on the right the other on the left, and that 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 673 

Thomas had his hand on a pistol which was partly drawn from his 
breeches pocket ; that Shelton struck at her father just as he got to 
his gun ; that her father picked up the gun, stepped back, and shot 
Thomas, then turned and struck Shelton with the gun-; that the gun 
knocked Shelton' s hat off, and that he picked it up and ran ; then her 
father went to the house ; witness did not know why her father took 
his o;un to the field with him. That he went to the field about nine 
o'clock in the morning. 

Peter Greer swore that Thomas made to him the damaging state- 
ments affecting Miss Upton's character before alluded to, and that he 
(Greer) informed Upton of what Thomas had said. Greer also said 
he arrested Upton at home, without difficulty. Upton was lying be- 
fore the fire, asleep, when Greer went to the house, it being late at 
night. Greer hailed, was invited in, and said, " Upton, you will 
have to go with me." Upton answered, "Certainly; I will go with 
you anywhere." 

Lewis Scobee said he saw Thomas pick up a fire-stick at Michael's 
once, and heard him say, "I would like to get a lick at old Phil 

Upton's head with this the d d old ." Thomas 

also said : "I intend to devil and aggravate him until he leaves the 
country." 

THE SIXTEENTH SECTION. 

After the year 1840 the sixteenth sections in the Congressional 
townships came into demand, showing the development of the coun- 
try, as the other sections were uniformly taken up first, unless the 
particular section was of superior value. 

The section numbered 16, in every Congressional township, was 
donated by Congress to the State, for the support of common schools, 
and when a majority of the citizens of any such township should 
petition the county court to sell that section, then the court would 
make an order to that effect, and the land would be advertised for 
sale, and sold to the highest bidder, the purchaser being required to 
give bond and security for the principal and interest. As long as the 
interest was promptly paid, the purchaser need not pay the principal. 
In accordance with the law, the land could not be sold for a less sum 
per acre than $1.25. The interest was set apart and used for the 
support of the schools of the township which contained said section 
and the principal was retained as a perpetual school fund. 

The government also gave to the State, and the State to the coun- 
ties, all the swamp or overflowed land in such counties for school 
purposes. The county court sold all such land in this county at prices 



674 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ranging from $1.25 to $10 per acre. The aggregate amount of school 
funds arising from the sale of swamp land and the sixteenth section in 
this county, is $45,663. 

STOCK-RAISING AND SHIPPING. 

From 1844 for some years a number of the farmers of the county 
were engaged in stock-breeding and raising, and others were buying 
and shipping. Eussell Moss and Barton W. Hall had each imported 
superior breeds of hogs, and many others had Merino and other fine 
sheep. 

Some gentlemen named Parsons and Henry Louthan were stock- 
raisers and also stock-buyers. The pork-packers at Hannibal, and the 
Thompson Brothers at Palmyra, sent agents into this county and 
engaged all the pork they could at their own price. Mr. Holliday says 
they graded the price so that hogs weighing 200 pounds or more would 
bring $5. If a hog weighed only 198 pounds he would be graded so 
as to be worth but $4.75 ; if he weighed 150 pounds he would bring 
$1.50. But it did not matter how much over 200 pounds the hog 
weighed, he would bring only $5, as the grading was only one way. 
Beef cattle were similarly graded, the average price being $25 per 
head. 

Mr. Holliday relates an instance or two wherein one or two farmers 
revolted against the starvation prices offered them by the "bears" 
under the grading system, and tried to do business on their own hook. 
Mr. J. B. Marmaduke had two very fine steers which weighed 1,800 
pounds each, and which he tried to sell on foot at home. The best 
offer he received was $30 per head. He refused this price and deter- 
mined to have them packed and shipped. He sent them to Hannibal 
and had them slaughtered, packed and shipped. The agent sent him 
the returns of the sale, which, after taking both of the steers, left him 
above $8 out of pocket and in debt. Mr. Marmaduke shipped a 
heavy crop of navy beans, and Mr. Vandeventer sent to market a good 
crop of wheat, each with about the same result, so far as profits were 
concerned. 

The wheat crop dwindled in value and importance after 1842 for 
some years, and at last came to be looked on as an uncertain crop. 
Yet some good crops were raised, especially on new land. The priQe 
of hemp was so low that farmers abandoned its cultivation almost alto- 
gether and began raising tobacco, which always brought a cash price 
even if it was a low one. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 675 



THE FIRST JAIL. 

Not until 1846 did Shelby county have a jail. Offenders there had 
been in abundance, felons, some of them, but the county court found 
it cheaper to board them in the Palmyra jail than to build one espec- 
ially for their accommodation. But in May, 1846, it was thought best 
to erect a sort of bastile for the safe keeping of criminals, which 
thereafter were to l)e boarded at home. 

The jail was built north of the court-house, on the north side of 
the square on the site of the present prison. Mr. Russell W. Moss 
was the contractor, and William Gooch the commissioner. The build- 
ing was erected on the following plan : — 

The material was hewed oak logs, 12 inches square and 18 feet high, 
with cracks between not more than one and one-half inches wide. The 
sleepers, or the lower wall, was laid with logs the same as the top and 
sides, and the floors were laid with two-inch oak plank, well spiked 
down. There were no windows in the lower part called "the dun- 
geon," except holes 12x18 inches on the east, north and south sides, 
which were secured by iron grates. Then there were logs 20 feet long 
of the same size built around the dungeon, and seven feet higher, 
which made a room 18 feet square. The space between the outer and 
inner walls was filled with limestone broken into pieces the size of 
apples. There were steps to go up on the outside of the building to 
a door which entered the upper story ; then a trap-door by means of 
which the dungeon was reached. The floor of the upper room was 
similar to the dungeon floor. This room, Mr. Holliday says, was 
called a debtor's prison, while the lower was used for criminals. The 
cost was about $600. 

In his " sketches" Mr. Holliday says : — 

At that time there was a law in Missouri providing that a creditor 
might put a debtor into prison and keep him there until the last 
farthing was paid, or until he had given up all property he owned 
under oath, when he was relieved under what was termed the "Act 
for the benefit of insolvent debtors. " This was why we had a 
debtor's prison. The outside of the jail was weather-boarded, and 
looked like a common frame house. 

Mr. Holliday is mistaken. The act abolishing imprisonment for 
debt was passed by our Legislature January 17, 1843, more than two 
years before this jail was built. If the room he refers to was called 
the " debtor's prison, " it was misnamed. 

Concerning this jail, Mr. Holliday relates the following incident, 
which is strictly true ; — 



676 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Among the first prisoners placed in our new jail were two brothers 
from Schuyler county, who were charged with stealing hogs. Mr. 
Joshua M. Ennis was sheriff at the time, and his father kept the jail. 
He gave the prisoners their meals through the trap-door. The 
weather was not very cold, yet they complained of its severity, and 
the jailor had a stove put in the dungeon for their especial comfort. 
Several times, upon opening the trap door, he discovered the lower 
room full of smoke. When he inquired of the prisoners if they were 
not uncomfortable on account of the smoke, they replied : " Oh no ; 
the smoke all rises upward so we don't feel it down here. " One 
morning Mr. Ennis made his regular visit to the jail with the prisoners' 
breakfast, but was astonished to find that the birds had flown. Fur- 
ther discoveries showed that the}^ had burned a hole through the floor 
and walls and made their escape. They were polite enough to leave 
a letter directed to the sheriff", in which they said that he had treated 
them well, and that they liked their boarding-house; but that their 
business needed their immediate personal attention, so much so that 
they were compelled to leave ; if, however, they had occasion to stop 
in town at any future time, they should stop with him ! 

The court had the house repaired, and in a short time another hole 
was made in the same place by an escaping prisoner, when the court, 
findino- the jail unfit for any further use, sold it and had it removed. 

SHELBY COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 

In July, 1846, a company was organized at Palmyra for the Mexican 
War. Gen. David Willock was the first captain. The company was 
orio-inally intended for Col. Sterling Price's Second Missouri Mounted 
Infantry, but on arriving at Ft. Leavenworth that regiment was found 
to be full, and four additional companies that were present, including 
the company from Marion, were formed into an extra battalion, to be 
attached to the regiment. Willock was elected Lieutenant-Colonel, 
and Anson Smith became Captain of Co. I, the company from Marion. 
Afterwards Smith was succeeded by Samuel Shepherd. 

The following members of Co. I, Second Missouri Volunteers, 
Willock' s Extra Battalion, were from Shelby county : 

James A. Carothers, First Lieutenant ; now dead. 

William H. Brown, private. 

George W. Barker, private. 

J. Calvin Carothers, private. 

Kobert Clark, private, died in service, at Las Vegas, February 22, 
1847. 

James R. Creel, private. 

Thomas S. Dunbar, private. 

Peter P. Davis, private. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 677 

James Parker, private. 

W. R. Strachan, private, Gen. McNeal's provost marshal! . Dead. 

The company left Palmyra July 20, 1846 ; arrived at Ft. Leaven- 
worth in due time, and was mustered into service August 3 ; left Ft. 
Leavenworth August 20, for New Mexico ; arrived at Santa Fe in 
October ; the fall and winter were spent in that territory, as was 
the company's entire term of service. Some of its members were in 
the assault on the Moro, January 25, 1847, and in an Indian fight on 
the Seneca river, February 1, following. The principal service ren- 
dered, however, was in performing guard and garrison duty at Las 
Vegas, Santa Fe and Taos, and in the grazing camps. 

The company was mustered out at Leavenworth in the fall of 1847, 
and returned home October 10 and 12. The members marched back 
from New Mexico, and from Leavenworth to Palmyra, though all or 
nearly all of the Shelby county men stopped at their homes. 

THE GOLD FEVER HO, FOR CALIFORNIA! 

The discovery of gold in California, in 1849, excited not only the 
people of the West, but of the entire republic. The desire to go at 
once to the new El Dorado amounted to a mania in many instances, 
and some of the people of Shelby county caught the infection in its 
most violent form. The "yellow slave" tempted many to perilous 
journeys and sore hardships that they might become its master. In 
the early spring some set out for the land where it was said even the 
waves of the river and spray of the fountain were bright with the 
glitter of genuine gold. More followed in the summer and fall, and 
the emigration was much heavier in 1850. 

Some of the Shelby county Argonauts made great sacrifices in 
order to obtain the necessary " outfit," and oftener than otherwise 
the investment was a disastrous one, for the investor failed to strike 
"pay dirt," and his trip generally did not "pan out " a profit. 
Some of the gold-seekers, however, made comfortable fortunes — 
but these lucky ones were not numerous. Others realized nothing, 
and still others laid their lives down in the quest for riches, and all 
that is mortal of them reposes amid the Sierras, or by the Sacra- 
mento, or far out on that wide-extended tract of country called " the 
Plains." 

Among the Shelby county men who went to California in 1849 
were John F. Benjamin, J. M. Collier, William Dunn, John Dickerson, 
Capt. J. A. Carothers, Dr. Mills, C. M. Pilcher, Benjamin Forman, 
"Bob" Marmaduke (slave), "Joe" Dunn (slave), Calvin Pilcher, 



678 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

William Robinson, Chas. Rackliife, Lafayette Shoots, John, Robert 
and William Montgomery. 

In 1850, there was a much larger number, a few of whom were 
Robert and Newton Dunn and Adam Heckart. 

ELECTIONS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1840. 

At the Presidential election, 1840, there was a full vote, and a close 
one, in this county. The Van Buren or Democratic electors received 
233 votes ; the Harrison or Whig electors, 226 ; Democratic ma- 
jority, 7. 

The political campaign of this year was perhaps the most memorable 
one in the history of the republic. The greatest enthusiasm was 
awakened among the Whig partisans for their candidates, Gen. Harri- 
son and John Tyler, — "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," — and they 
swept the country against the Democracy. In this county, about the 
first political meetings held came off this year, being held by both 
parties at Shelbyville and at Oak Dale. 

In 1840 there were six townships in the county. Black Creek, North 
River, Salt River, Fabius, Tiger Fork and Jackson. 

AUGUST ELECTION, 1841. 

Clerk of the Courts — Thomas J. Bounds, 224; John Jacobs, 198. 

Assessor — Abraham Matlock, 163; Alfred Tobin, 130; Joseph C. 
Miller, 71 ; George W. Gentry, 44. 

At this election there were five townships in the county. Black 
Creek, North River, Salt River, Jackson and Tiger Fork. 

AUGUST ELECTION, 1844. 

Governor — John C. Edwards (Dem.), 245; C. H. Allen (Ind. 
Dem. and Whig), 173. 

Congressmen — (Five to be chosen). Regular Dems. or " Hards : " ^ 
Sterling Price, 231; John G. Jamison, 229; John S. Phelps, 229; 
James B. Bowlin, 232; James H. Relfe, 234. Ind. Dems. or 
" Softs:" L. H. Sims, 178; T. B. Hudson, 185; Ratcliffe Boone, 
186; John Thornton, 182; Augustus Jones, 180; Josiah Fisk, 5. 



1 The Democratic party of Missouri at that date was divided into two factions, 
the " Hards," who were in favor of hard money, or of State bank money on a metallic 
basis, convertible into coin on demand, no bills to be of less denomination than $10. 
The "Softs" favored the issue of bank bills of the denomination of fl, $2, $3 and 
••JS, and leaned toward the Whig idea of free banking. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 679 

Senator — Eobert Croughtou (Dem.), 221; Addisou J. Reese 
(Whig), 227. 

Representatives — Russell W. Moss, 254; John W. Long, 249. 

Sheriff— OWhQxt H. Edmonds, 296 ; Wm. J. Holliday,^ 209. 

County Judges — S. B. Hardy, 292; John Dunn, 229; James 
Foley, 222; Perry B.Moore, 175; Thomas Lane, 147; Abraham 
Vandiver, 145 ; Robert Givens, 94 ; Levin Brown, 87 ; Thomas O. 
Eskridge, 57; Alexander Gillaspy, 49, 

Assessor — William H. Vannort elected. 

Coroner — James Patterson elected. 

C. H. Allen, known as " Horse" Allen, was an eccentric character, 
who lived in Palmyra. He was a lawyer and had served a term or 
two as circuit judge. At one time, when presiding over a court, he 
called an attorney to order, saying, " I'll let you know that I'm not 
only judge of this court, but a hoss besides, and if you don't sit down 

and keep your mouth shut, by I'll make you !" This year he 

ran as an independent candidate for Governor against Judge Edwards, 
but was defeated by a majority of 5,621, the vote standing : Edwards, 
36,978; Allen, 31,357. 

At the Presidential election, 1844, the vote of the county stood, 
for Henry Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen, Whigs, 244; for 
James K. Polk and George M. Dallas, Democrats, 209. Whig 
majority, 35. 

At the Presidential election, 1848, the vote was, for Cass and 
Butler, Democrats, 263; for Taylor and Fillmore, Whigs, 175. 
Democratic majority, 88. John McAfee, Democrat, was elected to 
the Legislature. 

During the famous discussion in the Missouri Legislature in the 
winter of 1849, over the famous " Jackson resolutions, " Mr. John 
McAfee, the member from Shelby, as a strong anti-Benton man, sup- 
ported them. The next year he was a candidate for renomination, but 
was defeated by John F. Benjamin, who had recently returned from 
California, and was an opponent both of Benton and the Jackson reso- 
lutions. Benjamin was brought out by the faction of the Democrats 
led by J. M. Ennis. 



38 



CHAPTEE Y. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1850 TO 1861. 

Miscellaneous — The Election of 1852 — The Political Campaign of 1856 — Know 
Nothings — Election of 1858 — Slavery Days — The Presidential Campaign of 1860 — 
After the Presidential Election — The War Cloud on the Horizon. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

lo the spring of 1853 the first newspaper in the county was estab- 
lished at Shelbyville. It was called the Shelbyville Spectator. F. M. 
Daulton was the first editor and proprietor, then associated with him 
was one James Wolff. The office was on the north side of the public 
square, near the north-west corner. It was burned down in about a 
year after the paper started (see newspaper history). 

Of the severe winter of 1856-57, Mr. Holliday says : — 

The winter of 1856-57 was the hardest winter I ever experienced. 
Early in October there fell a great deal of rain, after which it turned 
cold, and the ground froze hard ; another rain fell and another freeze 
followed. Such was the weather durins; the entire winter. Some- 
times the mud was so deep that cattle could find no place dry enough 
to lie down on ; and there was no spot in the field to place feed for 
the stock, and consequently quantities of feed were wasted. The feed 
being expended early, the stock fared badly, especially as the grass 
was late in coming up the following spring, not making its appearance 
until about the 25th of May. Many cattle died from exposure and 
want of provender. 

A market was opened in Iowa for milch cows, as that State was 
being rapidly settled, and during the early part of the spring men- 
tioned, some men bought up a drove of cows, destined for the Iowa 
market, but owing to the backwardness of the season, they did not 
start until about the 10th of June, when findins; insufficient ffrass to 
maintain their herd, they were forced to stop on Salt river and remain 
in the ])ottonis waiting for the grass to grow. They finally reached 
their destination in Iowa, where they realized a good price for their 
cattle, but having had to buy feed for two months longer than they 
expected, the expenses took up all the profits, and the speculation did 
not prove a successful one. 

In the year 1859, the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad was com- 
pleted through the county (see history). 

During the troubles in Kansas (1854-58) regarding whether it 
should be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, a few men 
(680) 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 681 

from this county went out under the auspices of the pro-slavery party 
of Missouri to help make Kansas a slave State. Not more *^than a 
dozen went and they did not remain long. They were there lono- 
enough to vote, and that was all that was required. 

In 1859 the Pike's Peak excitement carried off quite a number of 
our citizens, most of whom returned soon. In the spring a party of 
five started from near Shelbyville, for Denver, but meeting hundreds 
who had been there and found out the humbug, they turn^ed back at 
Cottonwood, in Kansas. This party was composed of M. H. Marma- 
duke, George Gillaspy, Daniel Brant, Jenkins Beathards, and a free 
colored man named " Jim " Givens. 

In July, 1855, the contract was let for the building of the offices of 
clerks of the county and circuit courts, attached to the court-house. 
J. M. Ennis was the commissioner. He let the contract and the work 
AVas finished. In 1858 the cupola was built, at a cost of $325. Mr. 
S. P. Eagles, of Shelbyville, was the builder. 

In the spring of 1856 there were extraordinary floods in the county. 
All the streams rose to an unusual height. Salt river and North river 
were thought by many to be higher than they had ever been before, 
although some old settlers asserted that North river was highest in 1844. 
In January, 1855, snow fell to a depth of 12 inches, followed by a 
high wind from the north which kept the snow moving for 11 days, so 
that making or breaking roads was almost impossible. A road made 
during the day w^as filled up during the night, and could not be found 
the next day. On the prairies the snow was blown off" the north and 
west sides of the fields, and deposited on the east and south sides. 
Where the snow was blown off" the hard freeze killed the wheat. 

May 12, 1855, there was a heavy frost in the county which killed the 
hickory leaves, red clover, all the fruit and nearly all the wheat, which 
was partially headed. The fruit and leaves on the mulberry trees 
were killed, and another growth put out the same season, and it is 
said that the fruit actually matured. 

Mr. Holliday relates that in the summer of 1855 there was consider- 
able excitement on the subject of a road from Shelbyville to Shelbina. 
A petition was presented to the county court praying that body to 
change the State road from Shelbyville to Paris from its then location, 
and causing a new road to be made running from Shelbyville to 
Walkersville, thence to Shelbina, and vacating the old road. 

The court appointed three commissioners, and instructed them to 
view both routes, measuring the distance of the established road and 
also the projected one, and report the facts. They did so, and o-ave 



682 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

their preference to the route already established. The friends of the 
new road were not satisfied, and a review was granted them. The 
county court appointed new commissioners, who confirmed the report 
of their predecessors. Again the friends of the Walkersville route 
demanded another investigation and report, and again the case was 
decided against them. The matter ended with the establishment of a 
county road crossing Salt river at Walkersville, while the old State 
road, established by the Legislature in 1836, and running from Paris 
to the mouth of the Des Moines river, was let alone to cross the river 
where it does now, at the old Dickerson ford. 

Although so good an authority as Mr. Holliday says this was in 
1855, it is probable that it was some years later, as Shelbina was not 
laid out until in 1857. 

ELECTION OF 1852. 

At the Presidential election, 1852, the Democrats carried the 
county for Pierce and King over Scott and Graham, the Whig candi- 
dates by a good majority. The votes'of but five townships can now 
be given, and they were as follows : — 

Townships. Pieroe & King. Scott & Graham. 

Black Creek 147 U2 

Bethel 109 15 

Tiger Fork 4 9 

Taylor , 11 10 

Jackson 38 26 

Total 309 202 

This was the last year that the Whig party, as a party, put forth 
a Presidential ticket. 

THE POLITICAL CAIVIPAIGN OF 1856. 

A most intensely exciting political contest was that of this year, 
especially in Missouri. It was not only a Presidential year, but a 
gubernatorial year, and besides there were Congressmen and county 
officers to elect. Only two Presidential tickets were voted here — 
the Democratic, headed by James Buchanan and John C. Breckin- 
ridge, and the Native American or "Know Nothing," headed by 
Millard Fillmore, of New York, and Andrew Jackson Donelson, of 
Tennessee. This year the Republican party put up its first Presiden- 
tial ticket, but it received no votes in this county, and but few outside 
of the Northern States. 

For Governor there were three candidates. Trusten Polk was the 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



683 



regular Democratic nominee, with Hancock Jackson for Lieutenant- 
Governor ; Thomas H. Benton was an Independent Democratic can- 
didate, with J. W. Kelly, of Holt county, for Lieutenant-Governor ; 
the " American " candidate was Robert C. Ewing, of Lafayette, with 
William Newland, of Ralls, for Lieutenant-Governor. Col. Benton 
was making his last fight for political existence, and bravely he fought. 
He mode a canvass of the State, visiting many of the principal cities 
and towns. 

Benton had hosts of strong friends in this State, many in this county, 
some of whom even yet cherish his memory with great fondness. Men 
name their boys for him, hang his portrait in their parlors, and delight 
to do honor to his memory. When he died — in April, 1858 — there 
was general sorrow among them, although had he lived longer he 
doubtless would have been a Republican, as many a one of his hench- 
men became, and this would have disgusted a large proportion of his 
friends who admired him to the last. 

For Congress there were but two candidates in this district ; Hon. 
James J. Lindley, Whig, Know Nothing, etc., and Hon. James S. 
Green, regular Democrat, of Lewis county. 

The Germans of Bethel township, this county, voted almost solidly 
for Col. Benton, he receiving in that township three times as many 
votes as both the other candidates. The following was the result in 
this county ©f the 

AUGUST ELECTION, 1856. 





Fownships. 


GOVERNOR. 


cong'ss. 


legis're 


SHERIFF 


treas'r. 




2 


^ 

§ 


o 


»1 






1 
S 
s 
?2 


•2 


1 


1 








bq 


po 




t-1 


6 


^ 


^*q 


fcl 


t^ 


!s 






O 


OS 

s 




s 


QQ 




b5 


N 


►^ 


N 


N 






0^ 


82 


16 


72 


87 


92 


05 

63 


92 


63 


95 


^ 


Black Creek 


Shelbyville . . . 


58 


59 


(( <( 


Walkerville . . . 


27 


24 


13 


30 


34 


34 


30 


34 


29 


32 


28 


<( (( 


Van Nort's . . . 


18 


20 


1 


20 


19 


20 


17 


24 


15 


22 


15 


(( (< 


Hawkins' Office . 


U 


72 


9 


60 


65 


69 


55 


73 


53 


74 


47 


Bethel . 




21 


17 


108 


35 

14 


36 


53 
16 


37 


102 

15 


25 
16 


100 
16 


24 
15 


North Eiver 




15 


Ifi 


17 


15 


Salt River 




25 


35 


3 


25 


38 


38 


23 


34 


28 


37 


23 


Tiger Fork 




52 


13 


2 


54 


14 


16 


52 


15 


52 


18 


50 


Jackson . . 




104 


21 


Q 


100 
31 
21 

462 


26 


21 


110 


30 

7 
21 

447 


97 
24 
22 

424 


26 
5 

28 

453 


99 
26 
12 


Clay 


27 


5 


6 
2 

166 


5 


5 


25 


Taylor 


20 


20 
325 


23 
364 


18 
382 


23 

450 




Total 


411 


398 



684 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 1856 THE " KNOW NOTHINGS." 

One of the most exciting Presidential campaigns ever known to 
Shelby connty was that of 1856. The contest was between Buchanan 
and Breckinridge, the Democratic candidates, and Fillmore and Don- 
elson, the nominees of the Native American, or "Know Nothing" 
party. Several meetings were held and a full vote polled. 

The Native American, or "Know Nothing" party deserves particu- 
lar mention, as it once was a political organization very formidable in 
its character and largely in the majority in this county and district. 
It was formed some time in the decade of 1830, but did not become 
strong or very prominent until the dissolution of the Whig party, in 
1853. In 1854 the first lodge was established in this county. In 
1856 lodges were numerous. 

The party was a strange one, as it was a secret political order whose 
members were oath-bound, and which had its lodges, its signs, grips 
and passwords, and worked secretly to accomplish its openly pro- 
fessed objects. It was composed chiefly of old Whigs, although there 
were many ex-Democrats in its ranks. The corner-stone of its plat- 
form was the principle that "Americans must rule America," in 
other words, that none but nate-ive-born citizens of the United States 
and non-Catholics ought to hold office, and it also favored a radical 
chano;e in the naturalization laws. 

It is said that the hailing salutation of the order was, " Have 
you seen Sam ? " If answered by the inquiry, ' ' Sam who ?' ' or " W^hat 
Sam?" the rejoinder was, " Uncle Sam." So popular did the party 
become that its "boom" carried many counties and districts in the 
Union. 

In 1856 the following was the platform of the Missouri Know 
Nothings, relating to national issues: — 

1. That we regard the maintenance of the Union of these United 
States as the paramount political good. 

2. A full recognition of the rights of the several States, as 
expressed and reserved in the Constitution, and a careful avoidance 
by the General Government of all interference with their rights by 
Legislative or Executive action. 

3. Obedience to the Constitution of these United States as the 
supreme law of the land, sacredly obligatory in all its parts and mem- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 685 

bers — a strict construction thereof, and steadfast resistance to the 
spirit of innovation of its principles — avowing that in all doubtful or 
disputed points it may only be legally ascertained and expounded by 
the judicial powers of the United States. 

4. That no person should be selected for political station, whether 
native or foreign born, who recognizes any allegiance or obligation to 
any foreign prince, potentate or power, or who refuses to recognize 
the Federal or State constitutions (each within its sphere) as para- 
mount to all other laws or rules of political action. 

5. Americans must rule America ; and to this end native-born citi- 
zens should be selected for all State and Federal offices, in preference 
to naturalized citizens. 

6. A change in the laws of naturalization, making a continued resi- 
dence of twenty-one years an indispensable requisite for citizenship, 
and excluding all paupers and persons convicted of crime from land- 
ing on our shores ; but no interference with the vested rights of for- 
eigners. 

7. Persons that are born of American parents, residing temporarily 
abroad, are entitled to all the rights of native-born citizens. 

8. An enforcement of the principle that no State or Territory can 
admit others than native-born citizens to the rights of suflrage, or of 
holding political office, unless such persons have been naturalized 
according to the laws of the United States. 

9. That Congress possesses no power under the Constitution to 
legislate upon the subject of slavery in the States where it does or 
may exist, or to exclude any State from admission into the Union 
because its constitution does or does not recognize the institution of 
slavery as a part of its social system and (expressly pretermitting any 
expression of opinion upon the power of Congress to establish or 
prohibit slavery in any territory), it is the sense of this meeting that 
Congress ought not to legislate upon the subject of slavery within the 
territories of the United States ; and that any interference by Congress 
with slavery as it exists in the District of Columbia, would be a viola- 
tion of the spirit and intention of the compact by which the State of 
Maryland ceded the District to the United States, and a breach of the 
national faith. 

10. That we will abide by and maintain the existing laws on the 
subject of slavery as a final and conclusive settlement of the subject 
in spirit and in substance, believing this course to be the best guaran- 
tee of future peace and fraternal amity. 

As previously stated, but two candidates were voted for at the 
Presidential election in this county in 1856 — Millard Fillmore and 
James Buchanan. John C. Fremont, "Benton's son-in-law," as cer- 
tain Democrats delighted to denominate him, received no votes. 
There were a few Republicans in the county, but the}'' did not show 
their hands. The election called out a full vote and the result showed 



686 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

that each party had increased its vote, the Know Nothings rather the 
more. They swept the county by the following vote : — 

_ .. Fillmore, Buchanan 

Townhtps. K_ jyr. Dem. 

Black Creek, Shelbyville 159 195 

Black Creek, Wdlkerville 37 24 

Bethel 29 57 

Tiscer Fork 41 19 

Taylor 15 10 

Jackson 85 17 

Clay 28 12 

North River 9 12 

Salt River 29 27 

Total 432 373 

Leading Know Nothings in this county at this time were Thomas 
O. Eskridge, Joseph M. Irwin, Henry T. Sheetz, Dr. J. Bell, 
James Foley, George Gaines, John S. Duncan, Leonard Dobbin, John 
Dunn and James Gooch. 

Prominent Democrats were J. B. Marmaduke, Henry Louthan, 
Lewis Jacobs, Perry B. Moore, John Dickerson, John F. Benjamin, 
W. J. HoUiday, John McAfee, William R. Strachan, Alex McMurtry, 
J. M. Ennis. 

THE ELECTION OF 1858. 

The August election of 1858 attracted but little interest in Shelby 
county. The Democratic State ticket and JohnB. Clark for Congress 
had no opposition here ; neither had J. M. Ennis, Democratic candi- 
date for sheriff. The only contest was between the candidates for 
the Legislature. The Democratic candidate was William Richmond 
Strachan, who four years later became so notorious throughout North- 
east Missouri as Gen. McNeil's provost marshal. The Whig candi- 
date was Samuel Singleton. The Democrats swept everything and 
Strachan was elected by a large majority. 

SLAVERY DAYS. 

As this volume will be read by many in future years who will have 
no personal knowlege of what the institution of slavery was when it 
existed in the United States, a brief account of that institution as it 
existed in this county may not be inappropriate and void of interest. 

In 1860 there were 724 slaves in Shelby county, and this was the 
largest number ever in the county at one time. The majority of 
these were owned in the south half of the county, and were employed 
in asjricultural labor. 

Slavery in this county was transplanted from Kentucky and Vir- 
Sfinia. Certain families owned slaves in those States, and carried 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 687 

them along when they came to the new country. Nearly all that 
were ever here came with their masters or were natives of the county. 
Few were ever brought here and sold on speculation. Many were 
taken out of the county and sold to go into the far South, but there 
was no profit in bringing- them here for sale. Negroes are known to 
be prolific when surrounded by favorable circumstances, and they 
increased very rapidly under the workings and practices of the sys- 
tem. Many slave girls became mothers at fourteen. 

The slave owners worked their slaves for profit. Slavery to them was 
not only social power and supremacy, but it was wealth and a source 
of wealth. The slaveholder therefore worked his slaves to the best 
possible advantage for gain. They were provided with comfortable 
cabins, with course but comfortable clothing, with a sufl[iciency of 
food, and medical attendance was furnished them when they were 
sick. The self-interest of the master prompted this, if his humanity 
did not. It was rare in this county that a master overworked and 
underfed his slaves, ol- treated them with extreme harshness and 
cruelty. 

Slaves were property and rated a part of a man's personal estate, as 
his horses were. To be sure they were regarded as something more 
than brood mares and stallions, though their value, in a certain sense 
was the same — proportionate to their increase. This could not be 
avoided. The owner of land had a right to its annual profits, the 
owner of orchards to their annual fruits, and under the law the owner of 
female slaves was entitled to their children. While in Louisiana and 
perhaps another State slaves were real estate, in Missouri they were 
chattels. Though no attention was given to their education, their 
religious instruction was not neglected, and they were encouraged to 
hold meetings and to conduct revivals and prayer meetings, and in 
particular the Pauline precept, " Servants obey your masters," was 
constantly cited to them as one of the teachings and commands of 
the Bible. 

The domestic relations of the slaves were regulated more with regard 
to convenience than what would be considered propriety in these days. 
Marriages between them were not made matters of record. Quite 
frequently no ceremony was said at all — the parties simply "took 
up." Occasionally the husband belonged to one master, the wife to 
another. But in most instances the family relation was observed, or 
at least imitated. Husband dnd wife occupied one cabin, where they 
brought up children and lived after the fashion of to-day. The hus- 
band and wife not only did not have to provide for themselves, but 



688 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

they were not expected to provide for their children. That was the 
master's care and duty. 

The husband was usually satisfied with one wife — at a time. There 
was not that laxity of morals concerning the connubial relations here 
that existed in the far South. There were numbers of mulatto chil- 
dren, and quadroons and octoroons — as there are to-day — because 
there were depraved and libidinous men then — as there are now. 
Sometimes a father owned as slaves his own daughters, whose children 
bad for fathers their mothers' half-brothers. But these cases were 
rare. The Northern Abolitionists exagojerated and magnified the 
existence of evils of this sort. Usually the fathers of mulatto children 
were depraved and disreputable white men who were not the owners 
of slaves. 

It was quite common for certain slave-owners to hire out their 
slaves to those who needed them and did not own them. A good man 
would hire for |250 a year, and found. It was made an indictable 
oflTense for a master to permit a slave to hire his own time, and it was 
also an offense to deal with them unless they had a permit. 

Women were hired as well as men. Some idea of the terms on 
which they were employed may be gained from the following copy of 
an original letter written by one citizen of this county to another, on 
the subject : — 

January 10, 1843. 

Mr. Thomas J. Bounds: Sir — This will inform you that the 
woman you wish to hire belongs to me. You can have her a year for 
forty dollars by clothing her in the following manner, viz. : Two 
winter dresses, two summer dresses, two shifts, one blanket, a pair 
of shoes and stockings for the woman ; two winter dresses, one sum- 
mer dress, two shifts for the child. You'll have to lose the time lost 
by the woman occasioned by sickness or other acts of Providence, 
and I'll pay all doctor's bills. You'll have to send for her. 

Yours respectfully, 

R. H. DURRETT. 

While there was frequently a harsh master, the instances of down- 
right cruelty to the slaves in this county were rare. There were 
cruel masters, as there are cruel husbands and fathers, but the rule 
was that slave-owners were considerate, reasonable and just. It was 
necessary that there should be discipline, but this was enforced with 
as few rigors as possible. In every municipal township there were 
patrols, appointed by the county court, whose duties were to patrol 
their respective townships a certain number of times per month, and 
to keep a watch and scrutiny upon the movements of the negroes. 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 689 

Eternal vigilance was the price of slavery. The slaves required 
continual oversight. There were restive spirits among them with 
ideas of freedom, whose movements had to be restrained; all insub- 
ordination had to be repressed ; all loafing and prowling for the pur- 
pose of petty larceny had to be broken up and reproved. After the 
Southampton insurrection and the fearful murders of Nat Turner and 
his followers, in 1831, "risings" and insurrections were feared wher- 
ever there were considerable communities of slaves. To prevent as 
far as possible any trouble among or about the slaves was the office of 
the patrols. They made their rounds — one of their number being 
the leader or "captain " — as nearly as possible at unexpected times 
and suddenly. No slave was allowed off the farm where he belonged 
or was employed after nine o'clock at night without a written pass 
from his master or employer. All offenders of this class were made 
prisoners and punished. 

The negroes had their happy times, and on the whole it is perhaps 
nothing but the truth to say that their average physical condition 
when in slavery was as good as it is to-day. The state of some of 
them was better. Sentimental considerations must be left to others. 
They had their dances, their frolics, and their assemblages of various 
sorts. Corn huskings were made occasions of merriment and diver- 
sion. In 1840 or later there was a custom, Avhen the huge pile of 
corn was husked, to take up the master and bear him on the shoulders 
of the buskers at the head of a procession which marched around the 
premises singing songs improvised at the time, and so called "corn 
songs." 

In the Civil War about 75 negro men enlisted from this county in 
colored regiments, chiefly in the Second Missouri and First Iowa 
"African Descent." 

In 1865, when the slaves were freed, the majority of them left their 
masters and mistresses and set about doing for themselves. Very 
many went to Macon and Hannibal, preferring town life to rural life. 
Others left the State, many going to Illinois, where were plenty of 
anti-slavery people from whom they expected much substantial sym- 
pathy and assistance — which but few of them received, however. 
Numbers believed that not only were they to receive their freedom, 
but that in some way the government 'was to compensate them for 
their term of servitude. A few are said to be yet looking for the 
" forty acres of land and a mule I " 

Slavery received its death blow when the Civil War began — so it 
turned out. As elsewhere stated hundreds of slaves left their masters 



690 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

in this county in 1862 and 1863. Even the slaves of Unionists ran 
away. When in 1865 by Legislative enactment and the adoption of 
the XIII. Amendment all slaves in this State were set free, there was 
a great deal of discontent in this county. Men declared rashly that 
they would not rent a negro a foot of land, or render him any sort of 
aid in his efforts to make a living ; but in time this feeling passed 
away, the situation was accepted, and now there is but the merest 
handful of persons who would re-establish slavery if they had the 
power. 

In 1860 the population of Shelb}^ county was as follows : Whites, 
6,565; slaves, 724; free colored, 12; total, 7,301. 

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860. 

In very many respects the Presidential campaign of 1860 was the 
most remarkable, not only in the history of Shelby county, but of the 
United States. Its character was affected not only by preceding, but 
by succeeding events. Among the former were the excited and excit- 
ing debates in Congress over the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 
and the Kansas-Nebraska controversy ; the passage by the Legislatures 
of various Northern States of the "personal liberty bills," which 
rendered inoperative in those States the fugitive slave law; the John 
Brown raid on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in the fall of 1859, and 
various inflammatory speeches of prominent leaders of the Republican 
and Democratic parties in the North and in the South. 

There was the greatest excitement throughout the country, and 
when it was in full tide the Presidential canvass opened. The slavery 
question was the all-absorbing one among the people. The Republi- 
can party, while it had not received a single vote in Shelby county, 
had carried a large majority of the Northern States in the canvass of 
1856, and every year since had received large accessions to its ranks, 
and under the circumstances, there being great dissension in the 
Democratic party, prognosticating a split, bade fair to elect its candi- 
dates. 

The Democratic convention at Charlestpwn, South Carolina, April 
23, after a stormy and inharmonious session of some days, divided, 
and the result was the nomination of two sets of candidates — Stephen 
A. Douglas and Herschel V.Johnson for President and Vice-President, 
by the Regulars, and .lohn C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane, by the 
Southern or States rights wing of the party. 

The "Constitutional Union" party, made up of old Whigs, Know 
Nothings, and some conservative men of all parties, nominated John 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 691 

Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, on a plat- 
form composed of a single line — "The Union, the Constitution and 
the enforcement of the laws." 

The Republican part}' was last to bring out its candidates. It pre- 
sented Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin, on a platform, declar- 
ing, among other things, that each State had the absolute right to 
control and manage its own domestic institutions ; denying that the 
constitution, of its own force, carried slavery into the territories, 
whose normal condition was said to be that of freedom. Epitomized, 
the platform meant hostility toward the extension of slavery, non-in- 
terference where it really existed. 

It was to be expected that Missouri, being the only border slave 
State lying contiguous to the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, — 
" A peninsula of slavery running out into a sea of freedom," as Gov. 
Bob Stewart called it, — should be deeply concerned in the settlement 
of the slavery question. Her people or their ancestors were very 
largely from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and other slave-holding 
States, and many of them owned slaves or were otherwise interested 
in the preservation of slavery, to which institution the success of the 
Republican party, it was believed, would be destructive. There were 
many of this class in this county. There was not only a selfish motive for 
the friendliness toward the " peculiar institution," but a sentimental 
one. It was thought that it would be unmanly to yield to Northern 
sentiment of a threatening shape or coercive character. If slavery 
was wrong (which was denied), it must not be assailed at the dicta- 
tion of Northern Abolitionists. 

The canvass in the State was very spirited. The division in the 
Democratic party extended into Missouri. The Democratic State 
convention nominated Claiborne F. Jackson, of Saline county, for 
Governor. The Bell and Everett party nominated at first Robert 
Wilson, of Andrew, and on his withdrawal, Hon. Sample Orr, of 
Greene county. Judge Orr was selected in the room of Mr. Wilson 
by the central committee. Very soon the politicians began a series 
of maneuvers designed to develop Jackson's views on the main 
questions before the country, and especially as to which of the two 
Democratic Presidential candidates he favored. For a long time the 
wily Saline county statesman succeeded in evading the question and 
in defining his position ; but at last the Missouri Republican and other 
Douglas organs " smoked him out." He announced in a well-written 
communication that he was for Douglas, because he believed him to 
be the regular and fairly chosen nominee of the party ; but at the same 



692 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

time he amiouiiced himself in favor of many of the principles of the 
Breckinridge party. He was called by some who disliked him " a 
Douglas man with Breckinridge tendencies," " a squatter sovereign 
on an anti-squatter sovereignty j)latform," etc. 

When Jackson's letter appeared, soon thereafter the Breckinridge 
men called a State convention and put in nomination Hancock Jack- 
son, of Howard, for Governor, and Monroe M. Parsons, of Cole, for 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

Being encouraged by the feuds in the Democratic party, the Bell 
and Everett men had high hopes of electing their gubernatorial can- 
didate at the August election, and carrying the State for " Bell, of 
Tennessee," the ensuing November. To this end they did everything 
possible to foment additional discord and widen the breach between 
the two wings of their opponents ; but they over-did the business. 
The Democrats saw throuo-h their tactics, and ao-reeinsr to disatrree as 
to Presidental candidates, practically united in the support of C. F. 
Jackson and Thomas C. Reynolds, at the August election, and 
triumphantly elected them by a plurality of about 10,000: C. F. 
Jackson, Douglas Democrat, 74,446 ; Sample Orr, Bell and Everett, 
64,583; Hancock Jackson, Breckinridge Democrat, 11,415; J. B. 
Gardenhire, Republican, 6,135. 

In Shelby county the vote stood : C. F. Jackson, 621 ; Sample Orr, 
576 ; Hancock Jackson, 95 ; Gardenhire, 91. Votes for a Republican 
were given in the county for the first time. The railroad had brought 
in numbers of Republicans, and many of the Germans of the county 
were of the same faith. 

Nothing daunted by their defeat in August, the Bell and Everett 
men in Missouri kept up the fight for their Presidential candidates, 
and came within a few hundred votes of carrying the State for them 
in November, the vote standing : — 

For the Douglas electors , 58,801 

For the Bell electors 58,372 

For the Breckinridge electors 31,317 

For the Lincoln electors 17,028 

Douglas' majority over Bell 429 

Douglas' majority over Breckinridge 27,484 

It is said that many Democrats voted for Bell because they thought 
he was the only candidate that could defeat Lincoln. In the October 
election the Republicans had carried Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, 
and Lincoln's election was almost inevitable. Fusion tickets aofainst 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 693 

the Republicans had been formed in New York, New Jersey, and 
other States, and many thought the Tennessee statesman might be 
elected after all. 

In Shelby the vote for President resulted : Bell, 702 ; Douglas, 
476 ; Breckinridge, 293 ; Lincoln, 90. Bell received almost as many 
votes as Douglas and Breckinridge together. The Republicans held 
their own from the August election very well, giving to Lincoln only 
one less vote than Gardenhire had received. There are many even 
yet who have forgotten that there were ninety Lincoln men in Shelby 
county in 1860, and are inclined to dispute the official record in the 
case. 

AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 

The news of the election of Lincoln and Hamlin was received by 
the people of Shelby county generally with considerable dissatisfac- 
tion ; but, aside from the utterances of som^ ultra pro-slavery men, 
there were general expressions of a willingness to accept and abide by 
the result — at least to Avatch and wait. A number of citizens avowed 
themselves unconditional Union men from the first — as they had 
every year since 1850, when they met in convention from time to 
time, and these were men who had voted for Bell, and men who had 
voted for Douglas, and even men who had voted for Breckinridge. 
Upon the secession of South Carolina and other Southern States, how- 
ever,' many changed their view. Indeed, there was nothing certain 
about the sentiment of men in those days, but one thing — they were 
liable to change ! Secessionists one week became Union men the 
next, and vice versa. There was withal a universal hope that civil 
war might be averted. 

Already the best men of the country feared for the fate of the 
republic. Northern fanatics and Southern fire-eaters were striving to 
rend it assunder. The former did not want to live in a country (so 
they said) whereof one-half depended for prosperity on the begetting 
and bringing up of children for the slave market, and so the constitu- 
tion which permitted slavery was denominated an instrument of 
infamy, and the flag of the stars and stripes was denounced as a 
flaunting lie. The fire-eaters of the South were blustering and com- 
plaining that their " rights " had been or were about to be trampled 
on by the North, and therefore they were for seceding and breaking 
up a government which they could not absolutely control. 

A majority of the people of the county, it is safe to say, believed 
that the interests of Missouri were identical with those of the other 



694 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

slave-holding states, but they were in favor of waiting for the devel- 
opment of the policy of the new administration before taking any 
steps leading to the withdrawal of the State from the Federal Union. 
" Let us wait and see what Lincoln will do," was the sentiment and 
expression of a large number. A respectable minority were in favor 
of immediate secession. 

" INCENDIARY TALK." 

An incident which happened near the close of the year is thus 
related by Mr. Holliday in his " Sketches " : — 

At the circuit court, on the fourth Monday in November,. 1860, 
the slaves belonging to the estate of George Gaines, deceased, were 
sold at the court-house door, and during the sale there was a little 
Dutchman who was about half drunk, and who swore it was not right 
to sell negroes. Although he talked very broken, the bystanders 
understood enough to think he was saying something about the 
Divine institution of slavery, and he was arrested, taken before a 
justice of the peace, and had to give bond for his appearance at the 
next court, or go to jail to await the action of the grand jury at the 
next term of the circuit court. His was an indictable offense under 
the statutes of Missouri, which said that if any person should say 
anything in the hearing of a negro calculated to make him rebellious 
or insubordinate, such person, on conviction, should be sent to the 
penitentiary for a term of not less than five years. The Dutchman 
gave bond for his appearance, but did not appear; if he had, he 
would have stood a good chajice for the penitentiary, for the negroes 
were not allowed to swear whether they heard certain remarks or 
not, and men were convicted on the testimony of prosecuting wit- 
nesses who swore they " believed the negroes heard," etc. This was 
the way such trials were generally managed. 




CHAPTER YI. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY DURING 1861. 

The Legislature of 18G1 — Election of Delegates to the State Convention — The work 
of the Convention — The Winter of 1861 —After Fort Sumpter — Public Meetings — 
The First Federal Troops — First Union Military Company — Burning of the Salt 
River Bridge — The Campaign against Mart Green — The Fight at Shelbina — Fre- 
mont's "Annihilation" of Green's Rebels — Miscellaneous Military Matters — 
Capt. Foreman's Company Visits Shelbyville — Arrest of Hon. John McAfee — Tom. 
Stacy's Company — Gen. Grant's First Military Services in the Civil War are Per- 
formed in Shelby County — Bushwhacking — Missouri Secession — The Gamble 
Government and Its Oath — Turning Out the " Disloyal" Officers. 

THE LEGISLATURE OF 1861. 

On the last day of December, 1860, the twenty-first General Assem- 
bly of Missouri met at Jefi"erson City. The retiring Governor, " Bob " 
M. Stewart, delivered a very conservative message, taking the middle 
ground between secession and abolitionism, and pleading strenuously 
for peace and moderation. He declared, among other things, that the 
people of Missouri " ought not to be frightened from their propriety 
by the past unfriendly legislation of the North, nor dragooned into 
secession by the restrictive legislation of the extreme South." He 
concluded with a thrilling appeal for the maintenance of the Union, 
depicting the inevitable result of secession, revolution and war. Many 
of Governor Stewart's predictions were afterward fulfilled with start- 
ling and fearful exactness. 

The inaugural of the new Governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson, indorsed 
the doctrine of his famous resolutions of 1849 — that the interests and 
destiny of the slave-holding States were the same ; that the State was 
in favor of remaining in the Union so long as there was any hope of 
maintaining the guarantees of the constitution ; but that in the event 
of a failure to reconcile the differences which then threatened the dis- 
ruption of the Union, it would be the duty of the State " to stand by 
the South," and that he was utterly opposed to the doctrine of coer- 
cion in any event. Gov. Jackson concluded by recommending the 
immediate call of a State convention, in order that " the will of the 
people may be ascertained and efiectuated." 

Upon the organization of the House of Representatives, Hon. John 
McAfee, of Shelby, Democrat, was chosen Speaker, receiving 77 votes 

39 (695) 



696 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

to 43 for Marcus Boyd, of Greene (Bell-Everett), 4 for Thomas L. 
Price, of Cole (Douglas-Dunn), and 1 for John Hyer, of Dent. Mr. 
McAfee was regarded as a representative of the extreme pro-slavery 
wing of the Democratic party. It was something of a compliment to 
Shelby county that her representative should be chosen as the presid- 
ing officer of the popular branch of the Legislature at such an impor- 
tant and critical period. To Mr. McAfee it was a great honor, and a 
mark of supreme confidence. 

In accordance with the Governor's recommendation, the Legisla- 
ture, on January 17, passed a bill calling a convention, to be composed 
of three times as many members as in the aggregate each senatorial 
district was entitled to State Senators — that is, three delegates from 
each senatorial district in the State — and appointing February 18, as 
the day on which they were to be elected, and February 28, the day 
on which the convention would assemble. The 10th section of this 
bill was as follows : — ♦ 

No act, ordinance, or resolution of said convention shall be deemed 
to be valid to change or dissolve the political relations of this State 
to the Government of the United States, or any other State, until 
a majority of the qualified voters of the State, voting upon the ques- 
tion, shall ratify the same. 

The author of this section was Hon. Charles H. Hardin, then a 
Senator from the Boone and Callaway district, and Governor of Mis- 
souri in 1874-76. Thus the secession of the State was made an impos- 
sibility without the consent of the majority of the voters. After a 
much disturbed and very turbulent session, the Legislature adjourned 
March 28. 

During the session Mr. McAfee, the member from Shelby, bore a 
conspicuous part, not only as Speaker of the House, but as a leader 
of the extreme pro-slavery men and conditional Union men or contin- 
gent secessionists. He made no concealment of his views that he 
favored the secession of Missouri under certain circumstances. 

ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION. 

The Seventh Senatorial District of which Shelby county was a part, 
was composed of the counties of Macon, Shelby and Adair. As the 
district was entitled to three delegates to the State convention each 
county was allowed to name a candidate on the Unconditional Union 
ticket. The three candidates were: Frederick Rowland, of Macon; 
John D. Foster, of Adair ; and Joseph M. Irwin, of Shelby. 

In each county there was a Conditional Union candidate, one who 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 697 

TYOukl be williiio^ to vote for secession under certain circumstances 
possible to occur. That candidate in Shelby county was G. Watts 
Hillias, a young lawyer of Shelbyviile. Mr. Irwin was a substantial 
citizen, an old settler, and took pains to have it known that he was 
uncompromisingly opposed to secession, and hostile to the course 
which had been adopted by the seceded States. 

There was but little time for canvassing, but newspaper publication 
was made of the views of the candidates, and the people voted under- 
standingly. The election came off and Messrs. Rowland, Foster and 
Irwin were chosen by overwhelming majorities. Shelby county 
voted almost three to one in favor of the Unconditional Union can- 
didates. This clearly showed the sentiment of the county at that 
time. 

THE WORK OF THE CONVENTION. 

The convention assembled at Jefferson City, February 28, 1861. 
Sterling Price, of Chariton county, afterward the distinguished Con- 
federate general, was chosen president. On the second day it ad- 
journed to meet in St. Louis, where it reconvened March 4th, continued 
in session until the 22d, when it adjourned to meet on the third Mon- 
day in December, subject, however, to a call of a majority of a 
committee of seven. Before adjourning, a series of resolutions were 
adopted, two of which were of superior importance, and here proper 
to be noted: — 1. Containing the explicit declaration that there was 
no adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with 
the Federal union. 2. Taking unmistakeable g-round agcainst the em- 
ployment of military force by the Federal government to coerce the 
seceding States, or the employment of military force by the seceding 
States to assail the o-overnment of the United States. 

Mr. J. T. Redd, of Marion, and Mr. Harrison Hough, of Missis- 
sippi county, of the Committee on Federal Relations, presented a 
minority report, reciting the wrongs suffered by the slave-holding 
States at the hands of the North, and calling for a conference of the 
Southern States then in the Union to meet at Nashville to determine 
what was best for their interests. This report was rejected — or 
rather it was not acted upon, as the majority report was adopted by a 
large majority. 

Throughout his term of service, Mr. Irwin, of Shelby, was a Radi- 
cal Union man. He voted for the test-oaths, for all measures calcu- 
lated to strengthen the Union cause. July 1, 1863 (the day the 
convention adjourned sme die), he voted for the ordinance emancipat- 



698 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

iug the slaves, to take effect July 4, 1876, and providing for the pay- 
ment to every loyal owner of the sum of $300 for every slave so 
emancipated. He was generally supported by Foster, of Adair, but 
his other colleague, Rowland, of Macon, was more conservative, and 
opposed test-oaths, etc, 

THE WINTER OP 1861. 

During the months of January, February and March, 1861, there 
was great interest manifested in public affairs b}^ the people of the 
county. The prospect of war was fully discussed, and many prepared 
for it. A large portion openly sympathized with the seceded States, 
but the majority preferred to take no decided steps to aid either side. 
Many declared that Missouri had done nothing to bring on a war, and 
would do nothing to help it along should one break out. " We are 
neither secessionists nor abolitionists," said they, " and we are neither 
fanatics nor tire-eaters." 

Meantime, and especially in February and March, numerous secret 
meetings were held in the county by both Union men and secessionists. 
Every man's politics were known (or were thought to be), by every 
other man, and invitations were sent out to attend these meetings only 
to those who were known to be " sound." Each side knew that the 
other side was meeting secretly, and yet there was no attempt at inter- 
ference. Both parties met and were friendly. The policy seemed 
to be that of the "I'll let you alone, if you'll let me alone" kind. 

The secessionists met from time to time, and deliberated. Honestly 
believing that the best interests of Missouri would be served if she 
should unite her fortunes with those of her sister Southern States, 
these men worked zealously and faithfully. They met in secret con- 
clave from time to time. They got ready for any emergency that 
might come. 

Very mau}^ of this class of our citizens deprecated Civil War, 
and sincerely hoped that it might be avoided, but resolved that, if 
come it did, they would bind their fate to that of the Southern cause, 
allied as they were to that section by ties of kinship, of birthplace, of 
self-interest, of commonalty of sentiment, of sympathy. It may be 
that no men were ever more mistaken, but certainly no men were ever 
m6re in earnest and more honest in opinion, than were the 
secessionists of Shelby county in the late winter and early spring of 
1861. 

The people of the surrounding counties were busy holding public 
meetings. Marion county declared openly for secession, and Monroe 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 699 

favored the Cnttenden compromise, but hinted remotely at separation 
if it came to the point. Lewis, Knox, Adair, and Chirk dechired in 
numerous public meetings for the Union. 

The winter and early spring of 1861 wore away, and the people 
were restless, uneasy, and feverish. While the Union sentiment of 
the county predominated, the secessionists were bold, demonstrative, 
and disposed to be aggressive. They were encouraged by their breth- 
ren in Marion, who held public meetings at Emerson, March 16, and 
at Palmyra, March 30, at both of which secession flags were raised 
amid great enthusiasm. 

The Union men were cool and determined. The majority depre- 
cated war, and earnestly hoped it might be averted. Some declared 
they would not take up arms at all except to preserve the peace of 
the county against both factions. 

The Shelby County Weekly, the newspaper of the county, which 
had been started at Shelbyville, March 7, was edited by G. Watts 
Hillias, who had been the conditional Union candidate for delegate to 
the convention. The paper was for the Union with many " ifs''' and 
♦' buts " and provisos. It was really in the secession interest. 

AFTER FORT SUMPTER. 

The firing on Ft. Sunjpter by the Confederates, April 12,' 1861 ; 
the proclamation of President Lincoln calling for 75,000 volunteers ; 
Gov. Jackson's indignant refusal to respond to the requisition on Mis- 
souri ; the excitement throughout the South ; the uprising in the 
North, — these are incidents in the history of the country, the partic- 
ulars of which need not be set forth in these pages. 

The reception of the news that hostilities had actually begun caused 
great excitement. Many openly declared for the South and secession, 
but as many, or more, were strongly for the Union, and in nowise 
backward about expressing themselves. 

April 22, Gov. Jackson ordered the Legislature to convene in extra 
session May 2, " for the purpose of enacting such laws and adopting 
such measures as may be deemed necessary and proper for the more 
perfect organization and equipment of the militia of the State and to 
raise money enough and such other means as may be required to place 
the State in proper attitude for defense." The Legislature was in 
session 12 days. Speaker McAfee was zealous in his support of Gov. 
Jackson's military bill, and all of the war measures adopted against 
the Federal government. 



700 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



PUBLIC MEETINGS. 

The day after Sumpter was fired on there was a public meeting at 
Hunnewell, v/hich, however, had been called some days before. Both 
sides were represented at this meeting, the secessionists by G. Watts 
Hillias, and the Unionists by Samuel B. Hardy, Esq., of Jackson town- 
ship. In a communication to the Weekly, Mr. Al. McAfee, a seces- 
sionist, gave the following report of and comments on this meeting : 

I attended the meeting at Hunnewell on Saturday last, and propose 
to give your readers a few items, * * * Jn vain we have looked 
for a peaceful solution of our national trouble. War has begun, and 
the time is at hand when every man should speak boldly and fear- 
lessly his sentiments. Men can not longer hide their real opinions 
under high sounding and once loved and much cherished names. It 
is the high duty of every man to speak and act for which ever side he 
deems right. I am a Southerner in the full sense of the word. I am 
proud of the name and, therefore, neither afraid nor ashamed to make 
the avowal. All my feelings are with the South. I believe they have 
truth, justice and right on their side, and such being the case, a jus- 
tice-loving God will aid them in their glorious struggle for indepen- 
dence. 

I attended that meeting to hear Hillias make a speech. I wanted 
to hear a secession speech straight out, but I was mistaken. He is a 
secessionist on certain conditions. The young man, in a clear, forci- 
ble manner, presented the position he occu[)ied in the recent canvass. 
He was not for immediate secession — wanted a fair and honorable 
compromise, but, failing iu this, was in favor of Missouri uniting her 
destiny with the South. We understood in this section that he was 
an immediate secessionist, and that his opponent occupied precisely 
the position which I find Hillias occupied. Hence your readers can 
reasonably account for the heavy vote given for the so-called Union 
ticket. We are not submissionists by any means. 

He gave the Black Republicans some lovely blows. He closed his 
speech, which was able and eloquent, with some just and cutting 
remarks in regard to the proceedings of our State convention. He 
spoke thus of the majority. What a horrible imposition this conven- 
tion aflair is ! 

Judoe S. B. Hardy arose to reply ; said he had been requested so 
to do by some of the leading men of his party in this section. The 
Judge began by complimenting Abe Lincoln. Said that Lincoln had 
done all that man could for the welfare of his country ; that the Black 
Republican party had already given the South more than they asked, 
and, seemed somewhat displeased at Hillias because he was hard on the 
Black Republicans. Said we must not judge the Black Repul)lican 
party too hard — must give the devil his due. The Judge, in his 
anxiety to relieve the Black Republican party from any censure, was 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 701 

willing to make of Judge Douglass a Black Republican. Now I have 
no fondness for some of Judge Douglass' views; yet, if he can preach 
Black Republican doctrine with a more hearty will than did Judge 
Hardy, he is too black for me. 

I venture the assertion that Giddiiigs himself does not more 
warmlv support Abe Lincoln than did Judge Hardy, and yet he would 
feel himself insulted if I were to call him a Black Rcpul)lican. 
For shame! Judge; you and those who act with you — who sustain 
Lincoln and preach the same doctrines of his party — do have the 
moral courage to come out at once and say you are Bhick Republi- 
cans. It would be more manly. In fact, we would respect you all 
more. Why seek to hide under the name of Union, unless you all 
intend to form a new party composed of Black Republican principles 
and adopt the name of Union the better to deceive the masses? It is 
a good name, for you are all " unconditional Union men " — submis- 
sionists in the true and full sense of the word. Southern men with 
N^ortliern principles don'' t suit this climate. 

There is no excuse for men to act thus. The Union of our fathers 
is dead. Black Republicans killed it. We who loved it, and attested 
that by following its light, now deeply mourn over it. We would 
gather up the broken fragments, and placing them as they have been 
placed by our noble brethren of the South, would assist to guard 
those glorious particles forever. The question for Missourians to 
decide "is whether they will unite their destiny to a white man's 
Southern Confederacy or with the negro Confederacy of the North. 

Again, Judge, as you were the representative of your party, of 
course they endorse your views, and you said 3''ou were opposed to 
those seceded States being acknowledged independent by the Gov- 
ernment at Washington ; hence you are in favor of coercion. That 
was a manly confession of yours. But I had understood your party 
had backed down from that position. 'Tis the same that your 
brethren of the North occupy. They are all in favor of coercion. 
The war has begun. 

When the Judge closed a glorious shout went up for the young 
champion of constitutional rights, and the way he poured hot shot 
into the Judge and his Black Republican allies would do the soul of 
any honest man good. 

Now, I undertake to say that the people of this township do not 
endorse any such sentiments as Judge Hardy uttered on Saturday 
last; nor do they indorse the policy pursued by a majority in the 
convention. The men are brave and intelligent ; they loved the Union 
while it was one, but they are not base submissionists. Therefore it 
is useless for men under the garb of the Union to attempt to hide 
their love for Black Republicanism. 

A. McAfee. 

Jackson Township, April 16, 1861. 



702 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



SECESSION FLAGS. 



In May the secessionists met at Shelbyville for the purpose of rais- 
ing a secession flag and listening to speeches from certain orators. 
The flag was prepared by the secession hidies of Shelhyville and was 
identical with that of the Confederate States. Active promoters of 
the meeting were J. M. Ennis, J. B. Marmaduke, Hon. John McAfee, 
G. Watts Hillias, John Dickerson. 

The speakers were Hon. James S. Green, of Lewis county, and 
Edward McCabe, of Palmyra. Other speakers had been invited, but 
they did not come. J. M. Ennis drove in a buggy all the way to Can- 
ton for Mr. Green. The speaking was in the court-house. The 
speeches were not very notable. Mr. Green was for secession, and 
was very bitter on the Union men of Missouri. It is remembered 
that he said to them : "If you win the day we will leave the State ; 
if we win you shall leave," and this sentiment was applauded. Mr. 
McCabe was more conservative. 

There was considerable enthusiasm, and some very intemperate 
expressions used by participants in the meeting. The pole stood on 
the south side of the square near the entrance to the court-house. 
It is said that the flag was ultimately cut up and made into dresses by 
some secession ladies of Shelbyville, who took this method of pre- 
venting its capture by the Federals. 

About this time — perhaps a little earlier — a secession flag was 
raised near the north-west corner of the county in William Baker's 
dooryard. The occasion was made a public one, and quite a crowd 
assembled. Capt. William H. Rollins made a very violent secession 
speech. Mr. Baker then lived where the present post-office called 
Cherry Box now is, two miles from the Knox county line — (nw. 
15—59—12). 

Secession flags were frequent at private houses in Shelbyville, Shel- 
bina and elsewhere. 

The Union men began to stir themselves. In the eastern part of 
the county, near Miller's mill, they effected something like an organi- 
zation, and at Shelbyville Ben McCoy, a jeweler, had a company of 
men which he was drilling occasionally. The north-eastern portion of 
the county, and about Bethel, abounded in Union men, who were 
active, zealous and willing to fight. Some Unionists notified Mr. 
Griffin Frost, the publisher of the secession Weekly, that his room 
was preferable to his company, and he abandoned the office and fled 
to Marion county. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 703 



THE FIRST FEDERAL TROOPS APPEAR. 

When it was certain that Missouri would be one of the States 
wherein the battles of the Civil War would be fought, the immense 
importance of preserving and holding the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
railroad was early realized by the authorities of the Federal govern- 
ment. If it were kept intact, troops could be moved rapidly from 
one side of the State to the other, supplies and munitions of war sent, 
and all of North Missouri kept under Federal or Union domination. 
The great thoroughfare would also be of incalculable service in keep- 
ing open communication with the first line of offense adopted by the 
Union commanders — the Missouri river. It was of the utmost 
importance, therefore, that the road should be well guarded from the 
actual and threatened assaults of the secessionists, and kept in run- 
ning order continually. 

On the 13th of June the Second Iowa Infantry, Col. Samuel E. 
Curtis commanding, passed over the road from Hannibal to St. Joseph, 
first coming down the Mississippi from Keokuk and disembarking at 
Hannil)al. These were the first Federal troops to enter the county. 
They took two prisoners and fired on some citizens at Hunnewell. 

Quite a number of Union men left this county at this time for St. 
Joseph to enter the Union service. A battalion of cavalry was con- 
templated at one time, W. R. Strachan to be major. A company 
commanded by Capt. Hughes, of Shelbina, was organized. Those 
who went from this county to St. Joe enlisted in the old Thirteenth Mis- 
souri Infantry (afterward the Twenty-fifth), and were captured at 
Lexington while serving under the gallant Mullio;an. 

Not long afterward came a detachment of the Sixteenth Illinois 
Infantry, Col. R. F. Smith, and detachments of this regiment were 
stationed at Hunnewell, Shelbina and the railroad bridge over Salt 
river. 

In the early summer of 1861 some of the prominent Union men of 
the county were Alexander McMurtry, John F. Benjamin, Matt Free- 
man, Joseph H. Forman, Solomon Miller, Robert Eaton, Samuel B. 
Hardy, Daniel Taylor. 

Some of the secessionists were John McAfee, Al. McAfee, J. M. 
Ennis, John Jacobs, J. B. Marmaduke, John R. Gatewood, Russell 
W. Moss, John Dickerson, William H. Rollins. 

It now began to thunder all around the sky. On the 10th of July 
occurred the affair at Monroe City mentioned elsewhere. (See History 



704 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

of Monroe). Near the same time a detachment of the Sixteenth Illi- 
nois came out from Macon City to the farm of William Baker, where 
the secession flag had been raised. Beyond cutting down the butt end 
of the pole and questioning some citizens pretty sharply, these troops 
did nothing really, but the entire neighborhood was frightened out of 
its wits when it was learned they were coming. The troops camped 
near Ray's bridge over Salt river. 

FIRST UNION MILITARY COMPANY. 

In the latter part of July, 1861, a Union meeting was held at Mil- 
ler's mill, in Tiger Fork township, six miles east of Shelbyville. John 
M. Glover, of Lewis county, and Dr. John L. Taylor, of Knox, were 
the leading speakers. The Union men of that neighborhood were out 
in force, and there were also some secessionists present, among them 
Hon. John McAfee, the speaker of the House. 

In his speech. Glover was very severe on the course taken by Mr. 
McAfee in the Legislature. After he had concluded a controversy 
arose between him and Mr. McAfee. The latter gave Glover the lie. 
Instantly Glover assaulted McAfee with fists and feet, and punished 
him severely. 

On this occasion a company of Union Home Guards was organized. 
It numbered 72 men, and was officered as follows: Captain, Joseph 
H. Forman ; lieutenants, Robert Eaton and Solomon Miller; orderly 
sergeant (first), Oliver Whitnej'', and then George Lear. It served 
as infantry, and being an independent company, was called the Shelby 
County Home Guards. 

It is said that this company had an irregular organization as early 
as May, but it did not enter the United States service formally until 
the 23d day of July, when it was sworn in at Shelbina by William 
Richmond Strachan, then deputy U, S. marshal, by authority of Gen. 
S. A. Hurlbut, under whose orders the company continued to do duty 
until August 23, 1861, when it was disbanded. 

The services performed by this company consisted of camp duty, 
two or three scouting expeditions into this county, guarding of gov- 
ernment stores in Hannibal, and also guarding trains over the Hannibal 
and St. Joseph railroad. The latter was often very perilous service, as 
the .secessionists frequently bushwhacked the trains. The company 
was armed with U. S. muskets, sent up to Shelbina from Hannibal. 
Upon being mustered out, the most of the members soon after entered 
the U. S. service in various rej^iments. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 705 



BURNING OF THE SALT RIVER BRIDGE. 

Ou the 10th of July the Hannibal and St. Joe railroad bridge, across 
Salt river, in this county, two miles west of Hunnewell, was burned 
by a company of secession troops or Missouri State Guards. From 
the best information obtainable it is learned that the burniu£: was done 
by a company from Ralls county, commanded by Capt. Daniel B. West, 
under direction of Dr. Foster, of Hannibal. Citizens of the neighbor- 
hood contributed turpentine and other inflammables to hasten the fire 
and the spread of the flames. The same day five cars were burned at 
Hunnewell, and it was with great difficulty the citizens persuaded 
Foster not to burn the depot at that place. 

The bridge was burned while fighting was going on at Monroe City. 
The result was greatly damaging to the Federal cause, as it hindered 
the transportation of troops and supplies for some days. A temporary 
structure was thrown over by Hurlbut's troops and completed in a 
few days. 

At the time of the burning there was no 2:uard or jjarrison at the 
bridge, but afterward a block house was constructed by some Illinois 
troops, and a strong guard kept for some time. 

In July, 1861, Brig. -Gen. John Pope was assigned by the Federal 
authorities to the command of the military district of North Missouri. 
He at first made his headquarters at Hannibal, then at Macon, then at 
Hunnewell, Shelbina and elsewhere. Under Pope, in command of a 
sub-district, comprising the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, 
was Brig. -Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, who was very active during the summer, 
being now at Hannibal, now at Palmyra, now at Macon, now at Kirks- 
ville, as his presence was needed. 

THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST COL. MARTIN E. GREEN. 

In the latter part of July a rather strong force of secession troops 
rendezvoused at the Sugar Camp ford on the Fabius, near Monticello, 
in Lewis county. This force was commanded by Col. Martin E. 
Green, of Lewis, and his second in command was Joseph C. Porter, 
also of Lewis, near Newark. A number of the secessionists of this 
county made their way into Green's camp and joined him. 

On the 4th of August Col. Green broke camp and started north- 
ward. On the 5th, early in the morning, he attacked a force of about 
400 Missouri Union Home Guards and 100 Iowa Volunteers at Athens, 
Clarke county, on the Missouri side of the Des Moines river, 20 miles 



706 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

north-west of Keokuk. The Union forces were commanded by Col. 
David Moore, of Clarke county. Col. Green had perhaps 1,000 men, 
including an artillery company commanded by Capt. J. W. Kneisley, 
of Marion county. Kneisley' s battery was composed of the nine- 
pounder, used at Monroe City, and a six-pounder cast in Hannibal by 
Cleaver & Mitchell. The Union troops had no cannon. Col. Green 
was defeated with a loss of 11 killed, and perhaps 25 wounded. The 
Unionists lost four killed and 18 wounded. Col. Green retreated to 
his former camp, near Monticello. In a day or two his men were 
distributed about camps in various parts of Lewis, Knox, and Shelby 
counties. 

In the latter part of August, Gen. Price broke up his camp at 
Springfield and moved northward toward Lexington, on the Missouri 
river, his main object being to secure to himself the large forces of 
State Guards known to be in North Missouri. When at the Osage 
river, he sent forward a special messenger to Gen. Tom Harris, the 
commander of the State Guards for this district. Green's command 
at once prepared to set out to join the advancing army, from which 
so much was expected. Word was sent to all the other commands, 
companies, battalions and platoons in this part of the State to repair 
at once to the Missouri river, at either Glasgow, Brunswick or Arrow 
Rock, and cross to the south side. 

Col. Green had left Lewis county and his forces were concentrated 
at or near Marshall's mill, on the Fabius, in the north-west part of 
this county, some six or eight miles from Palmyra. 

While in this camp. Green sent a company into this county to 
arrest some obnoxious Union men. This company, commanded by 
John L. Owen, of Marion, came into Shelbyville and remained an 
hour or so, but failing to find the men they had been sent for, 
returned to camp. 

Soon afterward a company commanded by Frisbie McCullough 
visited the residence of Capt. Joseph Forman, east of Shelbyville, and 
made him prisoner. Forman had recently been mustered out of the 
Federal service as captain of the home guard company before men- 
tioned. As they were taking him away he tried to whisper some 
directions concerning his arms to a hired man named James Gwinn. 
MfcCullough noticed this and immediately took Gwinn a prisoner and 
carried him away into captivity. Forman was not released until 
Green's command had crossed the Missouri river, and only a few days 
before the battle at Lexington. 

But prior to all this, McCullough' s company had visited Shelbyville 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 707 

and made a prisoner of Hon. John F, Benjamin, whom they carried 
off into Knox and Lewis counties and kept a close prisoner for some 
days. Near the same time the same company captured Dr. John L. 
Taylor, of Newark. At this time Green had two or three camps in 
the northern and north-eastern portions of this county. He visited 
Bethel and levied some contributions on the colonists in the way of 
provisions and other supplies. 

From his camp at Marshall's mills, about the first of September, 
Col. Green proceeded with his entire force to Philadelphia, thence to 
New Market and on southward to join the army of Gen. Price. He 
crossed the Hannibal and St. Joseph September 2, near Monroe City, 
and destroyed the track, culverts, bridges, cut down telegraph poles, 
etc., for a considerable distance. Then he passed on to the neighbor- 
hood of Paris and Florida, where he received reinforcements from 
Ralls and Monroe, and halted to catch breath and observe the move- 
ments of his enemies. 

Meantime the Federal military authorities had noted the movements 
of Col. Green, had learned of the formidaI>le character of his forces — 
for they numbered perhaps 1,500 men, all told, — and of his where 
abouts, and set about breaking him up. Gen. Hurlbut took the field 
in person. Col. David Moore's North-east Missouri regiment marched 
across the county from Athens, on the Des Moines river, via Water- 
loo, Luray, Etna, and Edina, to Bethel, in Shelby county. Here on 
the second it united with the Sixteenth Illinois, under Col. Smith, 
which had marched across from Kirksville. It was intended to attack 
Green, then supposed to be near Philadelphia, but on arriving there 
and learning that he had moved southward, the united forces, num- 
bering in all perhaps 1,200 men, of whom 400 were mounted, and 
with four pieces of field artillery and a long train of wagons, marched 
across to Palmyra, where they arrived on the evening of the 4th. 
With this command were about 150 Knox and Adair county Home 
Guards, temporarily commanded by Lieut. James Call, of the Third 
Iowa. 

It was on the 1st of September when Hurlbut' s command reached 
Bethel from Kirksville, coming via Lakeland. The troops were 500 
men of the Third Iowa, under Lieut. -Col. John Scott, seven com- 
panies of the Sixteenth Illinois, under Col. Smith, the Home Guards 
above mentioned, and three pieces of artillery. 

After he had sent Moore and Smith to Palmyra, Gen. Hurlbut took 
the Third Iowa, and about 120 sick men of the command, and on the 
2d started for Shelbina. Reaching Shelbyville at about noon, the 



708 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

command halted for dinner, and here the soldiers were gladly wel- 
comed by the Union citizens of the place. After dinner the command 
pushed on. 

While the main portion of the command tarried in Shelbyville, three 
soldiers set out on foot, without leave, for Shelbina, taking the direct 
road. Nearly half a mile north of the crossing of Salt river, as they were 
walking along unsuspicious of any danger they were bushwhacked, 
and one of their number instantly killed, another wounded, while the 
third escaped unhurt. The latter was found nearly a mile eastward 
from the scene by J. C. Hale, who carried him on horseback to his 
command, which was met on the high prairie, nearly two miles from 
Shelbyville. 

The shootino; was done from behind a large double oak tree on the 
west side of the road, at about 30 yards distance. The bushwhack- 
ers were nine in number, some of whom were John Jacobs, Eay Moss, 
John Evans, Bent Hightower, and a man named Freeborn. All were 
from this county. They had learned of the presence of the Federal 
troops and their destination, and determined to waylay them and kill 
some strao-o-lers. Their horses were hitched near bv and immediately 
after the shooting they mounted and fled. 

The dead soldier was found with a dozen hazel nuts tightly clenched 
in his hand in a death gripe. The three men had been walking 
gaily along picking nuts from the bushes by the roadside, laughing, 
talking and singing. Their oflScers censured them for being absent 
from their commands and roundly cursed and abused the survivors for 
disobeying orders. The dead man was taken to Shelbina and there 
buried. Eay Moss, a son of Kussell W. Moss, became a captain in 
the Missouri State Guards under Gen, Price, served six months, was 
mustered out and re-enlisted in the regular Confederate service, and 
had his head torn to pieces by a grapeshot at the battle of Corinth, 
Miss., Oct. 4, 1862. John Jacobs became a captain in the Confeder- 
ate service and was known as a desperate fighter. He settled in 
Louisiana after the war and died there a few years since. 

Hurlbut reached Shelbina at about 7 p. m., in the midst of a terrific 
rain and wind storm. It was impossible to telegraph for railroad 
transportation on account of the storm and the men went into quar- 
ters for the night. Transportation arrived the next day about noon, 
and the command was transported to Brookfield. 

Moore and Smith left Palmyra on the 5th for Hunnewell in pursuit 
of Green, leaving 400 men behind to guard the town. The next day 
this detachment, under Gen. Pope, who had come up and assumed 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 709 

command, and accompanied by Col. John M. Glover and about 50 
men of his new cavalry regiment then being organized in North-east 
Missouri, set out for the front. 

THE FIGHT AT SHELBINA. 

Col. N. G. Williams, of the Third Iowa Infantry, had been ordered 
by Gen. Pope to take three companies of his command and a company 
of Linn county mounted Home Guards and proceed from Brookfield to 
Palmyra, open the road as he went, and then go to Paris and take the 
specie and funds in the bank at that place and send the same to St. 
Louis, "to prevent capture by the enemy." On the morning of 
August 31, he left Brookfield and reached Palmyr^i at noon. Here 
he was informed that the train on which he had come would have to 
go on to Hannibal in order to turn the engine west. At Hannibal, 
while the Third Iowa were eating dinner, the Second Kansas regiment 
which had also fought at Wilson's creek, came up on a boat from St. 
Louis, on their way home for muster out. 

Upon invitation the Second Kansas, only about 300 strong, agreed to 
accompany Col. Williams to Paris and return. The latter had 320 
men, including Loring's mounted Home Guards from Linn county — the 
greater portion of the Third Iowa being then under Lieut. -Col. Scott, 
in Shelby county. The command Avent to Shelbina on the train on 
Sunday, Sept. 1. The same evening they started for Paris, which they 
reached the following morning, after an all-night march. The cashier 
of the bank had removed the funds and they could not be obtained. 
Col. Williams remained in Paris that day and night. On the follow- 
ing day he set out to return to Shelbina, but in the meantime Col. 
Martin Green had mustered his forces from Florida, and the country 
was swarming with State Guards and secession troops who were clos- 
ing in about Williams and his 620 men, and preparing to take them 
in. The Federals were only able to reach Shelbina by hard marching 
and by taking a circuitous route to avoid an ambush which Col. Green 
had laid for them. 

Arriving at Shelbina, at night. Col. Williams learned that Gen. Hurl- 
but, with seven companies of the Third Iowa, had left the place that 
day for Brookfield. Williams was in a close place. That night his 
pickets were fired on twice by Green's scouts and one man severely 
wounded. The next morning, Wednesday, Sept. 4th, he could see 
that he was surrounded and he barricaded the streets and prepared to 
fight. The track had not been destroyed, however, and at 11 a. m. 
a train arrived from the West, sent by Hurlbut to take the command 



710 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

back to Bi-ookfield. At noon Col. Green sent Col. Williams a note, 
giving him thirty minutes to remove the women and children and to 
surrender. Williams ordered the women to leave, but made no reply 
to the demand for surrender. 

From a good position on the prairie south-east of Shelbina, and well 
out of reach of the Federal muskets, Col. Green then opened upon 
the beleaguered town, with his two pieces of artillery, Kneisley's Pal- 
myra battery, — the old 9 and 6-pounders. The guns were very well 
served. Almost every shot was vvell pointed, either striking a build- 
ing or falling in the square. Capt. McClure, of the Second Kansas, had 
his foot shot off while standing in the street south of the railroad 
and nearly opposite the site of the present railroad depot, and but a 
short distance from the south-east corner of the park (near the 
south-west corner of First and Chestnut streets). One or two shots 
missed the town altogether and the balls were picked up a half a mile 
north the next day. Two balls went through the hotel building. 

The Federals were of course unable to fight back (owing to the fact 
that Green's troops were out of range), and some of them became much 
discontented. After about 30 shots had been fired, the Second Kan- 
sas declared they would not remain any longer, and under their officers 
boarded the train. Col. Williams protested but it was useless ; the 
Kansas would not stay and make targets of themselves, when they 
could not return the enemy's fire. The whole command, except the 
Linn county cavalry, then boarded the train and moved otf unmo- 
lested to Hudson. The cavalry also got safely away, going on the 
north side of the track and keeping the train between them and the 
secessionists, until a mile or two west of town. Some guns, cloth- 
ing, knapsacks, four mules, a wagon, etc., fell into the hands of Col. 
Green's men. 

Green then advanced and occupied the place. He now had fully 
2,500 men, having been reinforced by some Monroe and Ralls county 
secession troops or State Guards under Col. Brace. Some Shelby 
county men here joined him also. 

Following was the report of the Federal commander : — 

REPORT OF COL. NELSON G. WILLIAMS, THIRD IOWA INFANTRY. 

Macon, September 5, 1861. 

JSir: — In obedience to your order, I respectfully submit the follow- 
ino- statement of facts connected with the Paris expedition and the 
reasons why I retired from Shelbina: — 

Late Friday evening (August 30) I received a telegraphic dispatch 
from Gen. Pope to take my effective command, together with Lor- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 711 

iiig's cavalry, proceed to Palmyra, open the road, and then go to 
Paris and take the specie and funds in the l>ank: and send it to St. 
Louis. Early Saturday morning I started from Brookfield to execute 
the order. I arrived at Palmyra about noon, was there informed by 
the railroad employes that we would have to go to Hannibal in ordeV 
to turn the engine west, they telling me it would be impossible to 
back the train. As a further reason for going to Hannibal there was 
$150,000 in specie on board, and from instructions I received it 
would be in some danger of being seized by the rebels. 

I arrived at Hannibal, and while feeding my men the Second Kan- 
sas Regiment arrived per boat, en route for Kansas to recruit. I 
immediately invited them to join me in the Paris expedition, as I had 
learned on my down trip that it would be unsafe with mv force (320 
men) to go into Monroe county. They consented and we started 
Sunday morning. Arrived at Shelbina about noon. I pressed into 
service some wagons to carry provisions and sick men, and started for 
Paris about 8 o'clock in the evening. My entire force consisted of 
about 620 men, viz. : 520 infantry and 100 cavalry. 

I arrived in Paris at daylight Monday morning, September 2. I 
immediately proceeded to the bank in company with M. Cassel, Esq., 
(agent to receive money). We called the directors together. 
They informed us that the cashier had taken the money to a safe 
place and that they did not know where he or the money was. We 
waited during the day, thinking that they would get the money. In 
the afternoon I learned that the whole country was rising in arms 
against us. About 5 o'clock I gave the order to prepare for our 
return march, but a tremendous storm coming up I countermanded 
the order, and resolved to stay in Paris over night. I quartered my 
men in the court-house and vacant buildings. About midnight we 
received an alarm and turned out under arms and remained so during 
the night. Started on our return at daybreak. 

In the meantime I had learned that Green and his forces had got 
past Gen. Hurlbut and that he had prepared an ambush for me on the 
straight road to Shelbina. I determined to take the road to Clinton, 
making a detour of 10 miles. Every step of the way I found evidence 
that the whole people were in arms. I arrived, however, in Shelbina 
at night, having escaped the ambush, but had one man wounded 
(supposed mortally) by the enemy's pickets. When I arrived in 
Shelbina I found no communication east or west, also learned that 
Gen. Hurlbut had left that day for Brookfield. During the night 
had two alarms. In the morning and after the enemy had shown 
himself in force, a train arrived from the west and brought word that 
another train was coming to take my command away. In the mean- 
time the enemy was gathering in still greater force, so that I could 
make out about 3,000 men. 

About noon I received a note from the rebel commander, giving me 
30 minutes to move the women and children and to surrender. I 
ordered the women to leave but made no reply to Green. I barri- 
caded the streets and prepared to resist the enemy. After a short 

40 



712 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

time the enemy opened on us with two pieces of artillery, one nine 
and one six-pounder (reported to me to be brass by an escaped 
prisoner ^ ). Their battery was planted a full mile off. I am satis- 
fied that at this time the enemy numbered full 3,000. With my glass 
I could discover a strong force under cover of timber to support 
their artillery. I offered to lead the men out on the plain and offer 
the enemy battle. Maj. Cloud, of the Second Kansas, objected. I 
did not insist as I thought the opposing force too great. 

During the firing I discovered the enemy some two miles in the 
west tearing up the track. I immediately ordered one company on 
the train to run up to them, which was done, and the enemy driven 
from that point. I observed also a force in the east tearing up track 
and started a train that way, but the train came back, as the enemy 
opened upon it with their artillery. The ofiicer in command reported 
to me that he supposed the engine and train of more value than a 
little piece of track. I told him he did right. 

The enemy fired well. Almost every shot was well pointed, either 
striking the building or falling in the square. Capt. McCIure, of the 
Second Kansas, had his foot shot off. After receiving some 30 shots, 
the oflicers of the Second Kansas held a meeting, and sent Maj. Cloud 
to me, demanding that I should withdraw the men, saying that they 
had been in one Springfield fight and did not wish to be in another 
(meaning fighting against such odds), and also that if I would withdraw 
and get artillery they would come back with me. He further stated 
that his men were discontented, and supposed they were going home, 
and did not like being brought on the expedition ; that he, to encour- 
age them, had held out the inducement to them that the money in the 
bank was to pay them ofi" with ; that they only considered themselves 
in the light of volunteers, etc. I still resisted, and declared I would 
not mention the subject of retreating to my men, as I had been to 
them and told them we could hold the place ; but finally they insisted 
so strongly, and fearing there might be a stampede, I consented to 
call the officers together. 

When they met. I said to them I had nothing further to say. After 
they had decided it to be expedient to retire I told them to wait 
orders. I delayed giving orders any further than to tell them to go 
to their companies and prepare to move. After a few minutes I saw 
the Kansas men starting for the cars. They filled the first train and 
started. I jumped on the engine and ordered the engineer to move slow, 
so that the cavalry could keep up with him on the right flank (the 
enemy was on the south). I then jumped ofi" and started back for my 
.own men (280), but they, seeing the Kansas men off, had got on the 
second train and started before I got back. In the confusion the Iowa 
men left some of their coats and knapsacks in the quarters. They 
did not know at the time we were retiring from the enemy. There 
was also one transportation wagon and four mules left, all of which 
might have been brought off had they waited for orders. 



1 They were not brass, but iron, cast in Hannibal. — Compiler. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. ll'd 

It is proper for me to state that I had but one captain with me at 
the time and he had been quite sick several days, and was unfit for duty 
at the time ; but he turned out and rendered me valuable assistance. 
I was extremely short for officers. I had sent three home sick. I 
then moved the trains to Hudson and reported to you in person. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

N. G. Williams, 
Colonel Third Iowa. 
Brig. Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, U. S. A. 

REPORT OF LIEUT. -COL. CHARLES W. BLAIR AND MA J. ^V. F. CLOUD, 
SECOND KANSAS INFANTRY. 

Hudson, Mo., September 5, 1861. 
Sir : — It is perhaps proper for me to state formally to you a fact or 
two relative to the evacuation of Shelbina on yesterday. 

The enemy numbered, as nearly as we could ascertain, al)out 3,000, 
and we had about 600 efficient men. We drove them several times, 
and held our position until the enemy brought to bear upon us two 
pieces of artillery, one six and one nine-pounder. We having no 
artillery, and not being able to reach them otherwise, but being com- 
pelled to sit still behind barricades and receive discharges of artillery 
which would inevitably have destroyed the command, I, after consul- 
tation with Major Cloud and the officers of the Second Kansas, insisted 
upon the men being withdrawn until we could be reinforced by artil- 
lery, which, we understood, was at Brookfield. Col. Williams was 
averse to the withdrawal, but we insisted that it should be done, and 
he finally jMelded a reluctant and unwilling assent ; and as we had 
volunteered to serve in the Paris expedition, he was in courtesy com- 
pelled to pay some attention to our wishes in the matter, and con- 
sequently he at last yielded. Very respectfully, 

Chas. W. Blair, 
Lieut. -Col., Comdg. Second Regt. Kansas Vols. 

W. F. Cloud, 
Major Second Kansas Vols. 
Brig.-Gen. S. A. Hurlbut. 

The secession troops remained some hours in Shelbina. Many of 
them had come up through Hunnewell and across Salt river at the 
railroad bridge. At Hunnewell they smashed things about the depot, 
and that evening or the same night they burned the Salt river bridge. 

The force sent by Col. Green to tear up the track Avest of town, 
and which was dispersed by the company sent up on the train by Col. 
Williams, was commanded by Col. Blanton, Monroe county, who was 
shot in the mouth and wounded severely. Another secessionist had 
his horse killed. The lono- ransre muskets of the lowans gave them a 
decided advantage over the Missourians with their shot-g^uns. The 



714 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

conduct of Green in not sending a sufficient force at a proper distance 
lo destroy the track and prevent tlie escape of his enemy so nicely 
bagged, has never been explained. Had he torn up five rods of the 
raih-oad and run up one piece of artillerjs everj^ Federal would have 
been taken prisoner. 

Green's forces abandoned Shelbina the same night, but the next 
morning a battalion came back and burned some freight cars that were 
standing on the track. Except devouring everything edible in the 
place, they did little or no damage to the citizens. The next morning- 
there were actually not provisions enough in the town for a single 
family. The Federals had eaten one meal and what they left the 
secession troops finished. The people had to go to the country to get 
their breakfasts. 

Fremont's "annihilation" of green. 

Upon receipt of the news of the affair at Shelbina, Gen. Pope at 
once took the field. He resolved to repair to Hunnewell and from 
that point prepare to move against Green. Accordingly he did so, 
and September 6, he sent the following dispatch to Gen. Fremont : — 

Hunnewell, Mo., September 6, 1861. 
Maj.-Gen. Fremont; — Arrived here this evening. Salt river 
bridge repaired so as to be passable. Rebel forces retreated from the 
road to Paris or Florida. Third engine went to Shelbina and saw 
train from the west, which came within three miles. The road will be 
clear to-morrow. Please send blankets and tents; Moore's men are 
without either. Jno. Pope, 

Brigadier- General. 

Gen. Fremont was greatly disturbed upon learning that Col. Green 
had crossed the Hannibal and St. Joe, that he had chased the Federals 
out of Shelbina, and that he was snapping his fingers in the faces of 
Pope and Hurlbut, and so he resolved on his *' annihilation." 

It was a practice with Fremont to remain inactive, or order troops 
aimlessly around, until the Confederates, taking advantage of his 
mistakes, gained some important advantage, and then he would flutter 
about quite frantically for a time. He refused to reinforce Lyon and 
that officer was defeated and slain ; then he hurried troops into Mis- 
souri by thousands ; he allowed Gen. Price to besiege Mulligan at 
Lexington for nine days, and then after the gallant Irishman had sur- 
rendered he rushed about 25,000 men to that quarter of the State. 
He allowed Green to take his forces out of North-east Missouri, and 
immediately afterwards sent enough troops into this section to make a 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 715 

living wall iiloiig the Hannibal and St. Joe from Hannibal to Macon. 
The horse havino; been stolen, the stable was to be securely locked. 

Fremont instantly, planned a brilliant maneuver — nothing less than 
the capture or total annihilation of Mart. Green and his audacious 
rebels. On the 6th of September he sent the following telegraphic 
orders (in cipher) to Gen. Pope, at Hunnewell : — 

St. Louis, September 6, 1861. 

Brig. -Gen. Pope: — According to the report received at these head- 
quarters Col. Williams, with his command of 600 men, has been forced 
to retreat from Shelbina to Macon City (Hudson) by a band of rebels 
under Green, numbering about 3,000, \Yhere he is now cut off fi'om 
all lines of communication east of his position. In order to arrest the 
constant depredations of the rebels in Marion, Monroe, Macon, Shelby, 
and adjoining counties, and to visit on them the whole vigor of martial 
law, I have resolved upon a combined attack on Green's men and their 
annihilation. 

To effect this object, you will be reinforced by the First Kansas 
regiment and the Twenty-third Indiana. Brig. -Gen. Sturgis will 
advance from here on Macon City with the Twenty-seventh Ohio, Col. 
Fuller, the Thirty-ninth Ohio, Col. Groesbeck, one squadron of the 
Fremont Hussars, Capt. Blume, and Capt. Schwartz's full battery. 
You will leave a comparative reserve at Palmyra, and then advance 
west toward Salt river, and you will, under any circumstances, en- 
deavor to put yourself in communication with the command of Brig.- 
Gen. Sturgis, who will operate toward the east against Shelbina. 

It will be your object not only to disperse the enemy, but to follow 
him into his hiding places and annihilate him. After having put your- 
self in communication with Gen. Sturgis, by means of a reliable mes- 
senger, and after Gen. Sturgis has advanced east towards Shelbina, 
you will force the passage of Salt river (should the bridge be destroyed 
you will find a suitable bridge towards the north or south) and thus 
make a combined attack on the rebels. * * * 

I enclose a copy of the order addressed to Gen. Sturgis. 

J. C. Fremont, 
Major-General Comdg. 

Gen. Sturgis Avas furnished a copy of the order to Pope and was 
particularly instructed to "cut off the enemy from the road leading 
to Shelbyville, and generally to render impossible the dispersion of 
his forces by squads, and to annihilate the gang of rebels as a 
whole." 

These preparations of Gen. Fremont for the destruction of Col. 
Green and his command were reasonably magnificent, and doubtless 
were satisfactory to both parties. They suited Fremont and Mart. 
Green cared nothing about them. But unfortunately for Gen. Frc- 



716 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

mont the unaccommodating "rebels" refused to sit still and be 
"annihilated." One reason for this was probably that they had not 
heard that the " Pathfinder" wished them to, but having heard from 
special messengers that Gen. Price expected them to be in the neigh- 
borhood of Lexington by the 12th, they prepared for immediate 
departure, and on the 7th the advance guard set out. 

Shelby county now saw something of the pomp and circumstances 
of war. The little town of Hunnewell was made the base of what 
l^romised to be an important military movement, and hundreds .of 
soldiers, with their numerous equipments and munitions of war, were 
here assembled. A full-blown brigadier-general and his staff were 
present to direct matters in person, and the citizens gazed with open 
mouths at the spectacle before them. 

On the morning of the 7th Pope telegraphed Gen. Fremont from 
Hunnewell : — 

Road will be open to-day. Green, from all accounts, encamped 
near Florida, 20 miles south-east of this place. About 300 men of 
the regiment at Quincy now occupy Palmyra. Have not yet heard 
direct from Hurlbut, but shall by morning. 

A few liours later he received Fremont's order and answered as 
follows : — 

The road is now open. Train went this afternoon. I will leave 
1,500 men here and make a night march against Green with 1,600 
men and four pieces of artiller3^ You will not hear from me before 
late to-morrow. 

But the next morning, the 8th, still at Hunnewell, he dispatched 
Fremont : — 

Did not move last night, because the reinforcements from Hurlbut 
did not reach here until 10 p. m., too late for the object. I have now 
force enough to move on Green, and will do so to-night. Your dis- 
patch to make no important movement without further advices 
received. Please answer and give me authority to move. The road 
is now open and clear as far Avest as Platte river. I have heard noth- 
ing of the reinforcements [under Sturgis] of which you telegraphed 
me. 

Fremont's plans woefully miscarried. He had ordered Sturgis to 
proceed with his command from the St. Louis arsenal to Macon City, 
over the North Missouri, Avithout first learning whether or not trans- 
portation could be obtained sufiicient to move the entire force at once. 
Finding out that it could not, he retelegraphed Pope to " make no 
important movement without further advices." These " further 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 717 

advices " never came. Sturgis acted promptly, but on the 9tli he had 
only been able to get to Mexico with his infantry, his cavalry being 
still in St. Louis, " owing to the lack of engines and cars " and the 
delay in crossing the river at St. Charles, then not bridged. At 
this time he supposed Green to be "some place in the vicinity of 
Florida," and he had heard " nothing from Gen. Pope." 

But on the 8th, Col. Green, Gen. Harris and all the rest of them, 
except a small rear guard, broke camp near Florida and swung out to 
the south-westward, crossing, without molestation, the North Missouri 
at Renick, on the 9th, and when Sturgis and Fremont supposed them 
to be still in camp waiting to be " annihilated " they were on the 
prairies of Randolph and Howard counties, on their way to Gen. 
Price, with none to molest them or make, them afraid. 

The commands of Cols. Green, Porter and others, all under Gen. 
Harris, arrived safely at Glasgow, captured the steamer Sunshine, 
with Lieut. Rains and 12 men of Mulligan's command, who were on 
their way to Jefferson Cit}^ with dispatches calling for reinforce- 
ments — made a ferryboat of her and crossed the river on the 12th in 
entire safety and went into temporary camp in Saline county near 
Marshall. It was here that Capt. Forman and the other Shelby 
county pioneers were released, after being duly paroled, not to take 
up arms till they were exchanged. 

Gen. Pope moved from Hunnewell on the evening of the eighth and 
marched to the vicinitj'- of Green's former camp, near Florida, driving 
away the rear guard and a few belated recruits and capturing a portion 
of their outfits. But one man was hurt and he was wounded by a 
pistol shot by Col. Moore, and it is said only two shots were fired. 
The cavalry followed the train a few miles and returned, reporting 
that Green must be fifty miles away ! Gen. Pope then marched back 
to Hunnewell and immediately on his arrival there, on the 10th, sent 
oft' the following dispatch to Fremont, announcing the result of the 
" annihilation " scheme : — 

Hunnewell, September 10, 1861. 

I marched on Green at dark, Sunday. Reached his camp at day- 
light in the morning. As usual he had received notice of our 
approach, in consequence of night marches, and a few hours before I 
reached there his force, about 3,000, scattered in every direction, 
leaving much baggage, provisions and forage, as also the public prop- 
erty captured at Shelbina. The infantry of my command was, of 
course, unable to pursue after a forced night march of 23 miles. The 
horsemen followed the train for 10 or 15 miles until it scattered in 
various directions. The bulk of his force has crossed the North 



718 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.. 

Missouri road at Renick, and are making for the woods of Chariton. I 
go west with Sixteenth Illinois and Third Iowa immediately in pur- 
suit. 

Moore's forces proceeded by land to Canton, and will there organ- 
ize. Four hundred of Bussey's cavalry are in North-east Missouri, 
but I think not doing much. As soon as I can run down Green's 
force [ !] I will go to Keokuk. Please send Col. Tindall back to 
Brookfield immediately; he went down for arms to St. Louis, arid 
can now be of much service. 

Glover and Moore will organize their regiments, I hope, in a few 
days. Green's force is mounted, and infantry can not do much in 
overtaking them. 

The railroad east of Brookfield is open, and I think no more seces- 
sion camps will be made within 20 miles. John Pope, 

Brigadier- General. 

Major-Geneial Fremont. 

MISCELLANEOUS MILITARY MATTERS. 

Shortly after its organization, and while at Shelbina, Capt. Forman 
received orders from Gen. Hurll)ut to take his company of Home 
Guards and proceed to Shelbyville and search certain houses for 
ammunition and military stores. A detachment of the Sixteenth 
Illinois was at Shelbina and 10 of the men volunteered to accompany 
Forman. The command reached Shelbyville early in the morning. 
The store of J. B, Marmaduke was thoroughly searched for powder 
and arms, but nothing was found. Fred Boettcher, then a gunsmith, 
was arrested charged with having put in order several guns and pistols 
to be used by the secession troops. He was taken to Shelbina and 
sent from thence to St. Louis. Before leaving town some of Forman's 
men cut down the secession flag pole then standing on the south side 
of the square. 

About the sixth of August three companies of the Sixteenth Illinois 
Infantry came to Shelbyville from Macon City and arrested Hon. 
John McAfee, who was carried to Macon and kept a prisoner for some 
time. 

As Mr. McAfee was a sympathizer with the Confederate cause and 
had been an active and prominent secessionist, he was especially 
obnoxious to the Federals, who treated him severely — worse than any 
of their other prisoners. Gen. Hurlbut forced him to labor hard in 
the hot sun, engaged in digging " sinks" or privies for the soldiers. 
A few days afterward he was taken from Macon to Palmyra and the 
General ordered him to be tied on the top of the cab of the engine to 
prevent the bushwhackers from firing at the engineer. This was pre- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 711> 

vented by some of the soldiers and the engineer. The latter said he 
would not run the engine if Mr. McAfee was mounted upon it in that 
way ; the soldiers delaj^ed executing their orders until the train was 
ready to start, and then signaled to the engineer to " pull out," which 
he did. 

It was a common saying at that day that three men in North- 
east Missouri did more to bring about hostilities in that quarter, more 
to induce other men to array themselves in armed hostility against the 
United States Government — than a thousand others. These were 
Hon. James S. Green, of Lewis; Hon. Thomas L. Anderson, of 
Marion, and Hon. John McAfee, of Shelby. And yet when hostilities 
came, when war actually broke out, neither of them took up arms, or 
did aught but lip service for the cause. This was complained of by 
many among the Confederate partisans, who thought Messrs. Green, 
Anderson and McAfee ought to fight the way they talked. It is said 
that Gen. Hurlbut offered McAfee a horse, saddle and bridle, a shot- 
gun, pistols and sword, and safe conduct out of his lines for 24 hours 
if he would enlist in the Southern army and join Martin Green. 

But Mr. McAfee was not the only man in Shelby county who did 
much to stir up men's passions and bring about war, and then when 
it came " take to the woods." There were others of this kind in the 
North as well as in the South. 

The success of the Confederate arms at Bull Run, July 21, and at 
Wilson's Creek, August 10, greatly encouraged the secessionists in 
Missouri and stimulated recruiting in this quarter for the Southern 
cause. While no considerable companies were raised in this county, 
there were many recruits, who went out singly and in squads either to 
join the Missouri State "Guards under Gen. Price, in South-western 
Missouri, or the forces under Col. Martin E. Green up in Lewis and 
Knox counties. The Confederate victories really decided the course 
of many a man who had been "on the fence," and caused him to 
announce that he would *'go with the South." 

About the 1st of August a small company was organized in the 
south-eastern part of the county for service against the Union cause. 
This company was an irregular organization, never mustered into ser- 
vice, and was composed of men from Shelby, Marion and Monroe 
counties. Its captain was one Thomas Stacy, a young married man 
living in Jackson township. He was a brave man, but \evy rough and 
savage in his manner of lighting. He did not hesitate to bushwhack 
trains or straggling parties, to rob Union men, or to murder them. 
When the fancy took him he would rob a secessionist without hesita- 



720 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

tion. Stacy wore his hair long and dressed fantastically. He had 
about 25 men at the start. His camps were in the timber and brush 
along Salt river and Bhick creek and he lived off the country. 

On the night of the 8th of August Stacy's company made a raid on 
Palmyra, then unoccupied by the Federal soldiery, secured some arms 
belonging to citizens, and captured and paroled two citizens. A day 
or two previously they had assisted in bushwhacking a train. August 
16, near Hunnewell, they fired on a train containing some of the Six- 
teenth Illinois and badly wounded two men. 

July 12, the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry, Col. U. S. Grant, and 
the Fourteenth Illinois, Col. John M. Palmer, were sent to Monroe 
City to relieve Col. Smith, of the Sixteenth. In a few days they were 
sent on to Hunnewell and to the Salt river bridge in this county. The 
latter structure had recentl}^ been burned b}^ the secessionists, and 
Grant and Palmer guarded the workmen engaged in rebuilding it. 

A few days after their arrival here Grant was sent with his regiment 
on an expedition down near Florida, to break up Tom Harris' recruit- 
ing camp, but on his arrival at the site of the camp he found that the 
secessionists had scattered about the time he had left the Salt river 
bridge. Whereupon, like the king of France, he marched back again. 
This was the beg-inning of Gen. Grant's illustrious career durins^ 
the Civil War, and these were his first services in the field. It is 
something of a distinction for Shelby county that the great captain 
of the Union armies — afterwards twice President of the United. 
States — should first begin those services which grave him his distinc- 
tion and established his fame, within her borders, engaged in guarding 
bridge builders and the Salt river railroad bridge and in scouting 
through the country. The following is one letter on this subject from 
Gen. Grant to the compiler of this volume : — 

Long Branch, N. J., August 3, 1884. 
Dear Sir: In July, 1861, I was ordered with my regiment, the 
Twenty-first Illinois Infantry, to North Missouri, to relieve Col. Smith 
of the Sixteenth, who was reported surrounded on the Hannibal and 
St. Joseph road. On arrival at Quincy I found that the regiment ( ?) 
had scattered and fled. I then went with my regiment to the junction 
of the road from Quincy with the one from Hannibal, where I remained 
for a few days, until relieved by Col. Turchin with another Illinois 
refiriment. From here I was ordered to ouard the workmen engaijed 
in rebuilding the Salt river bridge. Col. Palmer was there with his 
regiment at the same time. When the work was near completion I was 
ordered to move against Thomas Harris, who was reported to have a 
regiment or battalion encamped near Florida, Mo, I marched there, 
some 25 miles from Salt river, but found on arrival that he left about 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 721 

the tim'e I started. On my return I was ordered to Mexico, Mo., by 
rail. Very truly yours, 

U. S. Grant. 
R. I. Holcombe, Esq. 

Bushwhacking was a ftivorite diversion of some of the first secession 
troops raised in this county. The plan of organization of the military 
forces favored this sort of disreputable warfare. There were no full 
companies raised and organized in the county, but the men were 
forced to leave and go elsewhere to enlist, and so went out in squads 
and couples and joined the Southern army in the field. Many men, 
impatient to do something against the detested Federal forces, and 
not belonging to an eflScient organization, sought to do something on 
their own account, and believing that everything was fair in war, 
counted it no sin to ambush an unsuspecting enemy and shoot him 
down without mercy and without warning. Had these men been 
organized into companies, their mode of warfare would have been 
different. True, Tom Stacy's company made a vocation of bush- 
whacking, but it numbered but few more than 20 men. 

Early in the contest there was a case of bushwhacking two miles 
south of Shelbyville. Two citizens of the county — Eli Bertram, of 
Shelbyville, and a German named Betz or Blitz — had left the county 
and enlisted in a foreig^n reo;iment, said to have been the Sixteenth 
Illinois. Returning to their homes on a brief leave of absence, they 
were walking from Shelbina to Shelbyville. At the forks of the road, 
south of the latter place, where the road to Walkerville branches ofi", 
Ben. Hightower was in waiting with a double-barreled shot-gun, and 
fired upon them. Bertram was severely but not dangerously 
wounded. The charge in the gun was only turkey shot, instead of 
buck-shot. 

It is believed that Hightower was met in Shelbina by Bertram and 
Blitz, who berated him for being a " d d traitor," etc. He hur- 
ried home, determined on revenge. Catching up his gun, which he 
supposed was loaded with buck-shot, as he had charged it, he rushed 
out. Not knowing whether the soldiers would come by way of 
Walkerville or on the straight road, he repaired to the forks so as not 
to miss them. It chanced that his brother had fired off the charge of 
buck-shot and reloaded the gun with turkey shot, or the injury inflicted 
would have been more serious. 

Another citizen of the county, now a prominent merchant of Shelby- 
ville, was accused of bushwhacking Bertram, but proved a complete 
alibi. Not long afterward, however, learning that certain individuals 



722 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

had sworn to kill him, he *' took to the brush," determined to" shoot 
the first Federal he saw. As he lay well concealed in a thicket, along 
came a Federal soldier, trudging afoot, and leisurely and contentedly 
munching an apple. The would-be bushwhacker felt his former 
bloodthirsty disposition vanishing from him at the sight. He lowered 
his gun, uncocked it, and slipped quietly away, heartily ashamed, and 
the soldier passed on in peace and safety. 

On another occasion two young men hid themselves to bushwhack 
a train, near Salt river, when one of them remembered that his family 
had been expecting some relatives from Kentucky on a visit, and he 
said, "What if they should be on that train?" The murderous 
scheme was instantly abandoned. 

Missouri's secession. (?) 

On the 26th of October " Claib. Jackson's Legislature," as it was 
called, met in the Masonic Hall at Neosho, and on the 28th an 
ordinance of secession was passed by both Houses. In the Senate 
the only vote against it was cast by Charles H. -Hardin, then Senator 
from the Boone and Callaway district, and afterwards Governor of 
the State, and in the House the only member voting " no " was Mr. 
Shambaugh, of DeKalb. According to the records and to Mr. Sham- 
baugh, there were in the Jackson Legislature at the time but 39 members 
of the House and 10 members of the Senate, when, hy the constitution, 
a quorum for the transaction of business was required to consist of 17 
senators and 67 representatives. 

But notwithstanding these facts, the secession ordinance and the act 
of annexation to the Southern Confederacy were approved by the 
Confederate Congress at Richmond,^ recognized by that portion of the 
people of Missouri who were in favor of cutting loose from the old 
Union, and Gen. Price fired a salute in honor thereof. And so those 
Missourians then and afterwards in arms against the Federal flag 
became entitled to the name of Confederates, and will so be denomin- 
ated in future pages of this history, instead of being called " State 
Guards," "Secessionists," "Southern troops," etc., as they have 
hitherto been spoken of. 

At this time Shelby county had perhaps 250 troops in the field 



1 A convention held at Richmond, October 31, between Thomas L. Snead and E. C. 
Cabell, on the part of the Jackson government of Missouri, and R. M. T. Hunter, on 
the part of the Confederate States, agreed upon the admission of Missouri into the 
Southern Confederacy, and it vpas really this agreement which was ratified by the 
Confederate Congress. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 723 

doino- battle for the Southern cause. In Gen. Green's division of the 
Missouri State Guard the third battalion of infantry was commanded 
by Lieut. -Col. S. A. Kawlings, of Shelby county; and Co. A, Capt. 
Oliver Sparks, contained a number of men from here. 

THE GAMBLE GOVERNMENT AND ITS OATH. 

The Missouri Convention having deposed Gov. Jackson, Lieut. - 
Gov. Reynolds and Secretary Massey appointed in their places Ham- 
ilton R. Gamble, Willard P. Hall and Mordecai Oliver, and recon- 
structed the State government generally, it was made by that body 
the duty of all the civil officers in the State to take an oath to sup- 
port the provisional government and also the constitution of the 
United States " against all enemies and opposers whatsoever." 

The county officials of Shelby were : Representative, John McAfee ; 
circuit clerk, William L. Chipley ; county clerk, Thomas O. Eskridge ; 
county attorney, John F. Benjamin ; sheriff and collector, John 
Dickerson ; deputy sheriff, James L. West ; treasurer, C. K. Cotton ; 
public administrator, R. A.Moffett ; school commissioner, C. B. John- 
son ; assessor, M. J. Priest; justices of the county court, James S. 
Pickett, Perry B. Moore, Daniel Taylor. 

Of these officials, Messrs. Dickerson, West, Priest, Johnson, Moore 
and Pickett refused to take the " Gamble oath," as it was called, 
and were deposed from office accordingly. The others took the oath 
and retained their places. Of the disloyal, C. B. Johnson raised a 
company for the Southern cause, and fought irregularly or as a parti- 
san ranger for several months, or until in the summer of 1862. 

There were no sessions of the county court from November 4, 
1861, until in May, 1862. The military came in, everything was 
disorganized, and the county ran itself. 

About Christmas Day, 1861, the county judges attempted to hold 
a court at Shelbyville without first taking the Gamble oath. Capt. 
Thomas G. Black, of Co. C, Third Missouri Cavalry, Glover's regi- 
ment, was sent up to prevent this. It was an offense for any person 
to attempt to exercise official functions without first having taken this 
oath. 

Capt. Black arrested Sheriff Dickerson, James B. Marmaduke, J. 
M. Ennis, Dr. Coons, Rev. J. P. Noland and Charles Dines, at Shel- 
byville, and then went to Newark and on the way took Thomas 
Garrison. All the prisoners were charged with disloyalty. They 
were taken to Palmyra, then the headquarters of Glover's regiment, 
and after an imprisonment of seven days were released on taking the 
Gamble oath. 



724 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The following is a copy of this oath : — 

I, , do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that I 

will support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, 
and the Constitution of the State of Missouri, against all enemies and 
opposers, whether domestic or foreign; that I will bear true faith, 
loyalty and allegiance to the United States, and will not, directly or 
indirectly, give aid and comfort or countenance to the enemies or 
opposers thereof, or of the Provisional Government of the State 
of Missouri, any ordinance, law or resolution of any State Convention 
©r Legislature, or any order or organization, secret or otherwise, to 
the contrary notwithstanding; and that I do this with a full and honest 
determination, pledge and purpose, faithfully to keep and perform the 
same, without any mental reservation or evasion whatever. And I do 
further solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have not, since the 17th day 
of December, A. D. 1861, willfully taken up arms or levied war against 
the United States or against the Provisional Government of the State 
of Missouri, so help me God. 

After a time the " Gamble oath " was supplemented by one more 
binding, more exacting, harder to take, and still harder to observe. 
This w^as called the " iron-clad oath." 




CHAPTER VII. 

MISCELLANEOUS HISTORY DURING 1862. 

Organization of the Missouri State Militia — Co.'s A and H, of the 11th M. S. M — 
Bushwhacking in the Spring of 1862 — The Murderous Affair at Wallversville — Two 
Soldiers and One Citizen Killed — Pursuit of the Bushwhackers, and Killing of Two 
of Their Number — Execution of Rowlaud Haiwey — Glover's Campaign in the 
Spring — Miscellaneous — Execution of Frank Drake and Ed. Riggs — Capture of 
Capt. Tom Sidener — Burning " Rebel Houses "• — The November Election. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE MISSOURI STATE MILITIA. 

About the 1st of December, 18(31, Gov. Gamble received authority 
from the AVar Department at Washington for the organization of the 
Missouri State Militia, the members of which, when engaged in active 
service, were to be armed, clothed, subsisted, transported and paid by 
the United States, and to co-operate with the United States forces 
in the repression of invasion into Missouri and the suppression 
of rebellion therein. The militia was not to be ordered out of the 
State of Missouri, " except for the immediate defense of said 
State." 

In February Col. H. S. Lipscomb, under proper authority, began 
the organization of a regiment of cavalry, afterward designated as the 
Eleventh Cavalry Missouri State Militia. This regiment, when organ- 
ized in May following, was officered by Lipscomb as colonel ; A. L. 
Gilstrap, lieutenant-colonel ; John F. Benjamin, John B. Rogers, J. B. 
Dodson, majors. Li September following, the regiment was consol- 
idated with the Second Missouri State Militia, John McNeil, colonel ; 
and John F. Benjamin, lieutenant-colonel. 

Cos. A and H, of the eleventh regiment, were almost exclusively from 
this county. The following were the officers with the date of their 
commissions, rank and disposition : — 

CO. A, ELEVENTH CAVALRY MISSOURI STATE MILITIA. 



Date. 



Feb. 10, 1862 
June 3,1862 
Aug. 18, 1862 
Feb. 10, 1862 
Feb. 10, 1862 



Name. 



[Rank. 



John F. Benjamin. Capt... 
James M. Collier.. Capt.., 
Albert G. Priest.. ..iCapt.., 

W.J. Holliday |lstLt. 

John Donahue |2d Lt. 



Rank From. 



Accounted for. 



Jan. 16, 1862JPromoted to Major 

Mav 29, 1862iResisned 

Aug 13, ]862|Ass''d Capt. Co. I, 2dCav 
Jan. 16, 18621 Ass'd IstLt. Co. I,2d Cav 
Jan. 16, 1862 Ass'd 2dLt. Co. I,2d Cav 



Date. 

May 6, 1862 
Aug. 6, 1862 



(725) 



726 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



After it was Co. I, Second Missouri State Militia, this company 
was officered as follows : — 

CO. I, SECOND CAVALRY, MISSOURI STATE MILITIA. 



Date. 



Name. 

Albert G. Priest 

Alexander R. Graham 
James A. Ewing 

William J. Holliday.. 
James A. Ewing 

Robert C. Calvert 

John Donahue , 

.John Donahue 



Rank. Rank Fro')n. 



Accounted for. 



Aug.l8, 1862 
Aug.l5, 1863 
Dec. 4,1863 

Feb. 10, 1862 
Aug. 15,1863 

Dec. 4,1863 

Feb. 10, 1862 
July 13, 1863 



Capt... 
Capt... 
Capt... 

1st Lt. 
1st Lt. 

1st Lt. 

2dLt. 
2d Lt. 



Aug. 13, 
Aug 11, 
Nov. 25, 

Jan. 16, 
Aug. 11, 



1862 
1863 
1863 

1862 
1863 



Nov. 25, 1863 



Jan. 16, 
Jan. 16, 



1862 
1862 



Resigned July 28, 1863. 
Resigned Nov. 3, 1863. 
Commissioned Capt. Co. B, 

14th Mo. Cav. Vol. 
Resigned June 13, 1863. 
Promoted to Captain Nov. 25, 

1863. 
Mustered out expiration of 

term, Feb. 25, 1865. 
Recorasn'd July 13, 1863. 
Resigned Oct. 7, 1863. 



John S. Duncan was commissary sergeant, and his son, young 
Charles B. Duncan, was a bugler of this company. 

Co. H was mustered out upon the consolidation of the two 
regiments. While in service its officers were : J. W. Lampkin, 
captain ; Cyrus S. Brown and John C. Carothers, lieutenants. 

These companies did a great deal of scouting duty throughout this 
and adjoining counties, participated in the Porter raid, and were very 
efficient in their service generally. 

BUSHWHACKING IN THE SPRING OF 1862. 

Upon the first blush of spring in the year 1862, military operations 
in North-east Missouri began to assume a more sanguinary character. 
The Confederate bushwhackers were early on the war path. Near 
Colony, in Knox county, about th« 25th of March, they waylaid seven 
or eight members of the State militia from Edina, fired upon and 
killed two and dangerously wounded two more. As another party of 
militia were returning from the burial of the two men killed, they 
were fired on, presumably by the same bushwhackers, and three more 
were killed. 

Some time about the 10th of March, Mr. James M. Preston, a Union 
man living near Monroe City, was taken from his home one night by 
Capt. Tom Stacy and his band of Confederate partisan rangers, or 
"bushwhackers," and murdered. The killing was done in Shelby 
county, near Stacy's camp, or headquarters, on Black creek or North 
river. Stacy afterward said that Preston had been " carrying water 
on both shoulders ; " that he pretended to be a Confederate when in 
the presence of the bushwhackers, and that when Federal troops came 
alono- he was a stanch Unionist, and informed on certain Southern 
men and had them arrested. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 727 

Stacy trietl Preston, after a fashion, found him guilty of playing 
the spy on him and his band, and shot him forthwith. The body was 
never recovered. It was said to have been sunk in Salt river with 
large stones tied to it. He left a wife and family in distressed cir- 
cumstances. His murder aroused the Greatest indiirnation amonsT 

o o o 

the Unionists, who vowed that, as the Confederates had inauo-urated 
that sort of warfare, they should have their fill of it before the war 
was over. 

Tom Stacy's band numbered at this time perhaps 20 members ; 
but its strength varied from a dozen to 50. It kept Shelby county 
in quite a furor at times, and greatly disturbed the western part of 
Marion on various occasions. When any of the members wanted a 
horse, a gun, a blanket, or any other article, they did not hesitate to 
take it wherever they found it — no matter whether its owner was a 
Unionist or a Confederate sympathizer. All was fish that came to 
their net. 

THE BUSHWHACKING NEAR WALKERSVILLE TWO SOLDIERS AND ONE 

CITIZEN KILLED. 

On Wednesday, April 2, of this year (1862), Col. H. S. Lipscomb, of 
the Eleventh M. S. M., and a Capt. Wilmot, with an escort of 13 
men of the same regiment, in charge of a wagon load of supplies, 
started from Shelbina for Shelbyville. Taking the road via Walkers- 
ville, on Salt river, about a mile below that little hamlet, Tom Stacy, 
with 16 of his band, bushwhacked the party, killing two militiamen, 

named Long and Thomas Herbst, and a prominent and worthy 

citizen of the county, named Lilburn Hale. 

The latter gentleman lived about three miles south-east of Shelby- 
ville. That morning he had gone to Shelbina to mail a letter to his 
son, J. C. Hale, then in Pike county, and now a prominent attor- 
ney of Shelbyville. Returning on horseback, he was overtaken by 
the military a quarter of a mile from the scene of the shooting, 
and was riding along with Col. Lipscomb when the murderous vol- 
ley was fired. Long and Herbst were residents of this county, also, 
and both left families. All the men were shot in the head. It was 
wondered at that not at least a dozen men were killed. The firing 
was done at point-blank range. 

In a short time Col. Lipscomb and some others of the escort came 
galloping into Shelbyville and gave the alarm. There was the great- 
est indignation among the militiamen and the Union citizens. Mr. 
Hale was generally respected, and his murder incensed the people as 

41 



728 HISTORY or shelby county. 

much as the killing of the soldiers. The troops in town consisted of 
the Eleventh M. S. M., who sprang at once to arms. Lieut. John 
Donahue, at the head of 25 men of Co. A, started immediately in 
pursuit of the bushwhackers, who, it was conjectured, had set off imme- 
diately after the shooting for their rendezvous, in the south-eastern 
part of the county. * Lieut. Holliday with a considerable force went 
at once to where the shooting was done. 

Holliday's squad, under Sergt. Engles, started on the direct trail 
of Stacy and his men. The trail was easily followed, as the ground 
was very muddy ; but Stacy tried to throw off the force which he 
knew was on his track, by riding into and through the current of the 
river where he could. But Engles and his men kept on tjhe trail, 
eager as panthers and true as bloodhounds. 

About the middle of the afternoon Lieut. Donahue came upon the 
bushwhackers at a point on Black creek, at the Kincheloe bridge, 10 
miles from Walkersville. They were coming north, or north-east, and 
the Federals were going east. The former had just crossed the bridge. 
With a yell the militiamen dashed upon the bushwhackers and the 
latter fled, scattering in every direction, some taking to the thickets, 
others swimming Black creek, which was near by, and still others 
fleeing straight away. 

The bushwhackers were completely routed. Two of their number 
were killed outright ; one was drowned in Black creek, and another 
was badly wounded and never heard from again. Tom Stacy was so 
hard pressed that he was forced to abandon his horse, saddle-bags, 
coat, hat, sword and double-barreled shot-gun. Some articles in his 
possession, particularly the sword, a beaver cap and some trappings, 
were identified as having belonged to Russell W. Moss, Esq., near 
whose residence, north-west of, Hunnewell in the Black creek timber, 
Stacy and his band had their camp. 

The two dead men were found to be William Carnehan and James 
Bradley, both citizens of this county. Bill Carnehan lived at Walk- 
ersville, and left a wife and children. It is said that he had eaten 
many a meal at Mr. Hale's table, and knew that gentleman well. 
Bradley lived in the north-western part of the county. 

The killing was in this wise: Jim Bradley, like Absalom, rode 
upon a mule. In the rush of the retreat he was either thrown or 
jumped off, " and the mule that was under him Avent away." Brad- 
ley then threw away his fine double-barreled gun and started to run. 
Sergt. John S.Duncan (now postmaster at Shelbyville) was upon him 
in an instant. Bradley stopped, threw up his hands and called out, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 721) 

♦'Don't shoot; I give up ; I hain't done nothing," etc., all very 
rapidlv and excitedly. Duncan said, " Well, I can't shoot an unarmed 
man," and lowered his gun. But Bradley started as if to go back for 
his gun, and Duncan said, " Don't run," and just then Private Tom 
Phillaber, who lived in the north-eastern part of the county, came 
up, and without a word leveled his Austrian rifle and fired, the ball 
striking Bradley (10 feet away) in the breast, killing him instantly. 
The body Avas not bayoneted, as has been reported. Bill Carnehan 
was shot out of his saddle farther down the creek. The man drowned 
in Black creek was wounded just as he entered the water. 

Tom Stacy leaped from his horse and took to a tree. He carried 
with him a short rifle. An Indian fight took place between him and 
Lieut. Donahue. The latter fired twice and missed. Tom resei-ved 
his fire for close quarters. Private James Watkins reinforced Dona- 
hue, and then Stacy retreated, saving his life by his fleetness and 
knowledge of woodcraft. 

The militiamen beat up the woods and brush for some time, but 
failed to find any more of the guerrillas, and soon after gathered up 
the corpses of the men they killed, put them in a wagon "pressed " 
for the occasion, and started for Shelbyville. Not a man among the 
Federals was injured in the least. Indeed the bushwhackers fired but 
two or three shots. 

Meanwhile a tragic scene Avas being enacted at Shelbvville. There 
was the most intense indignation in the town over the killing of Long 
and Herbst and Mr. Hale. Capt. John F. Benjamin was almost beside 
himself with rage and excitement. He had a room full of Confed- 
erate prisoners in the sherifi''s oflfice up-stairs in the court-house. The 
most of these, if not all of them, had not been regularly enlisted and 
mustered into the Confederate service as i-egular soldiers, but were 
mere partisan rangers. Benjamin declared he would shoot three of 
these men instanter in retaliation for the three Unionists killed that 
day. 

Among the prisoners was one Rowland Harvey (alias "Jones" or 
' ' Maj . Jones " ) , of Clarke county, A few days before this he had been 
captured near EUiottsville, on Salt river, in Monroe county, by a 
scouting party of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia led by Benjamin 
himself. Harvey was a lieutenant of a band of Confederate parti- 
sans, of which Marion Marmaduke, of this county, was captain. 
Capt. Benjamin selected Harvey as the first victim. He was an elderly 
man, and it is believed was a reputable citizen. But now he was given 
a hard fate and a short shrift. 



730 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

It is said that the guard opened the door of the prison room and 
l)ulled out Harvey as a fancier thrusts his hand into a coop and pulls 
out a chicken. He was hurried down stairs, taken out into the stock- 
ade, south-east corner of the yard, and tied to one of the palisades 
with a new rojDe before he realized what was being done. He seemed 
to think the proceedings were intended merel}^ to frighten him. In 
two minutes a file of soldiers was before him, and he was looking into 
the muzzles of six Austrian rifles. The command, "^?'e.^ " was given — 
there was a crash of the guns — and in an instant the unfortunate 
man was a corpse. He could not fall to the ground, for he was lashed 
to the palisade, but his limbs gave way and his head dropped on his 
breast, while his bod}^ hung limp and twisted. 

By Benjamin's order the body was taken down by some Confed- 
erate sympathizers and carried into an old log building in the rear of 
J. B. Marmaduke's store, on the south-west corner of the square. 
Here it was prepared for burial, and interred by the same class of 
citizens^ in the Shelbyville cemeterj^ where its ashes yet lie. 

Another prisoner captured at the same time with Harvey was John 
Wesley Sigler, a young man of Shelbyville. He had a close call. 
Benjamin selected him for the next victim from among the now 
terror-stricken prisoners huddled together in the sheriflfs office ; but 
now more rational-minded men interposed and better counsels pre- 
vailed. It was urged that it would be better to wait and see what the 
result of Donahue's and HoUiday's scout would be — maybe they 
would exterminate the band that had done the murderous work. Wait 
and see. This was done, and soon came Donahue bearing in a wagon 
the corpses of Carnehan and Bradley, and these were tumbled into the 
room where Harvey lay, all ghastly and gory. Then Benjamin's wrath 
was mollified and no one else was shot. 

MISCELLANEOUS 1862. 

During the winter of 1861-62 two companies of Glover's regiment 
were stationed at Shelbyville, being quartered in the court-house. 
These were Co. C, Capt. Black, and Co. F, Capt. Call. 

Many of the Union men of this county enlisted in these companies, 
and in others belonging to the same regiment. 

During the winter of 1862 the court-house at Shelbyville was sur- 
rounded by a strong palisade forming quite a strong defense. Indeed, 
200 men inside of the stockade could have easily kept off a force of 
ten times their number not supplied with artillery. The palisades 
were stout oak posts, well set in the ground, and 15 feet high, the 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 731 

points being sharpened. Post-holes were nuide for the use of the 
defenders. The stockade was built under the direction of Col. John 
F. Benjamin. 

A strong- block-house had been built at Salt river railroad bridge, 
the f\dl before. A garrison was kept here nearly all the time, the 
first being the Twenty-sixth Illinois. 

Our people now began to realize some of the horrors of civil war. 
Tragedies were occurring frequently in North-east Missouri, and more 
were in prospect. 

Col. John M. Glover, of the Third Missouri Cavalry, had been 
appointed to the command of the sub-district of North-east Missouri. 
He adopted the most vigorous policy. On the 6th of April he took 
five companies of his regiment and went to Edina, where he estab- 
lished headquarters and caused the surrounding countrj' to be 
thoroughly scouted. His men were instructed to enforce Halleck's 
and Schofield's orders against bushwhackers and to shoot them down, 
and they obeyed with alacrity. 

Glover's troopers penetrated into Adair, Scotland, Clarke, Lewis 
and Shell)}' counties, and killed seven men who were accused of bush- 
whacking. The names of some of these were William A. Marks, a 
relative of Col. Martin E. Green, William Musgrove, William Ewing, 
Standi ford. 

Two days after his arrival at Edina, to Capt. Benjamin, at Shelby- 
ville. Col. Glover gave the following among other instructions, headed 
«« Special Order No. 30 :" — 

In every case within your reach where the rebels take a dollar's 
worth of property of any kind from a Union man or family, do you 
take at least twice as much in value from rebels in the vicinity (from 
parties who took the goods if you can identify them) and hold it as 
security for the return of the property, and hold it till the robbery is 
made good. You will forthwith levy an assessment and collect it from 
the wealthy secessionists in the vicinity sufficient to comfortably sup- 
port the families of those members of the M. S. M. who were killed 
by the rebels, and see that they are comfortably supported by this 
means until further orders. 

Two days later, enclosing a list of 65 names of men in difi'erent 
parts of the countrv, Col. Glover wrote to Benjamin : — 

Edixa, April 10, 1862. 

Captain Benjamin — Sir : I send yon a list of names marked (A), 

who did the killing of militia in this (Knox) county. The others are 

members of a "bushwhacking" company in this and other counties. 

Give a list of the names to your commissioned officers, with instrnc- 



732 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

tions to hold all such, if arrested. Keep their names as secret as 
possible ; I do not want them to know they are suspected, or we shall 
not be able to catch them. You have two of them, I am told (the 
Feltz). Hold them safely. We have five or six of them, and on yes- 
terday^ we killed one of the murderers, William Musgrove. These 
men are scattered all over the country. You will be as active as 
possible, and charge your men to be cautious. These men are fre- 
quently to be found in the vicinity of Magruder's, on Black Creek. 
These fellows are in the habit of crossing Salt river, south-west of your 
town, on a bridge on an unfrequented road. You will do well to give 
it some attention. My instructions are not to bring in these fellows, 
if they can be induced to run, and if the men are instructed they can 
make them run. 

Yours, respectfully, 

J. M. Glover, 
Commanding N. E. Mo. 

On the 4th of June, Col. Glover was ordered to South-west Mis- 
souri, and Col. John McNeil, Second Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, 
was, by Gen. Schofield, placed in command of the district of North- 
east Missouri, with headquarters at Palmyra. M. A. Stearns was 
Assistant Adjutant-General, and Maj. John F. Benjamin was at first 
appointed commander of the post at Palmyra. Col. McNeil's regi- 
ment, or a considerable portion of it, followed him to Palmja-a. Col. 
Lipscomb was assigned to the command of the post at Macon City. 
The Third Missouri went to Rolla about the middle of June. 

On the 8th of June a scoutiug party of the Eleventh Missouri State 
Militia, commanded by Capt. W. W. Lair, made a prisoner of Maj. 
John L. Owen, who lived near Monroe City, in Marion couuty, and 
shot him. Owen had been a Major in the Missouri State Guard under 
Gen. Price. He had taken part in the fight at Monroe City, when he 
burned the depot, some cars, and destroyed other property amounting 
to about $25,000. Returning home in December, 1861, he found an 
indictment for treason hanging over him, and so he could not come in 
and surrender. He continued to hide out until he was captured. 

He was found in a patch of bruish near his residence, early in the 
morning. Near him lay his blankets and a revolver. Capt. Collier 
and the Shelby county company made him prisoner, and took him to 
his family. Here they assured his wife they would take him to Pal- 
myra and would not harm him. Half a mile from his house they set 
him on a log against a fence, and put eight bullets through him — 
caliber 54. The shooting was done by the immediate orders of Capt. 
Collier, although Capt. Lair was present. These officers are both 
now residents of Shelbyville, and Capt. Collier states that when he 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 733 

left Palmyra he had strict orders to enforce the terms of Gen. Scho- 
field's " Order No. 18," enjoining the " utmost vigilance in hunting 
down and destroying" all bushwhackers and marauders, who, the 
order said, " when caught in arms, engaged in their unlawful war- 
fare," were to be shot down " on the spot." 

The action of Capts. Lair and Collier was approved, by their superior 
officers, but condemned by very many people, who regarded the kill- 
ing of Owen as un atrocious murder. It was said that he did not 
come within the purview of Schofield's order, in that he was not 
engaged in "unlawful warfare" at the time of his capture, and that 
he was unarmed. Three or four members of Collier's company have 
assured the writer that Owen did have a pistol near him when cap- 
tured, which he admitted was his, and this was construed to be the 
same as if he was " in arms." 

No session of the county court was held from November, 1861, until 
in May, 1862. Pursuant to public notice given, the court convened 
May 5. There were present one of the old justices, Daniel Taylor, 
and two appointed by Gov. Gamble — Samuel Huston and Robert 
Lair — in the room of James Pickett and Perry B. Moore, turned 
out for disloyalty. 

Elias L. Holliday was appointed elizor sheriff in the room of John 
Dickerson, " suspended." He acted until in October, when J. H. 
Foreman was appointed by the Governor, and in November he was 
unanimously elected. 

Certain justices of the peace had refused to take the Gamble oath, 
and were suspended. In May H. H. Weatherby was appointed in the 
room of John J. Foster, in Salt river township, and in August James 
Jameson was appointed in Jackson township, in place of Daniel H. 
Given . 

Leonard Dobbin was appointed assessor, vice M. eT. Priest, " dis- 
loyal." 

EXECUTION OF DRAKE AND RIGGS. 

After the conclusion of the campaign against Joe Porter, the Fed- 
eral military authorities saw proper to shoot some of Porter's men 
for having violated their paroles, or in retaliation for the killing of 
Union men. Gen. McNeil shot ten at Palmyra, October 18, in retal- 
iation for the murder of Andrew Allsman, a Union citizen of Palmyra 
at the time, but who had formerly been a citizen of this county. Alls- 
man was taken prisoner when Porter captured Pahnyra, carried off 
and shot up in Lewis county, two nights after the Whaley's Mill fight. 



734 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The incident of the shooting of the ten men in retaliation is widely 
known as "the Palmyra Massacre," 

September 26, 1862, Gen. Lewis Merrill shot ten other prisoners 
at Macon City for violations of their paroles. These were Dr. A. C. 
Eowe, Elbert Hamilton, William Searcy, J. A. Wysong, J. H. Fox, 
David Bell, John H. Oldham, James H. Hall, Frank E. Drake and 
Edward Riggs. The last two were citizens of Shelby connty. James 
Gentry had been sentenced, but a night or so previous to the day set 
for his execution he made his escape from the prison where he was 
confined and got safely away. He was then and still is a citizen of 
Shelby county. 

Frank E. Drake lived in the north-western portion of this county, 
and his widow and some of his children still live in the county. Ed- 
ward Riggs was a young man. He was captured during the campaign 
against Porter, and confined for a time at Shelbyville, while Capt. 
Collier commanded the post. McNeil gave Collier orders to shoot 
him, but Collier postponed the carrying out of the order some days 
until a letter from the proper authorities came, notifying him that his 
resignation (which he had previously sent in) was accepted, and he 
was out of the service. McNeil turned Riggs over to his successor, 
Capt. Lampkins, informing him of the circumstances, but Lampkins 
said, " Well, nobody has given me any orders to shoot him ; " and so 
he turned him over to somebody else, and at last he fell into the hard 
hands of Merrill. 

It can not now and here be positively stated why these men were 
shot. Gen. Merrill stated at the time and still declares that " each 
one of them had for the third time been captured while engaged in 
the robbing and assassination of his own neighbors, and therefore were 
the most depraved and dangerous of the band." It was further al- 
leged that "all of them had twice, some of them three, and others 
had four times made solemn oath to bear faithful allegiance to the 
Federal government, to never take up arms in behalf of the rebel 
cause, but in all respects to deport themselves as true and loyal citi- 
zens of the United States." It was further charged that '* every man 
of them had perjured himself as often ^s he had subscribed to this 
oath, and at the same time his hands were red with repeated mur- 
ders." For the sake of Gen. Merrill and all those who were 
responsible for the execution of these prisoners, it is supposed that 
these charges and allegations were sustained by abundant proof. 
Surely, unless they were, the general could never have been so cruel as 
to consent to their execution. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 735 

On the morning of the 25th the condemned men were taken ont of 
prison and confined in a freight car. Rev. Dr. Landis, the chaplain 
of Merrill's Horse, visited them and reported them all deeply penitent 
and preparing for death. They admitted that they had done wrong, 
but claimed that they had been led into evil by others. 

The prisoners spent most of the night in praying. Next morning 
urgent appeals were made to Gen. Merrill, who was present in Macon, 
to spare their lives ; to have them tried by the civil courts ; to im- 
prison them till the end of the war; but he did not modify their 
sentence. One of these appeals came in the shape of a letter, written 
by the youngest of the ten, about 20 or 21 years of age, and -simply 
claimed mercy for the writer. It was received early on the morning 
of the execution, and as the general was still in bed, the note was 
placed in the hands of his adjutant. The following is a verbatim 
copy : — 

General for god sake spare my life for i am a boy i was perswaded 
to do what i have done and forse i will go in service and fight for you 
and stay with you douring the war i wood been fighting for the union 
if it had bin fur others. 

"J. A. Wysong." 

At 11 o'clock a. m. the procession was formed, and the silent mul- 
titude, civil and military, moved at the signal of the drum, toward 
the field of execution near the town. The executioners were detailed 
from the Twenty-third Missouri Infantry, and numbered sixty-six 
men. They marched six abreast, with a prisoner in the rear of each 
file. A hollow square, or rather parallelogram, was formed on a 
slightly declining prairie a half mile south of the town. The execu- 
tioners formed the south line of this square, the balance of the Mis- 
souri Twenty-third the east and west lines, and Merrill's Horse, the 
north. The executioners were divided off into firing parties of six 
for each prisoner, leaving a reserve of six that were stationed a few 
paces in the rear. Gen. Merrill and staff were stationed close 
within the north-east angle of the square. The firing parties formed 
a complete line, but were detached about two paces from each other. 
Each prisoner was marched out ten paces in front, and immediately 
south of his six executioners. 

This order having been completed, the prisoners were severally 
blinded with bandages of white cloth, and were then required to 
kneel for the terrible doom that awaited them. At this time every 
tongue was silent and nothins; was more audible than the heart-throbs 
of the deeply moved and sympathizing multitude. At a signal from 



736 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the commanding officer, Rev. Dr. Ltmdis stepped forward to address 
the Throne of Grace. His prayer was the utterance of a pitying heart, 
brief and impressive. It was an earnest appeal for pardoning mercy 
for those who were about to step into the presence of God and Eter- 
nity. And there followed the closing scenes of this bloody drama. 
The prisoners remained kneeling while sixty muskets were pointed at 
their palpitating hearts. The signal is given and the fatal volleys dis- 
charged, and the ten doomed men make a swift exit from time to 
eternity. The bodies of five of the deceased were claimed hy their 
respective friends ; the balance were interred by military direction. 

CAPTURE OF CAPT. TOM SIDENER. 

About the 1st of October a Confederate officer, Capt. Thomas Sid- 
cner, of Monroe county, whose home was a few miles south of Shel- 
bina, was captured in Shelbyville. He had been in service against 
the Federal Government since the summer of 1861, and had com- 
manded a company under Joe Porter. His company suffered severely 
at Kirksville, and after Porter's last disbandment he determined to 
abandon the Confederate service for o-ood. He concluded to 2:0 to 
Illinois, which State so many of Porter's men found a haven of 
refuge, and in order to prevent his being captured en I'oute disguised 
himself in female wearing apparel. 

With two lady relatives, a sister and a cousin, and his brother 
"Jack," Capt. Sidener set out in an open carriage from his home for 
Canton, where he expected to cross the Mississippi. The party 
passed Shelbina all right, and on through Shelbyville ; but in going 
through Shelbyville the ladies and Jack Sidener were recognized by a 
militiaman named Frederick Blessing, who informed Col. John F. 
Benjamin that " some of Tom Sidener's folks had just gone through 
" town with some baskets and bundles and he believed they were tak- 
ing supplies to him." Col. Benjamin ordered the party pursued and 
brought back. This was done — they being overtaken a mile north 
of town. On returning to Shelbyville, as soon as Capt. Sidener 
alighted from the carriage his boots betrayed him. He was stripped 
of his dress and bonnet and confined in the hotel for a day or two, 
when he was sent to Palmyra. A few days later he was shot to 
death as one of the ten who were executed by order of Gen. McNeil 
in retaliation for the killing by some of Porter's men — certainly 
not Capt. Sidener — of Andrew Allsman, referred to elsewhere. 

The ladies were kept under guard at Shelbyville for a day or two 
and then released. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 737 



BURNING HOUSES. 



Some time during the campaign against Porter the houses of certain 
Confederates in Shelby were burned by order of the military authori- 
ties, Gens. McNeil and Merrill. Old Robert Joiner, living several 
miles north-west of Shelbyville, in the edge of Tiger Fork township, 
was accused of " keeping a rendezvous for guerrillas and murdering 
bushwhackers." Lieut. Wm. J. Holliday, of Co. I, Second Missouri 
State Militia, was sent out with a detail to burn Joiner's house, about 
•September 5. The old pioneer carried out his orders, but he shed 
tears while doing so. When the house was in flames and the family were 
huddled about their household goods, which were piled out of doors 
before the torch was applied, the old man cried like a child, exclaim- 
ing, " O this war! This war!" He said to Mrs. Joiner: "Take 
your family and go to my house and stay there as long as you please ; 
you will be more than welcome." 

Dinner was cooking when the burning party arrived. The orders 
were, " You have half an hour to get out your things." The soldiers 
assisted the family in removing everything to a place of safety. There 
was but one man about the premises, a Mr. Cochrane, a son-in-law of 
Joiner's, who made his home here. His wife was very ill and was 
borne out of doors on the lounge whereon she was lying. Harry 
Latimer's wife, a daughter of Joiner's, was then living at her father's 
with her children, while her husband was out with Porter. A few 
days later he was captured and executed. Mr. Joiner himself was a 
prisoner in Shelbyville at the time. His three sons were in the Con- 
federate service. 

Not only was Joiner's house burned, but his barn and all the out- 
buildings. A new sled was drawn out of the barn before the building 
was tired. When the fire had swept away everything the family found 
homes aniono- their neio-hbors. Not \onsc afterward Mr. Joiner was 
released on oath and bond, and returned to his family. But he had 
contracted a severe cold in prison, and his health and spirits were 
broken. The next spring he died. Both Joiner and Holliday were 
old pioneers together, and among the very first settlers. But the war 
made enemies everywhere and among all classes. 

Capt. A. G. Priest, of Co. I, was sent into Jefferson township to 
burn some houses down there — "bushwhackers' nests" the militia 
called them. The dwellings of Carter Baker and John Maupin, below 
Clarence, were burned. Carter Baker had been wounded in one of the 



738 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

skirmishes of Porter's raid, and was lying on a bed stiff and sore when 
he was borne on his couch into the yard, with his " lares and penates." 
He cursed at the harsh policy of burning the houses of wounded men 
and swore at the Federals generally. " Hash," said Capt. Priest, 
impressively, " you may be thunl^ful that your life is spared. There 
are men here who would kill you gladly and throw your body into the 
fire while your house is burning, and I can hardly restrain them ! " 

THE NOVEMBER ELECTION, 1862. 

Notwithstanding the presence of hundreds of soldiers in this county, 
in the year 1862, and the thousand and one shocks to law and order 
incident to " war's alarms," courts were held and other proceedings 
gone through with according to the forms of law ; and the vote at the 
election of this year, while not very large and full, was fair and free, 
and the election itself was conducted without intimidation or any over- 
awing on the part of the soldiery. So far as this county was con- 
cerned, the bayonet protected, and did not attempt to control the 
ballot-box. 

About the only political issue involved in the election of 1862 w^as 
the question of emancipation in Missouri. The Emancipationists in 
this county — that is, those in favor of the gradual emancipation of 
slaves in the State, compensation to be given to loyal owners — were 
slightly in the majority, as it turned out. Everybody was for the 
Union — that is, everybody allowed to vote, for no one was permitted 
to cast a ballot without first taking the " Gamble oath," to support 
the United States government and the Gamble or provisional govern- 
ment against all enemies, domestic and foreign. But the Union men 
differed as to emancipation, some favoring, some opposing. 

At this election, the soldiers of the county, who would have been 
qualified voters here, were allowed to vote, no matter where stationed. 
Those stationed at points in the county, were not allowed to vote at 
the ordinary polling places, but each military troop had a ballot-box 
of its own, presided over by three sworn judges and two clerks, and 
this polling place was required to be separate from where the civilians 
voted, in order that the presence of the soldiers might not intimidate 
the citizens. Many of the soldiers did not vote, being stationed in 
the fLir South, where polls were not opened. 

In this Congressional district a Representative in Congress was to 
be chosen in the room of John B. Clark, Sr., who had been expelled 
for participation in the rebellion, and then serving in the Confederate 
Congress. The candidates were W. A. Hall, of Randolph, Anti- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



739 



Emancipationist, and Moses P. Green, of Hannibal, Emancipationist. 
The candidates stnmped the district in the very hottest times — dur- 
ing Porter's raids and the thrilling episodes attendant thereon. 

Two years previously an avowed emancipation ticket would have 
received but few supporters in this county, but now there were many, 
even slave-holders, who felt that the best interests of the State would 
be subserved if the slaves were emancipated by law and compensation 
granted to loyal owners. The indications were that in a brief time 
abolition, without compensation, would be accomplished at the point 
of the bayonet, if necessary, and there were those who decided to be 
wise in time. Emancipation was a theory widely different from aboli- 
tion. The former might or might not be a question of expediency ; 
the latter was solely a question of principle. There were, even in 
1862, but few out and out abolitionists in this county. 

The unconditional Union men were for the Union rejjardless of 
whether slavery stood or fell, some preferring that it might be pre- 
served, others that it might be destroyed. 

The following was the result in this county, declared by the board 
of canvassers : — 

NOVEMBER ELECTION, 1862. 

















^ 

b 


^« 








CONGRESS 


ST. SENATE 


rep'tive. 




8- 


CO. TREA8. 














1 


w 

CO 


















J 










Voting Precincts 






M 








^ 








and 


,H 




a, 


'« 




B 


g 


-: 


-' 




Military Companies. 


1 


155 


as 

3 


5 
1 

o 


1 


1 


1 


o 


5 
1 


1 




a. 


^ 


•^ 


'« 

■« 


N 


^ 


ti5 


a 


!^ 


•s> 




^ 


^ 


^ 


^ 


s 


h 


S 


^ 


O 




Shelbyville 


186 


68 


195 


43 


70 


159 


28 


60 


174 


16 


Shelbina 


44 


46 


52 


29 


40 


47 


76 


64 


32 


44 


Clarence 


47 


69 


55 


62 


60 


57 


79 


87 


78 


25 


Hunuewell 


5 


51 


11 


33 


24 


31 


50 


39 


44 


3 


Bethel 


178 


29 


182 


24 


36 


168 


199 


109 


35 


154 


Co. B, Third Mo. Cavalry 


9 


2 


7 




5 


8 










Co. F, Third Mo. Cavalry 


9 


1 








5 






. . 




Co. K, Third Mo. Cavalry 


6 




1 


i 




6 


6 








Co. L, Second M. S. M, . 


14 


13 


20 


7 


13 


1 


2 








Total 


598 


279 


523 


199 


248 


482 


340 


359 


863 


242 


1 Emancipationists. 












''} 











740 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Hall defeated Green in the district by a good majority. 

W. R. Strachan, who was elected to the Legislature from this 
county, was the provost marshal for North-east Missouri and had 
attained considerable notoriety in connection with the Palmyra Mas- 
sacre. Many strong confederate sympathizers, Russell Moss among 
them, vofed for him, however. 




^ 



QHAPTER yill. 

COL. JOE PORTER'S RAID. 

Who Joe Porter was — His First Appearance in North-east Missouri in the Summer o 
1862 — Passes through the Country into Schuyler and is defeated at Cherry Grove — 
Retreats South — Raids Newark and Monticello — Is Pursued by the Federals 
under John McNeil — The Fight at Pierce's Mill — Death of Tom Stacy — Porter Re- 
treats to the South, Crosses tiie Railroad and goes into Monroe County — The 
Fights at Bott's Bluff and at Moore's Mill — Back to North-east Missouri — Effect 
of the Enrolling Order — Recruits, 2,000 men — The Fight at Newark and Capture 
of 75 Prisoners under Capt. Lair — McNeil and Benjamin pursue — Total Defeat of 
Porter at Kirksville — He Retreats and Fights his Way to the Log Cabin Bridge, in 
Shelby County, where he Disbands — McNeil shoots 16 Prisoners — Porter in Mon- 
roe with Another Force — Back into Marion County — Captures Palmyra — McNeil 
Pursues — The Route of Whaley's Mill — Porter Disbands Finally at Bragg's 
School House — Two Shelby County Men Executed, etc., etc. 

porter's raid. 

In connection with a complete history of Shelby county it is proper 
to give some account of the long military campaign in North-east 
Missouri, during the summer and fall of 1862, vdiich embraced the 
operations of the Confederate forces under Col. Joseph C. Porter, 
and the movements of the Federal troops sent against them. Hun- 
dreds of men from Shelby county belonged to Porter's command ; 
hundreds — or at least a hundred — belonged to the Federal forces 
that were against them, and many of the incidents of the campaign 
occurred here. 

Col. Porter had his home in Lewis county, a little east of Newark, 
and the previous year had gone out as lieutenant-colonel of Martin 
E. Green's regiment of Missouri State Guards. He had seen service 
at Athens, Shelbina, Lexington, Elk Horn (Pea Ridge) and elsewhere, 
was a brave and skillful soldier, a man of mature years, of great per- 
sonal bravery, of indomitable will and perseverance, and endowed 
with remarkable powers of endurance and indifference to exposure 
and every sort of hardship. Early in the spring of 1862 he received 
permission and authority from Gen. Price and came northward into 
this quarter of Missouri to recruit. He was promised a suitable com- 
mission to command whatever body of troops he might bring out. 

It can not now and here be stated at just what period and at what 
point Col. Porter made his appearance in this portion of the State, 

(741) 



742 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

but on the 17th of June 1862, he was near Warren or New Market, in 
Warren township, Marion county, with 43 mounted men, and made 
prisoners of four men of Lipscomb's regiment, who belonged to the 
company stationed at the Salt river railroad bridge in this county. 
The Federals had their arms and horses taken from them, were sworn 
not to take up arms against the Southern Confederacy until duly ex- 
changed, and then released. At this time he had with him a few 
men from Shelby, who had joined him in Monroe county, where they 
had been hiding for some time. 

Moving northward through the western part of Marion, the eastern 
portion of Knox, and the western border of Lewis, past his own home, 
where his wife and children were. Col. Porter scarcely drew bridle till 
he reached the vicinity of the Sulphur Springs, near Colony, in Knox 
county, where he rested a brief time. On his route recruits came to 
him until he had perhaps 200 men. 

From the Sulphur Springs he moved north, threatened the Union 
Home Guards at Memphis, picked up recruits here and there in Scot- 
land, and moved westward into Schuyler to get a company known to 
be there under Capt. Bill Dunn. 

Danger in the rear! Hearing of the invasion of this portion of the 
territory over which they claimed absolute control, the Federals at 
once set about to drive out the presumptuous Confederates. Col. 
Henry S. Lipscomb and Majs. Benjamin and Rogers, with some com- 
panies of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia, including Collier's and 
Lampkin's, of Shelby, set out at once, struck the trail and followed 
it to Colony. Here they were joined by Maj. Pledge, with a detach- 
ment of the Second Missouri State Militia, and the united forces 
pressed rapidly on, marching night and day, until they overtook Por- 
ter at Cherry Grove, in the north-eastern part of Schuyler county, 
near the Iowa line, where, with a superior force, they attacked and 
defeated him, routing his forces and driving them southward. The 
loss in this fight was inconsiderable on either side, but among the Fed- 
erals killed was Capt. Horace E. York, of Lipscomb's regiment. 

Porter, at the head of the main body of his command, retreated 
rapidly, followed by Lipscomb, until at a point about 10 miles west of 
Newark, where, the pursuit becoming very tiresome and pressing, the 
Confederates "scattered out," as the term was, for the time being. 
Porter, with perhaps 75 men, remained in the vicinity of his home for 
some days, gathering recruits all the time, and getting ready to strike 
ngain. 

Monday, July 7, Capt. Jim Porter, a brother of Col. Joe Porter, at 



HISTOKY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 743 

the head of 75 men, entered Newark, in daylight, and held the town. 
The stores of Bragg and Holmes were visited and patronized very lib- 
erally. Payment was offered in Confederate money, and refused. 
The next day they captured Monticello, took $100 from County Treas- 
urer Million, some goods from Thurston's store, some horses from 
other people, then went west to their camp at the Sugar Camp ford, 
on the Middle Fabius. 

The Confederates were masters of the country for some days and 
Western Lewis was practically out of the Union. Many recruits were 
sworn into the Confederate service, many Union men arrested and 
released on paroles signed by " Joe C. Porter, Col. Commanding Con- 
federate Forces in N. E. Missouri," while the Federals were trembling 
for their safety at Canton, at La Grange, at Palmyra, at Hannibal. 

Monday, July 14, the report came that Joe Porter, with 400 men, 
was encamped near Marshall's mill, gathering himself for a spring 
upon Palmyra that night, intending to rout the Federals under McNeil, 
release the Confederate prisoners in the jail, and hold a grand season 
of fraternization with the scores of families of Confederate sympa- 
thizers known to be there. The alarm was false, but McNeil tele- 
graphed for reinforcements, picketed the town ftir out on all the roads, 
and guarded it well till daybreak. During the night some companies 
of Lipscomb's regiment came on a special train from Macon, and 
early the next morning, McNeil, with a considerable force, say 500, of 
his own regiment (the Second) and Lipscomb's, started after Porter, 
leaving Lieut. -Col. Crane at Palmyra with 200 men. 

McNeil had seen the necessity for prompt and vigorous action from 
the first, but could not get troops enough together to move as soon as 
he desired. He determined to pursue Porter and not to give him 
time to drill or even fairly organize his forces, and to fight him 
whenever the opportunity offered. 

Gathering a considerable force together. Col. Porter left his lair 
near Newark and again moved northward into Scotland. On the 
12th of July he appeared before Memphis with several hundred 
men, bulldozed the town into surrendering, and captured and held it 
for several hours. A Union home guard company were made pris- 
oners, and its commander, Capt. Wm. Aylward, was taken out and 
hung. A Capt. Dawson, of McNeil's regiment, was wounded and 
carried off with Aylward, but released after a time. A number of 
bushwhackers and other desperate men, including Tom Stacy and 
his company, had joined Porter, and their conduct was as rough as 
their living. Stacy's company was called " the chain gang" by the 
other members of Porter's command. (42) 



744 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

In his pursuit of Porter, Col. McNeil marched in a north-westerly 
«lirection from Palmyra, toward Scotland county. Pushing on past 
Emerson, he arrived at Newark, Wednesday, July 9. Here he was 
joined by 257 of Merrill's Horse (Second Missouri Cavalry), under 
Capt. John Y. Clopper. This force, and a detachment of the Elev- 
enth Missouri State Militia, under Maj. J. B. Rogers, were sent on in 
direct pursuit of the Confederates, while Col. McNeil waited at New- 
ark for the arrival of his baggage and commissary train from Palmyra, 
which came in a day or two escorted by 75 men of the Second Mis- 
souri State Militia. The Federals were much embarrassed by their 
trains. Col. Porter had no trains, or not more than two or three 
common farm wagons. His troops lived off the country, and every 
man was his own quartermaster and commissary. 

The force under Clopper and Rogers, dispatched by McNeil from 
Newark against Porter, attacked him at 2 p. m. on Friday, July 18, 
at Pierce's Mill, on the south fork of the Middle Fabius, ten miles 
south-west of Memphis. A bloody little engagement resulted. The 
Confederates were in ambush. Capt. Clopper was in the Federal 
front, and out of 21 men of his advance guard all but one were killed 
and wounded. The Federals — Merrill's Horse — chai-ged repeatedly, 
without avail, and if Rogers had not come up when he did, with the 
Eleventh, which he dismounted and put into the brush, they would 
have been driven from the field. As it was. Porter retreated. 

The Federal loss in this engagement was not far from 30 killed and 
mortally wounded, and perhaps 75 severely and slightly wounded. 
Merrill's Horse lost 10 men killed, and four officers and 31 men 
wounded. The Eleventh Missouri State Militia lost 14 killed and 24 
wounded. Among the killed was a Mr. Shelton, of Palmyra, and 
Capt. Sells, of Newark, was badly wounded. Porter's loss was six 
killed, three mortally wounded, and 10 wounded left on the field. 
Among the mortally wounded was Capt. Tom Stacy, who died a few 
days afterward. His wound was through the bowels, and he su:ffered 
intensely. He was taken to a house not far away and visited by some 
of the Federal soldiery, who did not abuse him or mistreat him. His 
wife and family lived in this county at the time. His widow, now a 
Mrs. Saunders, resides in the western part of the county. 

After the fight at Pierce's Mill, Col. Porter moved westward a 
few miles, then south through Paulville, in the eastern part of Adair 
county ; thence south-east into Knox county, passing through Novelty, 
four miles east of Locust Hill, at noon on Saturday, July 19th, hav- 
ing fougJit a battle and made a march of sixty-five miles in less than 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 745 

tiventy-four hours! Many of his men were from Marion county, and 
some of them are yet alive who retain vivid remembrances of this 
ahiiost unprecedented experience. It must be borne in mind, too, that 
for nearly a week previously it had rained almost constantly. 

Near Novelty Porter abandoned his two baggage and provision 
wagons — all he had— and Saturday night went into camp four miles 
south-west of Newark with 200 tired men, half of whom were asleep 
m then- saddles, and who had eaten nothing for 36 hours. Strippin*^ 
their jaded horses to allow their backs to cool, and bolting a few 
mouthfuls of half-baked corn cakes, the troopers cast themselves on 
the ground for a brief rest and sleep, and when the first birds were 
singing the next morning they were afield and ambling away toward 
the rosy dawn. McNiel's Federals were after them, pursuing vigor- 
ously and marching as many hours a day, impatient for a fight. °No 
time was to be lost. 

Reaching Memphis after the fight at Pierce's Mill, and findin<T that 
Porter had gone south with Rogers and Clopper in pursuit, McNeil 
himself, with his detachment of the Second, came south to Newark and 
reached Palmyra at midnight on Wednesday, the 23d, havin^ made a 
forced march from Newark — 32 miles. The Federal commander 
was totally bewildered. Porter's extraordinary celerity and long and 
hard marches confused him. Asked where Porter was, he replied, 
"How can I tell? He may be at any point within 100 miles. He 
runs like a deer and doubles like a fox. I hear that he crossed the 
North Missouri, going south, to-day, but I would not be surprised if 
he fired on our pickets before mornino-." 

Leaving his bivouac south-west of Newark, very early on Sunday 
morning, July 20th, Porter was in the vicinity of Whaley's Mill, six 
or eight miles east of Newark. From here, with a small escort, he 
went to his residence, a few miles north-east of Newark, spent a brief 
but delicious season with his wife and weens, and with their kisses 
warm on his lips, he hurried away to join his command, determined 
this time to cross the Missouri if possible. Striking south that Sab- 
bath day, he swept past Warren, 16 miles west of Palmyra, with not 
more than 200 men, crossed the Huiniibal and St. Joe near Monroe Sta- 
tion, and when darkness settled down good and black, he went into 
camp for a brief rest in Monroe county. 

Tuesday morning, July 22, a scouting party of 50 men of the Third 
Iowa Cavalry, under Maj. Henry Clay Caldwell (now U. S. District 
Judge in Arkansas), encountered Porter at Florida. The interview 
was short but memorable. The lowans lost half a dozen killed and 



746 HISTORY or shelby county. 

wounded and were soon scampering away to Paris to tell the forces 
there that Joe Porter was not up in Knox county so much as he was 
thought to be. 

A day or two later occurred the skirmish at Botts' farm, on the 
banks of the south fork of Salt river, near Santa Fe, in Monroe 
county. This was between a detachment of the Third Iowa, and Jim 
Porter's, Clay Price's, Braxton Pollard's, and other companies of 
Porter's command. One Federal was killed and one wounded. 
Porter's loss was about the same. This skirmish is known as the 
fight at Botts' Bluff. 

Leaving Florida, Porter continued southward. On Wednesday 
night he crossed the North Missouri Railroad and passed into Callaway 
county, where he formed a junction with a considerable force under 
Alvin Cobb. Porter had expected to cross the Missouri at some point 
in Callaway, but coming upon the ground he found too many Federal 
lions in his path, and one fierce little Federal tiger, Col. Odon Guitar 
by name, was stopping the way and snarling savagely. 

Monday, July 28, Porter and Cobb were attacked by Col. Guitar 
with portions of his own regiment, the Ninth Missouri State Militia, 
Schaeffer's battalion of Merrill's Horse, Duffield's company of the 
Third Iowa Cavalry, a company of Pike county militia, and two 
pieces of Rabb's Third Indiana battery. The fight came off" at Moore's 
Mill, seven miles east of Fulton, and, as might have been expected 
where two such chieftains as Porter and Guitar were engaged, was 
desperate and bloody. Porter was defeated, although the Federals 
allowed him to retreat comparatively unmolested. The Federal loss 
was 16 killed and 43 wounded. The Confederates reported a loss of 
11 killed and 21 severely wounded, but the Federals declared this 
was a large under-estimate. 

What next? Short time for deliberation. The little Federal tiger 
was gathering for another spring. He had two pieces of fine artillery, 
manned by veterans ; Porter had none. He had well armed and 
well mounted cavalrymen, as good as were in the Federal service — 
such as the Ninth Missouri State Militia, Duffield's Third lowans, 
Merrill's Horse ; Porter had a lot of farmers and farmers' boys, with 
no drilling or training, and no experience save what they had obtained 
under him. 

At this time came Schofield's order for the enrollment of " all the 
militia in the State," to fight in the Federal service against Porter 
and his men and all such as they, who were unjustly termed " gueril- 
las." Porter knew that there were thousands of men in Missouri who 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 747 

had vowed to take no part in the war — to fight on neither side unless 
compelled, and if compelled, then they would fight under the Con- 
federate banner, or, as thej^ expressed it, " for the South." He 
knew, too, that hundreds of this class of men were in North-east Mis- 
souri, and where two weeks before they had been reluctant even to 
give him aid and comfort, now they would run out eagerly to meet 
him and to fight under him, praying, each man, that his right arm 
might wither if he ever lifted it against the Southern cause. " I can 
raise 1,000 men in Monroe and Marion counties alone on this issue in 
24 hours," Porter said to Cobb, as they were discussing Schofield's 
order. 

Back to North-east Missouri. Hot work ahead ! 
Recrossing the North Missouri near Mexico, Porter and Cobb came 
into the heavy timber along South Fork, near Florida. A force 
under Joe Thompson was detached for the capture of Paris, which was 
easily accomplished on Wednesday, July 30. The county officers and 
some of the citizens were arrested and paroled, and a little forafrinar 
was done. That night 400 of Porter's men came up and stayed an 
hour or so, and then the place was evacuated as suddenly as it had 
been entered. 

Under the order to enroll, many citizens of Shelby, whose sym- 
pathies were with the Confederate cause, rallied for active service. 
In the western part of the county, Capt. J. Q. A. Clements raised a 
company of 80 men in 24 hours. This company mustered and set 
out immediately for Porter, joining him near Paris, having crossed 
the Hannibal and St. Joe below Clarence. It had rendezvoused at 
Snowder's ford of Salt river, in the western part of the county, three 
miles south-east of Hager's Grove. 

A number from this county joined a company commanded by Capt. 
Head, of Monroe county. 

Thursday, July 1, Porter's whole force, 1,000 strong, crossed the 
Hannibal and St. Joseph between Monroe and Hunnewell, and camped 
that night at New Market, 14 miles west of Palmyra. The next 
morning the march was resumed to Philadelphia. From every 
by-path in squads and from every cross-road in companies, recruits 
poured in, all mounted and armed as best they could be, to escape 
the hated Federal conscription or enrollment, and to fight if they 
were forced to at all, — under the stars and bars. Many had been 
arrested by the Federal troops and released on parole and bond not 
to take up arms against the Federal government, but they understood 
that they were not to figlit on either side, and so regarded the oaths 



748 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

they hud taken as idle words and their bonds as waste paper, when 
they were directed to enroll themselves as militia and be prepared to 
fight under the Federal flag and for its cause. It is safe to say of 
Gamble's and Schofield's order creating and calling out the Enrolled 
Militia, that, however much good it ultimately accomplished, it drove 
10,000 men into the Confederate service within thirty days. 

From his camps near New Market and Philadelphia, Col. Porter 
sent foraging and recruiting parties throughout the country, and some 
of these came within sight of the spires of Palmj^ra. Here there was 
great alarm and uneasiness. Only 150 troops held the place and they 
were much demoralized and disaffected, threatening to surrender with- 
out firing a gun if attacked, because they were not reinforced and 
strengthened. Recruiting for the Confederate service was lively. 
Every confidence was felt in Joe Porter, the rebel Roderick, one blast 
upon whose bugle horn was worth a thousand men. He assured the 
people that he had come to stay, or at least to go away when it pleased 
him, and that in 10 days he would have such a force that no Federal 
command in the State could prevent his passage. across the Missouri 
river and into Arkansas. Men poured in from Marion, Shelby and 
Lewis, and in a few days Porter's command swelled from 1,000 to 
1,500, and more were on the way. 

Leaving Philadelphia at 10 a. m., July 31, Col. Porter crossed the 
South Fabius at Hick's Mill and struck into the State road from 
Emerson to Newark near Midway (now Ben Bow). Here they cap- 
tured the nniil carrier between Palmyra and Newark, a sixteen-year- 
old boy, and some of them found a large American flag, which they 
caused Joe Blackwood to run up on a long pole there standing. Then 
they hauled it town, tore it to shreds, and one strip bearing the legend 
"Union Forever," they tied to a mule's tail, and went cantering up 
the road laughing and shouting. The troopers took some tin-ware, 
cooking utensils, and other goods from Stuart's store, and then 
departed. 

At Newark there were two companies of Lipscomb's regiment, the 
Eleventh Missouri State Militia — Co. K, Capt. Wesley W. Lair and 
Lieut. James Warrasley; and Co. B, Lieuts. B. F. Snyder and 
Isaac Bohon, numbering about 80 men. Schofield's order had been 
received, and the militia were comins; in and enrollins: under direc- 
tion of Capt. Lair. The two com})anies were encamped in tents out- 
side of town. Up to the 31st, Porter was thought to be down in 
Callaway, and the militia were quite off" their guard. The situation 
was made known to the bold raider, and he resolved to bag the game 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 749 

SO temptingly in his sight. McNeil sent Capt. Lair word that Porter 
had crossed the raih'oad with 1,500 men, and Lair informed his men 
that they would probably have a fight " before long." 

Striking westward from Midway, some miles before reaching New- 
ark, Porter divided his force into two columns. One under Capt. 
Jim Porter and Col. Alex. Majors, of Monroe county, he threw out 
to the south-west, across the Fabius at Whaley's Mill, and then sent 
it westward until it intersected the Philadelphia or West Springfield 
road leading into Newark from the south-east, across the Fabius, near 
where Lair's tents were pitched. Porter himself, at the head of the 
greater portion of his command, kept on the main road straight for 
the little town. It will be understood that two roads entered New- 
ark along which the Confederates were passing — the Emerson road 
from the east, the West Springfiekl road from the south. The Fed- 
erals were within the jaws of a trap, and the jaws were closing. 

At 5 o'clock p. m. on the 31st of July, the Confederates were upon 
the militiamen. The surprise was perfect. Lair had only informed 
his men of their probable danger an hour or so before the attack, and 
they were discussing the situation, when the crack of Porter's pistols 
was heard. The militia were driven from their tents into the town, 
fighting back spitefull}^ as they ran. They took possession of the 
Presbyterian Church, Bragg's store, and the Masonic hall, and contin- 
ued the combat. They were surrounded by an overwhelming force — 
both divisions of Porter's forces having come up — but they fought 
well, repulsing all efforts to capture them or drive them out by a 
charge. Many of Porter's men exposed themselves needlessly and 
paid dearly for it. At last Porter had prepared two wagons loaded 
heavily with hay, which he purposed running up against the build- 
ings, setting on fire and smoking out his game. A flag of truce was 
sent first, demanding a surrender. Capt. Lair himself came out, saw 
Porter and the two talked the matter over. The militiamen surren- 
dered . 

The terms were very liberal. The Federals were to be paroled and 
released, their private property was not to be taken from them, but 
they were to lose their tents, arms, etc. The prisoners were well 
treated. Capt. Bob Hager, of Monroe, cursed Lieut. Warmsley for 
being a "d — n nigger thief," but nobody was hurt, and there was 
no hint at retaliation upon Capt. Lair or any of his men for the kill- 
ing of Maj. Owen, a former fellow-soldier of Porter's, major of th(^ 
regiment in which he had been lieutenant-colonel. 

Porter and his men camped in Newark that night, and it was not 



750 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

until next morning that the prisoners were paroled and released. The 
Federal loss in the Newark fight was 4 killed, 6 wounded, and 
72 prisoners ; of the latter 40 were of Co. K, and 32 of Co. L. 
The killed were Lieut. Valentine Lair, a son of Capt. Lair, and act- 
ing adjutant of the battalion, and Orderly Sergt. Francis Hancock, 
of Palmyra, both of Co. K, and John Downing and James Berry, 
of Co. L. The Confederate loss was reported at from 10 to 20 
killed, and 30 severely wounded. Eight are known to have been 
buried. 

In the Newark fight the men from Shelby bore a conspicuous part. 
Among the Confederate killed was Capt. J. Q. A. Clements, who 
fell dead at the head of his company, shot through the brain, and 
Lieut. Tom West, of the same company, who had his leg crushed by 
a Minie ball, and amputated, and who died in a day or two. Capt. 
Clements was an intelligent, well informed gentleman, who was 
something of a lawyer, and resided in the western part of the county. 
After his death Capt. Samuel S. Patton took command of the com- 
pany. 

In Head's company two Shelb}'^ county men were killed ; Anderson 
Tobin, who lived in the south-western part of the county, was shot 

through the head and died instantly, and Kesterson, of Walkers- 

ville, was killed by a ball through the body. 

Though Porter's men treated their prisoners well, they were severe 
on some of the Union citizens of Newark. The stores of W. G. Bragg 
and Mr. Holmes were "gutted," and other citizens of the place and 
vicinity were made to suffer, some in person, many in property. 
This was done not in accordance with Porter's orders, but in spite of 
them, for this was his old home and the people were his old neigh- 
bors, against whom he bore no malice, and to whom he wished no 
harm. 

The angry roar of a Federal command in his rear, swarming like 
mad hornets, well mounted, well equipped, and led by the savage 
fighter. Col. John McNeil, roused Porter, and warned him to up and 
hie himself away, and he left Newark at nine in the forenoon of 
August 2, going northward to enable to join him a force which had 
been operating against Canton and the eastern part of Lewis county, 
and which had been ordered to move to the westward or north-west- 
ward so as to avoid the Federals on the south and unite with the main 
body somewhere in the north-eastern part of Knox. 

The force that was sent against Canton had rendezvoused at the 
" sugar camp " on the Fabius and was composed of about 250 men. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 751 

led by Col. Cyrus Franklin/ Maj. Davis and Ralph Smith. It gal- 
loped into Canton Friday night, August 1, killed a young Union man 
named Joseph W. Carnegy, and captured 75 muskets belonging to 
the militia in Canton, together with some other property and supplies. 
They held the town till Saturday noon, and then departed, taking 
with them ex-United States Senator Green and some other citizens. 

Although Mr. Green had been an original Secessionist, and coun- 
seled war against the Union, from the start, he never took up arms 
himself, but was one of the first to surrender (in the summer of 1861) 
and to take the oath, which he religiously kept. He counseled a ces- 
sation of hostilities after Ft. Donelson was taken, and even urged 
Confederates to lay down their arms. Mr. Green demurred at being 
taken prisoner and carried away, but the raiders declared they were 
going to conscript him and make a soldier of him. " Come along, 

Jim," said one of them : "You got us into this scrape, and by 

you shall help get us out." The ex-senator was taken to the " sugar 
camp," when, after making a short speech, he was released on parole 
not to take up arms against the Southern Confederacy. 

After Col. McNeil had arrived at Palmyra subsequent to the Pierce's 
Mill fight, he remained but a few days, when, with the greater part 
of his regiment, he went to Hunnewell to watch Porter and to strike 
him " in the air " should he attempt to come North again and pass his 
old crossing between Hunnewell and Monroe, as was considered by 
some very improbable. Here he could also intercept any straggling 
parties coming down from the North to join Porter or make their way 
South. In a day or so after reaching Hunnewell, McNeil heard of the 
Moore's Mill fight, that Porter was in Monroe county, and that Joe 
Thompson had raided Paris. He at once set out for the latter place, 
but found that the Confederates had left. He soon learned more — 
that after he had left Hunnewell, Porter had seized the opportunity to 
cross the Hannibal and St. Joe, on the old and now unguarded crossing, 
and was now safe in his old range, which he had reached without 
endangering the safety of his command by a fight. 

Chagrined and impatient, McNeil hastened back to Hunnewell, 
swearing to ride men and horses to exhaustion if necessary to over- 
take the presumptuous raider and destroy him or capture him. 
Learning something of Porter's exact whereabouts and conjecturing 
that he would be at Newark, McNeil determined to try and strike him 



^Col. Franklin, a Virginian by birth, had gone from Iowa into the service of the 
Confederacy, and rose to the rank of Colonel. 



752 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

there, and at once set out in pursuit, going north-west. At Bethel, 
in Shelby county, he was reinforced by Maj. John F. Benjamin, with 
a detachment of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia and a few enrolled 
militia. Benjamin had set out from Shelbyville, leaving a small gar- 
rison to defend the stockade. Mayne's Co. B, of the Third Iowa 
Cavalry, Leonard's and Garth's companies of the Ninth Missouri 
State Militia, and some of Merrill's Horse, and two brass pieces of 
artillery of Rabb's Third Indiana battery, sent up from Jefferson 
City, under Lieut. Armington, were also on the chase. 

Saturday morning, August 2, McNeil aud Benjamin made a rapid 
march to Newark, 10 miles away. Porter had just left the village 
and the Federal advance leaped upon his rear guard a mile or so from 
town, killed two, wounded five, and drove the rest upon the main 
body, capturing also several horses. McNeil's forces arrived and 
occupied the town till the next day, when, reinforcements coming up 
and increasing the Federal strength to about 1,000, they set out at 2 
p. m., following Porter, and camping that night on Troublesome 
creek, on the farm of a " secesh" gentleman named Kendrick, whom 
they " ate out of house and barn." 

From Newark Porter went north along the western line of Lewis 
county, and was joined by the force from Canton and Col. Frisbie 
McCullough with 300 men. Porter now had at least 2,200 men, and 
felt comparatively safe, although he knew he could obtain more, and 
as was natural he wanted all he could get. If his luck should hold 
out, instead of the insignia of a colonel, the stars of a Confederate 
brigadier would glitter on his collar. He moved north by Smith's 
bridge over the North fork of North Fabius, where he encamped 
Sunday night, August 3. When he left he tore up the bridge. 

Porter was now threatening Memphis, but learning that Maj. 
Rogers was holding that toAvn with a fairly strong force, and would 
not let go without a hard fight, he turned west toward Kirksville. 
Monday night he camped at Bolden's Mill. Tuesday he kept up the 
march, bringing together all his forces and ordering a concentration at 
Kirksville. This place had, until a day or so previously, been held by 
the Federals under Capt. James A. Smith, but Col. Gilstrap had 
ordered him down to Macon for safety, and Capt. Tice Cain, with his 
company of Confederate rangers, from Putnam, Schuyler, and Adair, 
galloped in, took possession of the town and sent a courier to Porter 
with the news. 

Porter had thought of halting where he was, waiting for the arrival 
of his pursuers and fighting out the issue between them, but when he 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 758 

neiird that Kirksville had been taken he tliought best to try the com- 
bat there, under cover of the houses and behind fences and brick 
walls. He relied, too, upon the effect of an ambuscade which he care- 
fully and rather skillfully planned. Fatal mistake! Had he fought 
McNeil in the woods of Lewis or the timber of Knox and Adair, as he 
could have done, he most probably would have won. There is no 
question but that his force outnumbered McNeil's more than two to 
one, and this force in a rough-and-tumble fight in the bush and timber 
and among hills and hollows could but have done effective work. 

Porter arrived at Kirksville early Wednesday morning, August 6, 
with the Federals at his heels. Here he planted his standard and 
formed his battle line. He placed only about 500 of his men in the 
woods to the east of the town, 500 more in the houses, behind the 
fences, and elsewhere under shelter in the town itself, and the remain- 
der, nearly 2,000 more, were scattered about on the flanks and to the 
west of the place. He conjectured that the Federals would come 
boldly up" — assault the first line, drive it back — rush wildly on, 
imagining the victory won, into the town, be shriveled up by the fire 
of the concealed troops in the houses, and then the reserve would come 
up and finish the work. But Col. Porter's scheme lacked McNeil's 
endorsement and cooperation. One commander may plan a battle, 
but it takes two commanders to fight it. 

McNeil came up and attacked the first line vigorously, doubling it 
back on the town, a portion of his forces working gradually around 
through the brush on either flank, so as to partially envelop the Con- 
federates. The Federals had two iron 6-pounders and a 12-pound 
howitzer belonging to the militia. These were brought up and banned 
away for some time, with but little more effect than to frighten a few 
of the Confederates who had never before heard the screech of a shell 
or a ball, and indeed had never smelt hostile powder. McNeil him- 
self came forward and took personal charge of the fight. A Confed- 
erate rifle ball knocked the skin off his temple and clipped a lock of 
his hair, but he never flinched. Say this always for John McNeil. 
He was not a coward. Cruel he may have been, savage as a fighter 
he certainly was, but not a drop of coward's blood ever flowed in his 
veins. At Kirksville, as elsewhere, he rode into the thickest of the 
fight, and watched the movements of the Confederates without a tele- 
scope or a field-glass. It is claimed that a Shelby county man. 
George Boyce, fired the ball that grazed him. 

A great deal of time was spent by the Federal commander in de- 
veloping the plans of the Confederates. He knew Porter had a \evy 



754 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

large force, and it puzzled him when only a few hundred came into 
the field. Where are the rest? he wondered. Suspecting that an 
ambush was laid for him, and divining Porter's scheme, he called for 
volunteers to ride into the town and learn what was there. Ten 
plucky fellows of Merrill's Horse, led by Lieut.. John N. Cowdry, a 
gallant ofllcer, charged into the very heart of the town, around the 
square, and through the streets, developing the fact that every house 
was a Trojan horse, and every garden fence an ambuscade, while the 
court-house was a castle, with its lower windows boarded up and loop- 
holed and all its rooms filled with sharpshooters. After receiving the 
fire of a thousand shot-guns, rifles and revolvers, losing only one man 
killed, a soldier named A. H. Waggoner, one mortally wounded, 
William Ferguson, and having but two others struck, the dauntless 
Cowdry rode back and reported. 

Easy enough to win the fight now for McNeil. Porter had not a 
single cannon. McNeil had five. They were brought up immediatel}'' 
and opened. First the iron guns. Then came Armington with his 
brass pieces, which opened with conical shot, tearing the little frame 
houses to fragments as if they were built wholly of shingles, and 
crushing the brick walls as if they were egg-shells. The Confed- 
erates fell back. McNeil's right wing, under Benjamin, wriggled 
still farther to the right, and the cannon followed it. A corn field 
and a Hungarian grass patch were taken from the Confederates and 
they forced into the town. The artillery followed, and again thun- 
dered away, the Indiana battery doing fearful execution. Slowly the 
Federals advanced, under cover of their artillery fire, and Porter's 
shot-gun men, on Avhom he had relied to do such effective work, had 
to run from their coverts and for their lives before a Federal came 
within gun shot. 

The Federals took their time, and advanced slowly, so as to prevent 
the fulfillment of Porter's plans, but at last the Confederates were 
thoroughly demoralized by the artillery five, and began to give way, 
and then Benjamin grew impatient and charged down into the town 
with the Eleventh Missouri State Militia ; Capt. E. Mayne, with his 
company of the Third Iowa, galloped squarelv for the court-house, 
and fell dead with a bullet through his brain. Merrill's Horse came 
in, and Capts. Garth and Keeves Leonard, with their companies of 
the Ninth Missouri State Militia, clattered through the streets and 
alleys, but all of them found only fugitives to fight. 

There is not room here to give the details of the battle of Kirks- 
ville, but it may thus be summarized. Out of 2,800 men, perhaps 



HISTORr OF SHELBY COUNTY. 755 

not more than 1,000 Confederates were really in action. Out of 
1,000 Federals, not more than 600 fought. McNeil kept a good strong 
reserve. The Federals skirmished slightly with the Confederates, 
then stood off and battered them to pieces with their artillery, and 
then charged on them, created a panic among them, drove them hel- 
ter-skelter back upon the reserve, panicked it, and drove the whole 
force in terror from the field and away from the country. 

As to loss: six Federals fell dead on the field — Capt. Mayne, of 
the Third Iowa; A.H.Waggoner, Mathias Olstein, and Sylvester 
Witham, privates of Co. *'C," Merrill's Horse; Sergt. Wm. Bush, 
Co. B, Ninth Missouri State Militia ; H. H. Moore, private, Co. " E," 
First Missouri State Militia. The wounded numbered 33, as follows : 
Col. McNeil and Adjt. McFarlane ; Merrill's Horse, 8 ; Third 
Iowa Cavalry, 1 ; First Missouri State Militia, 5 ; Ninth Missouri 
State Militia, 14; "Red Rovers," 2; Indiana Battery, 1. Of 
these at least two afterward died. 

The Federals claim they buried 58 of Porter's men who were killed 
outright ; that 84 were left severely wounded, and that they captured 
250 prisoners. The Confederate loss was never exactly known by 
that side, and the Federal statements could not be disputed. The 
Federal loss was and is a matter of official record. 

Among the Shelby county Confederates killed were Timothy Hayes, 
of Patton's company (formerly Clements') ; John Richardson, of the 
same company, was mortally wounded and died a day or two later. 
A number were wounded. 

The fight began at 11 a. m. and lasted about five hours. 

During the engagement a lady resident of Kirksville, a Mrs. Cutts, 
was shot by a stray bullet and mortally wounded. She was just com- 
ing up from the cellar when she was struck. 

Porter retreated with his forces rapidly and in disorder to the west- 
ward. It was "save himself who can." The idea was to put the 
Chariton river, five miles west of Kirksville, before dark between 
themselves and the victorious Federals, with their terrible cannon and 
well-mounted cavalrymen. Desertions began and were numerous and 
unrestrained. Officers and men both fled. Col. Frisbrie McCullousfh 
started for his Marion county home, but never reached it alive. Other 
officers set the example for their men to abandon the cause so readily 
which but a few days before they had espoused so ardently. The 
woods about Kirksville were full of straoojlers and skedaddlers, and 
the Federal cavalry rode about, beating up the brush for them, captur- 
ing many and shooting down those who offered the least sign of resist- 
ance. 



756 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

At Clem's Mills, five miles west of Kirksville, Porter crossed the 
Chariton with the muin body of his command. Many crossed where 
and as they could, and plunged into the timber west of the stream, 
and soon Night threw her black mantle of concealment over them 
and they were safe for the present. A little time for rest, a little 
time for bandaging, a little time for reorganization, and the march 
was resumed. 

Down in Chariton county Col. J. A. Poindexter was known to be 
with 1,200 or 1,500 recruits, and to him Porter thought best to go, 
for in their union there would be strength sufficient to force a passage 
of the Missouri at Glasgow or Brunswick, and to open a roadway to 
the Confederacy, especially if the co-operation of Joe Shelby, with his 
regiment, in Saline and Lafayette, could be secured. Turning south- 
ward, therefore. Porter set out for Poindexter. But quite often, in 
peace and in war, one man proposes and another disposes. Three 
miles north of Stockton, now New Cambria, in the western part of 
Macon county, Porter encountered 250 men of the First Missouri State 
Militia, under Lieut. -Col. Alexander Woolfolk, coming up from below 
to co-operate with McNeil, and at Panther creek that day, Friday, 
August 8, there was a brief fight, and Porter was turned from his 
course and retreated toward the north-east. 

The next day Col. James McFerran, of the First Missouri State 
Militia, joined Woolfolk with 250 more men and took command, and 
marching rapidly on, these 500, McFerran at the head, came up with 
Porter at Walnut creek, in Adair county, attacked vigorously, and after 
a sharp fio-ht drove Porter eastward to the Chariton, leaping on the 
rear o-uard every few minutes, killing a man now and then, and caus- 
ino- no end of annoyance and uneasiness. Porter grew tired of this, 
and the same dav, at See's Ford, where he recrossed the Chariton, he 
put 125 men in ambush, on the east bank, under Capts. John Hicks 
and Jim Porter, and when McFarren came up and the stream was full 
of drinkino- horses and their unsuspecting riders, and just as two men 
rode up the bank, these 125 opened fire at short range, and the stream 
was full of writhing men and plunging horses. And yet only two 
Federals were killed outright and 15 wounded. After that, for a time, 
the pursuit was not so close and harassing. 

Porter passed on to Wilsonville, in the south-east part of Adair, and 
near here he paused. Dangers surrounded him on every side, and the 
(lark hour was on Saul. His men were discouraged, and many were 
heartily tired of " war." They began to " scatter out," every man 
for himself, and in a few hours 500 had drifted away into the brush 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 757 

and by-ways. There was a general disbanding of the forces at Phelps' 
** log-cabin" bridge, on Salt river, from which point many Shelby 
county men went directly home. 

Porter himself, at the head of a considerable number of his men, 
went south-east through the southern portion of Knox, passing near 
Novelty, going below Newark and leaving that town several miles to 
the north, and then curving upward to Whaley's Mill, on the South 
Fabius, where, on Monday, August 11th, there was a virtual disband- 
ing of the Confederate forces, many going home, many striking out 
for Illinois and Iowa, and a few determined spirits accompanying the 
undaunted chieftain, who, the same night, crossed the Hannibal and 
St. Joe, and went into Monroe to join Cobb, then reported in the Salt 
river hills, near Florida. 

After the battle of Kirksville, when the Federals were looking over 
their prisoners, it was discovered that among them were some who 
had previously taken the oath of allegiance to the Provisional Govern- 
ment of Missouri, and were at large on parole and under bond. Some 
of them had been arrested by the Federals, and had been paroled two 
or three times not to take up arms against the authority of the United 
States. When the enrolling order of Schofield and Gamble came out, 
they cast away their paroles, spat on their bonds, and caught up their 
shot-guns. 

Thursday, the next day after the battle, quite a number of "oath- 
breakers," as they were called, were tried by a Federal drum-head 
court martial, convened by McNeil, in Kirksville, and 15 of them were 
convicted of violations of their paroles, and sentenced to be shot. 
McNeil approved the proceedings and the order, and the poor fellows 
were executed the same day. Their names, as can best be learned 
now, were William Bates, R. M. Galbreath, Lewis Hollins, William 
Wilson, Columbus Harris, Reuben Thomas, or Thompson, Thomas 
Webb and Reuben Green, of Monroe county ; James Christian, David 
Wood, Jesse Wood and Bennett Hayden, of Shelby;^ Wm. Sallee 
and Hamilton Brannon, of Marion, and John Kent, of Adair. 

Of the Shelby county victims all lived in the south-western part of 
the county. James Christian, three miles east of Clarence, aged 
between 30 and 40; David and Jesse Wood were young men living 
west of Shelbina ; Bennett Hayden lived near the present site of Lent- 
ner Station, aged 30. All were married but David Wood, and all had 
been arrested and released on parole and bond. 



1 It is reported that Thomas Stone, of Shelby, was shot at the same time. 



758 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Thursday afternoon, the same day the oath-breakers were shot, a 
squad of eight or ten of the enrolled militia from Edina were out 
scouting for Porter's stragglers and heating up the timber for them. 
Eight miles from Edina they came upon a man with a gun, who was 
makino- his way eastward, and who, when he saw them, darted into a 
brush patch. The Federals surrounded the thicket, and one of them, 
a man named Holmes, of Edina, volunteered to enter it. He did not 
proceed far until he came upon the fugitive, who was at bay, and who 
raised his gun and warned his pursuer to proceed no further. It was 
Col. Frisbie McCuUough, of Marion county, who, as before stated, 
had abandoned Porter after the Kirksville fight and was trying to 
reach his home. Holmes called upon him to surrender, and learning 
the odds against him, and being very tired and weary, he gave him- 
self up. 

He was taken to Edina, thence to Kirksville, where the same day 
of his arrival he was tried by a military commission, convicted and 
shot. In a communication to the writer Gen. McNeil says : — 

Col. McCullough was tried by a commission, of which Lieut. -Col. 
Schaffer was president, under Order No. 2 of Gen. Halleck, and Nos. 
8 and 18 of Gen. Schofield. He had no commission except a printed 
paper authorizing " the bearer " to recruit for the Confederate army. 
He was found guilty of bushwhacking, or of being a guerrilla. He 
was a brave fellow, and a splendid specimen of manhood. I would 
have gladly spared him had duty permitted. As it was, he suffered 
the fate that would have fallen to you or me if we had been found 
recruitins: inside of the Confederate lines. He met a soldier's death 
as became a soldier. 

It was Col. McCullough who made a raid on Shelby ville in the early 
fall of 1861 and took Hon. John F. Benjamin a prisoner. He also 
made prisoners of other Union men of the county. 

Three days after the battle of Kirksville, Col. McNeil went to 
Bloomington, the old county seat of Macon county, ready and waiting 
for another opportunity to strike Porter. From Bloomington he went 
to Shelbyville, and then learning something of Porter's movements 
and objects, he moved down to his old post of observation at Hunne- 
well. 

Porter remained in Monroe county only long enough to cool off in 
the shade of the Salt river timber after his long and wearisome chase 
in the hot weather of the dog days. In a day or so he was again in 
the saddle and ert route for Marion county. Eluding McNeil's guards 
and scouts, he recrossed the Hannibal and St. Joe again near Monroe, 
about a week after the Kirksville fight, and on Friday, August 15, was 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 759 

three miles north-east of Emerson, in Marion county, with 150 men, 
not disheartened, not cast down, but cheerful, good-natured, plucky 
and hopeful. 

He sent out his scouts and they ranged through the country, pick- 
ing up horses and supplies, and occasionally a prisoner. The country 
Avas full of straofglers who had left him after the Kirksville fig-ht and 
the disbanding near Novelty, and these were in hiding. When they 
heard " Old Joe " was back they crawled out of the brush and started 
for him again. Many, however, had crossed over into Illinois, and 
some were cooped up in the Federal prisons at La Grange, Quincy and 
Palmyra. A company of Enrolled Militia from La Grange, stationed 
at the West Quincy ferry, bagged many a poor " Reb " seeking a 
retreat in the Sucker State. 

Col. Porter himself remained in the vicinity of Emerson some days. 
His men lived off the country and recruited their commissary depart- 
ments and corrals from the smoke-houses and stables of the farmers 
in the country, and indeed seized many an article because they took, a 
fancy to it. This seems a little inequitable now-a-days, but in that 
period quite often Federal trooper and Confederate raider acquired 
property rights by — 

The rule, the simple plan, 

That they may take who have the power, 
And they may keep who can ! 

At last Porter went to the southward, again into Monroe and the 
south-east corner of Shelby. 

He was reported near Florida, Monroe county, on Monday, August 
25, threatening Paris with 1,000 men. McNeil moved down from 
Hunnewell and occupied Paris with all of his available force — 800. 
Tuesday morning Majs. Rogers and Dodson, with three companies 
of the Eleventh Missouri State Militia, started from Shelby ville to 
reinforce him, and Wednesday McNeil moved out to encounter Porter 
again. He marched up from Paris and Hunnewell to Newark and 
then to Monticello in order to be Avhere he could better direct opera- 
tions against Porter. Lewis and Marion were full of armed bands of 
Confederates, and there was the createst alarm among the Federals. 
Even Hannibal was thought to be in danger. 

Friday, September 12, Porter, with 400 men, captured Palmyra, 
with 20 of its garrison, and held the place two hours, losing one man 
killed and one wounded. One Union citizen was killed, three Fed- 
erals wounded. The town was defended by 60 Enrolled Militia in the 
court-house under Capt. Dubach and Lieut. Washburn, 20 at the j;iil 

43 



760 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

und 30 more iu a store building. The men at the jail were captured. 
The Confederates carried away an aged Union citizen named Andrew 
Allsman, whom they killed, and for whose life 10 of Porter's men 
subsequently paid a forfeit. 

On leaving Palmyra Porter went into the north-west corner of 
Marion and encamped on the South Fabius. The next day he received 
a reinforcement of 150 men under Ralph Smith, of Lewis county. 
Other parties of Confederates were in the country, but they had lost 
confidence in Porter, and refused to cast their fortunes with him. 
With his 500 men tlie undaunted, self-confident raider was soon again 
on the war path, and turning north-west, he proceeded on a circuitous 
route towards Newark, and on Saturday night or Sunday camped half 
a mile south-west of Whaley's Mill, in the south-west corner of Lewis 
county. Here a bountiful supply of corn meal was secured and a 
square meal or two indulged in. Col. Porter's residence was but a 
few miles away. 

The night after the capture of Palmyra, old Co. A, of the Eleventh 
Missouri State Militia, of Shelbyville, went to the eastern part of this 
county and prepared an ambuscade for Porter's men, expecting them 
to pass along the road. The Confederates heard that Federals had 
been seen advancing along that road, and ^/^ey prepared an ambuscade 
on the same road for their enemies. The two forces lay all night half 
a mile from each other, but each unconscious of the presence of the 
other. 

When Gen. McNeil heard the first intelligence that the Confederates 
had captured Palmyra, he was at Monticello, or in that neighborhood. 
He immediately set out southward, and Saturday, September 13th, 
arrived at Emerson with 400 or 500 men, consisting of detachments 
of his own and Lipscomb's regiments, the Second and Eleventh M. S. 
M., and three pieces of artillery. From his scouts and the citizens he 
learned the course Porter had pursued from Palmyra, and leaving 
Emerson Saturday evening, he followed the trail of the Confederates to 
the north-east some miles and encamped. McNeil by this time knew 
Porter's tactics well enough to conclude that when he seemed about to 
do one thing he was certain to do another, and divined that instead of 
goino" to Monticello, which he was menacing, he would probably come 
down " like a wolf on the fold " upon Newark, or some place to the 
westward. Accordingly Sunday morning, September 14, he struck 
directly west, towards Newark. 

On reaching the vicinity of the residence of Col. Porter, three miles 
east of' Newark, the Federal advance discovered two mounted Con- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 761 

federate pickets. Chase was given, but tliey escaped. The wives of 
both Col. Joe and Capt. Jim Porter were at the residence of the for- 
mer. Just before this a guide had been picked up who knew where 
the Confederate camp was, and was willing to lead the way to it. 
Whaley's Mill stood about two miles south-east of Porter's residence. 

Gen. McNeil's forces now pressed on rapidly toward the Confed- 
erate camp. Near the Mill the advance discovered a strong picket 
guard, the members of which, being fired on, turned and fled towards 
the camp, the Federals following rapidly. There was mounting in 
hot haste among the boys in gray, and dreading the terrible cannon 
which had done so much injury to them before, they retreated in most 
unseemly haste, with no resistance worthy of the name. 

McNeil came thundering into the camp within fifteen minutes after 
it had been abandoned. The fires were burning, cooking utensils, 
and piles of corn meal and other provisions lay here and there, carpet 
sacks, clothing, and bedding were scattered about, and everything 
showed a hasty flight and great demoralization. In a few moments 
the bugles sounded the " forward," and the Federal cavalrymen 
sprang away in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. » 

The Confederates followed the course of the South Fabius (on the 
north bank of which stream Whaley's Mill was located) in an easterly 
direction, keeping on the north side of the stream. For several miles 
the chase continued, and was very exciting. There was but little 
danger about it, for the Confederates made no fight proper to be 
called a fight. They showed no disposition, or not much, to do any- 
thing but to get out of the way of the Federals and their dreadful 
cannon as rapidly as possible. They did no real fighting — only in- 
continent skedaddling. The Federals crowded upon them, rode them 
down when they hesitated, and shot them when they ofi'ered the 
slightest resistance. And all the time there was cheering: and shout- 
ing and firing, and the people of the country heard something else 
that Sabbath morning besides the church bells and the sounds of 
prayer and praise. 

For miles this pursuit was kept up, the Federals chasing Porter's 
men as hunters chase a quarry. At last the Confederates followed no 
roads, but dashed on through bushes and thickets dense and rough, 
over fences high and strong, across ravines wide and deep, and along 
by-paths narrow and steep. The Federals could follow where they 
led and dashed after them. 

After three or four miles of this sort of racing, the main portion of 
the Confederates arrived at or near a crossins: of the South Fabius 



762 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

known as the old Claggett ford, hard by the residence of a Mr. Pierce. 
Here they crossed to the south side of the creek, then turned again 
toward the east for a mile until they intersected the road leading from 
Claggett's old mill, due south a mile and a half until it struck the 
Philadelphia and Newark road at Bragg's school house, in the north- 
eastern part of Shelby county (sec. 23-59-9). And still that swift, 
unrelenting pursuit, the heavy cavalry at their heels, and the artillery 
just behind, the postillions lashing their horses like race-riders. 

At Bragg's school house Col. Porter again disbanded his forces 
and it was " every man for himself and McNeil will take the hind- 
most." Some went east, some went south, some went west. Porter, 
with a considerable company, started for Lewis county. A number 
of horses — on one of which was a U. S. saddle and accoutrements — 
and twenty shot-guns and muskets were abandoned and fell into the 
hands of the enemy. Six Confederates were killed and a number 
wounded during the retreat from Whaley's Mill, and quite a lot of 
prisoners were taken. 

The Federals came up and halted at the point of the Confederate 
dispersion. Gen. McIJeil made his headquarters at Judge S. I. Bragg's 
in Shelby county, that Sunday night, remaining there till next day. 
It being impossible and unprofitable to follow the Confederates any 
further, he came on to Philadelphia and encamped there on Monday 
night. Leaving Philadelphia Tuesday morning, the Federals arrived 
at Palmyra about noon and went into camp. Their loss was as fol- 
lows : One man of the Eleventh M. S. M. came upon a squad of 
Confederates in the brush, was fired on and mortally wounded, dying 
next day. After the pursuit had ceased, some of Porter's ambushed 
men fired upon an escort, killing one outright and wounding two, one 
mortally. 

When Gen. McNeil observed the piles of meal on the ground in the 
Confederate camp near Whaley's Mill, he declared, "That mill has 
ground its last grist for the rebel commissary department." By his 
orders the mill was burned to the ground . 

Among the prisoners captured by the Federals near Bragg's were 
two men from Shelby county, named John Holmes and Henry Lati- 
mer ; the latter lived about four miles east of Bethel. The next 
morning by order of Gen. McNeil, they were taken into Bragg's 
meadow and shot to death. 

Both Holmes and Latimer had been taken prisoner by the Federals 
and twice released on oath not to take up arms. Latimer was con- 
fined at Shelby ville on one occasion. When the enrolling order of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 763 

Schofield's came out he stopped work in a hay field and joined Porter 
as soon as possible. Holmes went out at the same time. Both were 
members of Cupt. Marion Whaley's company, and had been at Kirks- 
ville and elsewhere. 

At the time of the Whaley's Mill fight they were not present, but 
with a dozen or more of Whaley's company, including Capt. Whaley 
himself, who was wounded, had a camp on Tiger fork, where they 
were hiding. The day before both Holmes and Harry Latimer were 
at John Carlisle's and got some bacon. Latimer said to Carlisle, 
facetiously: <' Well, John, the Federals have issued another order 
about oath-breakers. They say they have to catch us before they 
shoot us ! " 

The next day in the evening Holmes and Latimer rode out of the 
timber south of Bragg's on their way to join Porter, and just out on 
the prairie they met a squad of McNeil's regiment searching for Por- 
ter's fugitives. "Halt!" called out the Federals. The partisans 
hesitated, thinking the militia were Porter's men. The Federals fired 
a shot or two and then Holmes and Latimer dismounted and were 
made prisoners. They were taken up to Bragg's house where McNeil 
was, and were recognized by some Shelby county men as having vio- 
lated their paroles. At the time of his capture Latimer was riding a 
horse which had been taken a few nights before from Addison Lair, 
a Union man of Tiger Fork township. Holmes was riding a horse 
belonsring to another Union man. Mr. Lair's horse was returned to 
him. 

When McNeil was informed of the circumstance of the capture of 
the two men, he asked: "Had they arms in their hands? " Being 
answered in the affirmative, he returned: " Well, they shall be shot 
in the morning at sunrise." They were put into a granary in Bragg's 
door-yard, along with a score of other prisoners, and informed of 
their fate. Latimer had a brother in the Federal service, in Benja- 
min's regiment, and he used this fact to help his case. He even said : 
"I was led into this thing by Porter, and if you will reprieve rae I 
will join my brother's company." But one who knew him, said: 
"Ah, Harry, you can't be trusted. You know you would de&ert the 
first opportunity." And doubtless he would,, for Latimer thoroughly 
detested the Federal cause. 

That night McNeil said to Judge Bragg: "Those fellows will 
be shot in the morning sure; they had better escape to-night if they 
can." But the 2:ninarv was well guarded and if the doomed men 
ever thought of escaping they did not attempt it. After a time 



764 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Latimer nerved himself to meet his fate, but Holmes seemed 
horror-stricken. The other prisoners, remembering the shooting of 
16 of their comrades at Kirksville, were apprehensive as to their own 
fate. 

The next morning, a little before sunrise, when it was announced to 
McNeil that his breakfast was ready, he took out his watch, observed 
the time, and said to a lieutenant of the guard: "It is time those 
men were executed ; take them out and execute them." As he was 
sitting at his breakfast a few minutes later, a soldier came to the door 
and said that the prisoners wished to see Mr. Bragg. " May 1 go and 
see them?" asked Bragg, addressing McNeil. "Certainly," replied 
McNeil, " do all for them you can," Bragg went out and overtook 
the party a few rods south of his house, on the way to the place of 
execution, in the meadow. The doomed men shook hands with Bragg 
and asked him to tell their relatives and friends of their fate. Then 
they passed on. 

Holmes weakened in the presence of death, and was pale and trem- 
bling. Latimer was brave and defiant and went to his fate as full of 
courage as that other Latimer, who, hundreds of years before, was 
burned at the stake in England, for his Protestantism, and who said 
to his fellow-martyr, George Ridley, as they were walking to the place 
of the burning : " Be of good cheer, Brother Ridley ! We shall light 
a candle this day in Old England that with God's grace shall never be 
put out ! " Who knows but that Harry Latimer had in his veins some 
of the blood of Bishop Latimer? 

Nearing the scene Latimer said to Holmes : '• Stand up, John, stand 
up straight I " A few seconds later there came a crashing volley, and 
both men fell with the life shot out of them. The Federals had caught 
the oath-breakers sure enough. They were buried decently near where 
they fell. Seven years later their remains were taken up and reburied 
in the Looney graveyard, near Mt. Zion. 

Harry Latimer was a native of Tennessee, aged 32. He left a wife, 
who was a daughter of Robert Joiner, the old pioneer, and five chil- 
dren, the youngest six months old. John Holmes was about the same 
age of Latimer, and left a wife, the daughter of another old settler, 
named Turner, and one child. His widow resides now in Marion 
county, and Mrs. Latimer lives on her husband's farm. 

Kemp Glasscock, who was cow hunting, was taken prisoner vvith 
Holmes and Latimer, but was released by McNeil and allowed to go 
home. 

A little north of Bragg's residence, in a little path that led from the 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 765 

woods to the well, under the hill, John Lear, one of Porter's men, 
from near Warren, Marion county, was killed. He was flying from 
the Federals along the path and was being followed. His horse 
stumbled and threw him. He called out, " I surrender ! " A boy 
soldier, not more than 15 years of age, rode up and with his revolver 
shot him dead, the ball entering near the top of the right shoulder and 
coming out near the heart. They searched his pockets, drew off" his 
boots, and after composing his limbs placed his old hat over his face 
and went away in the twilight, leaving the owls of the wood to hoot to 
each other, " A man lies dead in the road ! " 

The boy soldier asked for Lear's gun as a reward for what he had 
done, and McNeil gave it to him, Lear's body lay in that path where 
it fell from Sunday evening till Tuesday morning, when John Car- 
lisle and Ed. Joiner came and put it in a rude coffin and buried it in 
Bragror's orchard, where it still lies. 

As to the two Federals killed, an escort started with a Mr. Pierce 
to go west and north-west to bring up some wagons. It was after 
dark. Some of Porter's men were in ambush a few hundred yards 
west of the house and fired on the Federals. One horse was killed 
and one man outright; two men were wounded, one mortally. The 
man killed instantly was named Scanlan, and he lived in Knox county ; 
he was but a young man and the only child of his father, who was a 
widower. The mortally wounded man was Corporal Stephens, also 
from Knox county. He crawled from the road into the woods and 
brush, and lay there all night. His cries for help could be plainly 
heard at Bragg' s house, but no one went to his assistance. He died 
the next morning early, within ten minutes after help reached him. 
Both bodies were buried in Bragg's orchard, and afterwards John 
Lear's was placed beside them. 

A short time afterward came old man Scanlan to visit the grave of 
his dead son. When it was shown him he stretched himself upon it 
and embraced it, moaning and murmuring, " My dear boy ! My dear 
boy ! " The by-standers turned away and he was alone with his grief 
a good while. When he came to the house he said, "I thought I 
would take him away, but I can't bear to." Five years later he came 
with a handsome coffin and bore away the remains. " My boy was a 
Catholic," he explained, "and his bones must rest in consecrated 
ground." 

In a short time after his burial came the wife of John Lear for the 
body of her husband, but it could not be removed. She was a 
daughter of a Mr. Jacobs, of Shelby county. " I want to know for 



766 HISTORY OP SHELBY COUNTY. 

certain if it is my husband," she said. They cut out the pocket of 
his embroidered shirt, the work of her own hands, and brought it to 
her. " It is my husband ! " she exclaimed. Then she put a strong 
enclosure about the grave and went away to her home. Side by side 
still rest the remains of Confederate John Lear and Federal Corporal 
Stephens in their last bivouac in the little graveyard. 

Under the sod and the dew, 
Waiting the Judgment Day; 

Under the roses the blue, 
Under the lilies the gray. 

After his route by McNeil at Whaley's Mill, and his dispersion at 
Bragg's school house. Col. Porter kept himself hidden for a few days. 
He abandoned the idea of raising a regiment, or even a battalion, and 
realizing that there was no rest for the sole of his foot so long as he 
remained in this quarter, he resolved to leave, and passing over into 
Shelby county was soon on his way to Dixie. September 23d he 
captured and paroled Capt. Bishop, of Shelby county, north of Hun- 
newell. He now had perhaps 100 men, and with these he determined 
to abandon North-east Missouri for good, and so passed on and away 
from his home and the scenes of his daring and dangerous exploits and 
experiences forever. He made his way in perfect safety through 
Monroe, Audrain, Callaway and Boone counties, crossed the Missouri 
river in a skiff, and on he went down into Arkansas. Here he organ- 
ized from the men who had accompanied him and others whom he 
found in Arkansas, a regiment of Missouri Confederate cavalry. 

From Pocahontas, Ark., in the latter part of the month of Decem- 
ber, 1862, as acting brigadier, he moved with his command and the 
battalions of Cols. Colton Green and J. Q. A. Burbridge, to co-oper- 
ate with Gen. John S. Marmaduke in his attack on Springfield. By 
a mistake of Gen. Marmaduke, Col. Porter's command did not par- 
ticipate in this attack. It moved on a line far to the eastward. After 
the expedition had failed the commands of Marmaduke and Porter 
united at Marshfield, and started to retreat into Arkansas. At Hart- 
ville, in Wright county, on January 11, 1863, a considerable Federal 
force was encountered and defeated, although at severe loss to the 
Confederates, who had many valuable officers killed and mortally 
wounded. Amono^ the latter was Col. Porter. While leading a 
charge he was badly shot, but managed to accompany the army into 
Arkansas, and died from his wounds near Batesville, February 18, 
1863. 



CHAPTER IX. 

DURING 1863 AND 1864. 

The Military Occupation of 1863 — 1864 — Miscellaneous — Bill Anderson's Raid — 
Capture and Plunder of Shelbina — Burning of the Salt River Bridge — The Cen- 
tralia Massacre — A Shelby County Company Almost Annihilated — Names of the 
Slaughtered — The Presidential Election. 

1863. 

The year 1863 found Shelby county securely in the possession and 
under the control of the Federal military authorities with no rebel to 
molest them or make them afraid, and so the county remained 
throughout the year. A very large majority of the citizens were 
really Unionists, and many more so avowed themselves whether they 
were or not. 

The militia held the posts at Shelbyville and Shelbina and guarded 
the Salt river railroad bridge. From time to time detachments were 
stationed at Clarence, Hunnewell and elsewhere throughout the 
county. 

The military usually lived off the country, and obeyed the old mili- 
tary maxim to " forage on the enemy." Many a load of corn was 
hauled from a " rebel" crib, many a " rebel " horse was " pressed." 
When scouting through the country the militia usually took their 
meals at farm houses, preferring to favor those of Confederate pro- 
clivities when practicable. 

In the early spring of the year Cos. I and L, of the Second Mis- 
souri State Militia — the Shelby county companies — were sent into 
South-eastern Missouri. On the 26th day of April they assisted in 
defending Cape Girardeau and in repulsing an attack on that city by 
the Confederates under Gen. Marmaduke. 

1864. 

Up to December 31, 1863, the county of Shelby had the following 
number of troops in the regular military service of the United States, 
as reported by the adjutant-general : — 

(767) 



768 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



IN MISSOURI REGIMENTS. 



Twenty-fifth Infantry ^ . . 1 Third Cavalry .... 45 
Twenty-sixth Infantry . . 1 Seventh Cavalry .... 1 
Thirtieth Infantry .... 4 Eleventh Cavalry .... 34 

Total 86 

IN THE MISSOURI STATE MILITIA. 

Second Cavalry .... 182 Eleventh Cavalry (before 

consolidation) . . . 236 

Total . . . ■ 418 

In regiments from other States there were 36, making a total of 
540. There were, as is well known, at least 60 men from this county 
in other regiments whose names were unreported, making not less 
than 600. 

This, of course, did not include those in the Enrolled Militia, of 
whom there were some hundreds. 

In November, 1864, the county court offered a bounty of $100 to 
every man who enlisted in the Federal service or furnished a substi- 
tute. Under this order bounties were paid to nearly all of the heirs 
and legal representatives of the members of Co. G, Thirty-ninth Mis- 
souri that were killed at Centralia. 

BILL Anderson's raid into shelby county — capture and sack of 

SHELBINA BURNING OF THE SALT RIVER BRIDGE. 

Although the most exciting period of the war through which Shelby 
county passed was in 1862, yet the experiences of some of the people 
of the county in the summer of 1864 were of the most thrilling 
character and are vividly remembered even yet. 

In the latter part of the month of July the Confederate guerrilla 
chieftain. Bill Anderson, with 23 men, crossed the Missouri river at 
Waverly,into Carroll county, shot down without mercy a dozen Union 
citizens, and passed on into Randolph, where he had been reared to 
manhood. Entering Huntsville, his old home, he robbed the town 
and county treasury of $30,000 and proceeded eastward. Crossing 
the North Missouri at Allen (now Moberly), he entered Monroe and 
turned northward toward Shelbina. 



* There were at least 50 men from Shelby in this regiment, but as they had enlisted 
in other counties, they were credited to those counties. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 769 

On the morning of July 27, Anderson, at the head of 34 men, 
entered Shelbina from the south. Riding directly into the square, 
about the first man he accosted was Taylor, the banker. " Come 

here you red-headed !" yelled Anderson, "and hold 

this horse." Taylor, gazing into the muzzle of a huge dragoon 
revolver, became at once a very efficient groom. 

The o-uerrillas dispersed through the town and made a prisoner of 
every able-bodied male citizen that they met. They began a syste- 
matic and thorough pkmderiug of the stores, shops, and citizens. 
The store-houses were gutted. In every instance the money drawers 
were robbed first and the proprietors were forced to give up their 
purses, pocket-books and watches. Clothing, dry goods, notions, 
boots, ladies' goods, infants' articles — all were seized by the brigands 
without scruple and without discrimination. 

Bolts of silk and alpaca were taken for saddle blankets ; ribbons 
and laces ornamented the hats and clothing of the men, and festooned 
the necks and were plaited into the manes and tails of the horses. 
" Give me another bolt of stuff to make my gal a dress," yelled one 
ffuerrilla to Mr. Reid, the merchant. "It will take a whole bolt," 
he added, " for she is awful big, and she's just as sweet as she is 
bio-!" When the bolt was handed out, " Now, I want some trim- 
min's," he said. Helping himself to these, it was noticed that they 
included a string of baby shoes. 

The citizens had been taken unawares. The guerrillas were nearly 
all dressed in Federal uniform, and at a distance the line looked as 
blue as a bunch of violets and as loyal as " Co. I." To be sure the 
citizens could not have done much against the invaders, and perhaps 
it would not have been best if they had tried to do anything, since the 
guerrillas were splendidly mounted, more splendidly armed, rode like 
Mamelukes, and were fierce and merciless as janizaries. 

All the citizen prisoners were formed in a line along Maple street, 
south of the depot, and relieved of their money and valuables. 

Although many threats were made, nobody was hurt, except in his 
feelings ! All fared alike. The Confederate sympathizer shared the 
fate of his Union neighbor, and was fleeced as completely. C. M. 
King, then a spruce young attorney, was arrayed in a handsome suit 
of clothes. Confronted by a guerrilla with a drawn revolver and the 
demand, " Hand out your money," Charley produced a dollar and 
ofi'ered it. " Is that all you have? " roared the robber. Assured that 
it was, the guerrilla declared that King ought to be shot ** for puttin' 
on so d — n much style without the money to back it ! " Thereupon 
he contemptuously threw Charley's dollar back to him ! 



770 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Another citizen, a Confederate sympathizer, was robbed of all his 
money. " ISovv your watch," called the robber. Begging to be 
allowed to keep his watch, saying, "You have taken all my money 
and that ought to satisfy you," Mr. Citizen was met by the proposi- 
tion : " What in h — I does a man care about the time o' day when he 
hain't got any money." 

W. A. Keid lost $550 in cash and $1,000 in goods. He saved $500 
by kicking it under the counter and covering it with rubbish. 

J. W. Ford, druggist, lost $157 in cash and a considerable lot of 
goods. The turpentine, alcohol and other inflammables used in burn- 
ing the depots and cars were taken from his store. 

Sparks, Hill & Co., of the tobacco factory, had some tobacco on 
the cars which were burned. Anderson graciously allowed them to 
remove it and his men then helped themselves. List & Taylor and 
S. G. Lewis, the other leading merchants, were also robbed. 

Inquiry was made by the guerrillas as to the situation at Shelby- 
ville, but it was learned that the citizens there had an improvised 
cannon, a strong stockade, plenty of arms, and that they would fight 
before they would give up their town. So Anderson wisely con- 
cluded not to attempt a raid on the county seat, although he said it 
would give him great pleasure to "go over there and clean up the 
d d milish." 

After a stay of some three or four hours, and having pretty thor- 
oughly " cleaned out the town," the guerrillas set both railroad 
depots and two cars on fire, and departed, going eastward. They 
were not requested to remain longer! The depots (freight and pas- 
senger) and the cars were burned up. 

Riding rapidly on, the band soon came to Lakenan Station. Here 
a halt was made long enough to give the station house to the flames, 
and then the march was resumed for the main objective point, the 
Salt river bridge. Reaching the bridge the band dismounted, put out 
pickets to the east and south and soon had the bridge on fire. When 
they thought the conflagration and entire destruction of the bridge 
were assured, the guerrillas rode away toward the south-west, going 
back into Howard and Chariton counties. At Saunder's, south of the 
bridge, they got dinner, and in a quarrel over a watch which one of 
them had stolen, he was shot dead and Saunders was forced to bury 
his body. 

^Although they did nothing on this raid but rob and burn and mur- 
der, Bill Anderson and his baud of cut-throats are somehow regarded 
by a small minority of people as semi-heroes, and braves, and as 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 771 

exponents of the Confederate cause. The true citizen, the honest 
man, and the genuine Confederate all repel this idea, or even its insin- 
uation. The good citizen can have no sympathy with robbery and 
murder. The true Confederate soldier can have no fellowship with 
robbers and cut-throats. 

Anderson pretended that he was acting under orders from some 
superior Confederate authority, and that his operations were military 
movements. The burning'of the depots and of the Salt river bridge 
was done as much to give color to this pretense as in wantonness. 
An}^ one who was ever deceived thereby was not wise. Bill Ander- 
son never held a commission of any sort in the Confederate service. 
Only once (at Boonville, during the Price raid) was he recognized as 
being in the military service, and then Gen. Price sent him out to 
destroy the North Missouri Railroad, detaching him from the main 
Confederate army. 

But if Anderson's raid on Shelbina was a military movement, pray, 
how must be characterized the robbing of citizens, irrespective of their 
politics, of their money, watches and jewelry, the plundering of mer- 
chants of their dress patterns and baby shoes, and the seizure of 
everything striking the fancy of the villians, from a suit of clothing to 
a jack-knife or a box of cathartic pills? 

'Only one end of the Salt river bridge was burned off. Some citi- 
zens came up and put out the fire and saved the greater portion of the 
structure. The guerrillas also set fire to a lonij: line of cordwood beside 
the track, but the greater portion was saved by these same citizens. 
Mr. J. B. Wood ("Cobe") was one of these, although considered 
a " rel)." Before Anderson's men left he was at work trying to save 
the brido^e and a ouerrilla came over and kicked him off the o-rade. 
The next day, when the Hannibal militia came, they inquired of him 
why he did not put out the fire, and then they kicked him off the grade. 

The next day a considerable number of the Thirty-eighth Regiment 
Enrolled Militia (the " Railroad Brigade"), under Col. J. T. K. Hay- 
ward, came up from Hannibal to the burned bridge on the cars. Here 
the}^ alighted, and marched up to Shelbina on foot. Of course they 
came too late to do any good, but they showed a willing spirit, what- 
ever that may have been worth. 

Meredith's company went out to Saunders', where the guerrillas had 
eaten dinner and, calling on John Henry Saunders (sec. 17 — 5d — 9), 
demanded his gun. Although he was willing they should have it, his 
nephew had mislaid it and it could not be found. A brute of a militia 
man then struck him over the head a cruel blow with the butt of his 



772 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

musket, knocking him senseless. It was Mr. Saunders' watch over 
which the guerrilla was killed. 

It was not many days thereafter until tli« depots at Shelbina and 
Lakenan and the bridge over Salt river were rebuilt. Trains began 
to run regularly, and business was resumed as usual. The Shelbina 
merchants restocked their establishments with bran new goods, the 
prices of which were constantly advancing, and the most of them in 
time made up their losses before they recovered from their scare. 

THE CENTRALIA MASSACRE. 

Just two months after Bill Anderson's raid on Shelbina occurred the 
noted and horrible affair at Centralia, Mo., known as the Centralia 
massacre. How Shelby county came to be identified with this fearful 
incident is related below. As more than 50 of her citizens were 
slaughtered in that fearful affair, swallowed up in death as by the 
yawn of an earthquake, no apology is offered for the following ac- 
count : — 

On the 25th of September, 1864, a band of guerrillas, bushwhack- 
ers, and 150 recruits who had been mustered into the Confederate 
service, all numbering about 400 men, crossed the North Missouri 
Railway ( now the Wabash ) at a point near the present site of Moberly, 
125 miles north-west of St. Louis. They went eastward into Monroe 
county, threatening Paris, the county seat. The Confederate recruits 
were under the command of Maj. John Thrailkill. The guerrillas 
and bushwhackers were divided into squads and companies of various 
sizes, led by George Todd, Bill Anderson, Dare Poole, Tom Todd 
and Si Gordon, all experienced and noted leaders. The master spirit 
was George Todd, who planned all movements and settled all contro- 
versies. Tom Todd was a Baptist minister. 

Learning that there was a strong Federal force at Paris, the guer- 
rillas turned southward toward Jefferson City, resolving to cross the 
Missouri and join the army of Gen. Price (known to them to be 
already in the State and advancing northward, and at that time at 
Pilot Knob), as soon as it should come up in that quarter, near the 
State Capitol. 

They recrossed the North Missouri three miles east of Centralia 
and 30 miles below where they had crossed the previous day, and 
went into camp on the farm of a Maj. Singleton and in the timber 
corner of Callaway, about three miles from Centralia. 

The next morning (September 27), Todd sent Bill Anderson with his 
company of 75 men up to Centralia to reconnoiter and pick up 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 773 

information. A Federal detachment was at Sturgeon, eight miles 
from Centralia, and another at Columbia, 16 miles away. Centralia 
was then a small village of 25 houses, a station on the North Missouri. 
Anderson rode in without molestation (there were no troops there), 
sacked the place, gutting the two stores; robbed the stage coach from 
Columbia ; plundered the depot of some cases of boots and a barrel 
of whisky, and, at about 12 o'clock, captured the west-bound passen- 
ger train from St. Louis. The train — express, baggage and passen- 
ger cars, all — was robbed of about $30,000 — not a cent less. Then 
the cars were fired and the train started up the road under a full head 
of steam, but it ran only about two miles when it stopped and burned 
up. The Centralia depot and some cars were also burned. 

On this train were 23 Federal soldiers, furloughed and discharged 
men, and one man (a German) wearing a blue blouse. The guerrillas 
took them off the train, separated them from the other passengers, 
robbed every one, stripped the most of them, then stood them up in 
line and shot the 22 soldiers and the citizen wearing the blue blouse. 
One soldier, Sergt. Tom Goodman, of the First Missouri Engineers, 
was spared by the express order of Bill Anderson — why, no one ever 
knew. The murdered soldiers were chiefly from the First Iowa Cavalry 
and First Missouri Engineers. Four of the bodies were scalped; all 
were shot more than three times. After this scene was over the ^uer- 
rillas returned to camp, yelling and hooting. Some of them bore with 
them new boots filled with whisky. 

The force at Paris was composed of some companies of the Thirty- 
ninth Missouri, a regiment which had been in service about a month, 
but the most of whose members had served in the militia and were not 
altogether inexperienced. The Colonel of the regiment was E. A. 
Kutzner. The regiment was armed only with Enfield muskets and 
bayonets. 

As soon as it was learned that the bushwhackers had entered the 
county, Maj. A. V. E. Johnson, of the Thirty-ninth, set out after them 
with detachments of Cos. A, G, and H, numbering, officers and all, 
147 men. Nearly all his men were mounted on plow-horses, brood- 
mares and mules " pressed " from the citizens for the occasion. 
Co. A, from Adair county, was commanded by Capt. James A. 
Smith ; Co. G, from Shelby county, by Lieuts. Thomas Jayues and 
Josiah Gill ; its Captain, William Glover, of Shelbyville, was at 
home at the time, sick ; Co. H, from Marion and Lewis counties, by 
Capt. Adam Theis. 

Maj. Johnson soon took the trail of the guerrillas and followed it to 



774 HISTORY OF SHKLBY COUNTY. 

where it recrossed the North Missouri, arriving at the latter point 
about 3 p. m. of the 27th. Seeing the smoke of the smoldering depot 
at Centralia, three miles off, the Major marched his command up to 
the little hamlet to investigate. Here he saw and learned what had 
happened. With all proper deliberation and coolness he prepared to 
act. While in the garret of the hotel, in company with Dr. A. F. 
Sneed, a citizen of Centralia, engaged in reconnoitering the position 
of the guerrillas as well as he could at a distance of three miles across 
open country, the Major saw a squad of them approaching the town. 
Hastily descending he prepared to attack them. 

In vain did Dr. Sneed and others remonstrate, telling Johnson how 
many guerrillas were really down at Singleton's, how splendidly they 
Avere mounted, and how well they were armed. Maj. Johnson had 
been ordered to follow and punish the bushwhackers. He had pursued 
them for 24 hours; had come up with them, and found the mangled 
and murdered corpses of 22 of his comrades lying festering in the 
sun; a village robbed and plundered, and the people paralyzed with 
terror. What was he to do? Turn about and flee from danger, now 
that he was in its immediate presence? There are those who think he 
should have done so for the sake of his men ; but they forget that his 
men were as eager as he to advance on the guerrillas. He did his 
duty, as became a true soldier. 

"I will fight them anyhow," the brave officer exclaimed to Dr. 
Sneed. Mounting his horse, he hastily formed his men into line. 
Detaching Capt. Theis with his company of 36 men to remain in the 
villao-e, Maj. Johnson marched out to attack his desperate foe with 
110 men. He said a few words to them, informing them of their 
danger. Not a m;in flinched or desired to remain behind. It was as 
when Gonzales addressed his men at La Espina ; — 

" I lead ye not to win a field — 
I lead ye forth to die ! " 

The bushwhackers led Maj. Johnson and his men south-east from 
Centralia across the prairie into a fallow field, on the farm of one 
Capt. Fullenwider. 'Here a fatal ambuscade and trap had been pre- 
pared. The Federals marched south into the field, and then turned 
and faced the east, immediately opposite Bill Anderson's company, 
drawn up in line ready to charge them. The line now dismounted, 
and leaving every fourth man to hold horses, the rest advanced on 
foot to within 400 yards of Anderson's company, behind which was 
Poole's, all the guerrillas that could be seen. The line halted and 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 775 

fixed bayonets. Johnson rode 20 paces to the front, and halted, sit- 
ting motionless on his horse, his revolver in his right hand. The 
guerrillas were preparing to charge him — he could see that. 

But Maj. Johnson could not see all of his fearful peril ; at least, it 
is believed he could not. The fallow cornfield was a sort of moraine, 
sloping to the east. On either side, running into Young's creek from 
west to east was a slough, a sort of ravine filled with plum bushes, 
crab apple, hazel and other brush. Behind these lines of brush, 
securely hidden, and lying down on their horses, with one foot in the 
stirrup and the other on the ground, were hundreds of guerrillas, the 
most desperate men then in existence, the best pistol shots in America. 
On the north were Thrailkill, Gordon and Tom Todd; on the south 
George Todd. In the center was Bill Anderson, and lapping his line 
in the rear was Dave Poole. 

When George Todd had gotten his men into position as he wanted 
them, he lifted his hat to Bill Anderson, the latter lifted his hat to 
Poole, and then with a great yell Anderson dashed forward. John- 
son's men could fire but one volley, and this they did. In a moment 
Anderson and his band were upon them ; then Poole and his men ; 
thereupon the Todds, Thrailkill and Gordon came swarming up from 
the flanks and the bloody work was soon over. No quarter was shown 
to a single Federal: perhaps none was asked. The guerrillas say 
the most of the Federals died fightins^ — strikino- with their muskets, 
stabbing and thrusting with their bayonets. Maj. Johnson fired three 
shots from his revolver, and was then shot out of his saddle, a bullet 
through his temple. Capt. Smith was killed. Lieuts. Jaynes, Gill 
and Moore escaped, being mounted. 

Anderson and Poole kept on for the " fourth men " holding the 
horses, and in five minutes were in Centralia. Fifteen men were 
killed between the field and the village. Lieut. Jaynes (now living 
near Hun ne well, this county) was the first in town from the scene of 
carnage. Capt. Theis tried to form his compau}'' and fight, but before 
he could do so the guerrillas were upon them. All that could then 
set out for Sturgeon. Fifteen of Theis's company (H) were killed in 
Centralia and on the road to Sturofeon. Some were killed in 
outhouses, and one was murdered by the bedside of a sick lady. One 
citizen was killed by the guerrillas. 

Out of the 147 men under Johnson's command but 23 escaped, for 
123 were killed, and one, Frank Barnes, of Co. H, was wounded — 
shot five times. Co. A lost 56 men killed, including Capt. Smith; 
Co. G, 51 men killed ; Co. H, 15 killed, one wounded. The guerrillas 

44 



776 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

lost but three killed and ten Avounded. Maj. eTohnson had a small 
piece of his sculp taken. Six or eight others were scalped, and Samuel 
Bell of Co. G, was mutilated in a revolting manner not to be described. 
Some of the bodies were buried at Mexico, Mo. ; others by the citizens 
at Centralia. Friends came and carried away many. Maj. Johnson 
was buried in Marion county, not far from his home. 

It is proper, for it is the truth, to say that the reports which have 
been circulated that Maj. Johnson carried a black flag at the head of 
his command ; that he cursed and swore at the citizens of Centralia, 
threatening them with dire vengeance when he should return from the 
battlefield, and that he was drunk at the time and did not know what 
he was doing, are all cruel and malicious slanders wholly without 
foundation. Maj. Johnson was a school teacher, and sometimes offici- 
ated as a minister. He was an honorable. Christian gentleman, tem- 
perate at all times, and the people of Centralia say he spoke kindly 
to and with sympath}^ for them. He perhaps did not know how largely 
the guerrillas outnumbered his men, but no doubt if he had known he 
would have moved against them just the same. He said: *'I will 
fight them, anyhow." 

The guerrillas carried from two to six Colt's navy revolvers each, 
and -were quite proficient in their use. Their horses were also the 
best in Missouri. The Federals had only muskets and bayonets for 
arms, and generally miserable hacks of horses. Frank James, the 
noted bandit, was at Centralia, a member of Anderson's company. 
His brother, Jesse, was not present. 

The following is a list of the Shelby county company killed at Cen- 
tralia, 51 in all, as shown by the records in the Adjutant-General's 
office at Jefierson City. It is believed that every man was from this 
county : — 

LIST OF MEMBERS OF CO. " G," THIRTY-NINTH MISSOURI INFANTRY, 
KILLED AT CENTRALIA, MO., SEPTEMBER 27, 1864. 

Sergeants. — David N. Dunn, John Donahoe, William Lair, George 
W. Miller. Corporals. — Leander P. Burt, James S. Gunby, Will- 
iam Loar, David Riggs, L. D. Sherwood, Jacob R. Wexler. Pri- 
vates. — George W. Adams, Charles M. Jenkins, Charles Bishop, 
William Knepper, Samuel Bell, Anthony Labus, Philip Christian, 
Louis F. Marquette, William Christian, Charles Masterson, Oscar 
Collier, John Moore, John J. Cristein, John C. Montgomery, Homer 
M. Dunbar, William A. Ross, William Drennan, Robert E. Spires, 
Sylvester H. Dean, J. G. Sellers, James S. Edwards, Edward Strachan, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 777 

Eleazer Evans, James Stalcup, Robert P. Elston, William T. Smith, 
William G. Floor, Peter T. Simmenion, James Forsythe, James W. 
Trussell, Robert Greenfield, George W. Van Osdale, William P. 
Golay, Jasper N. Vaden, Henry T. Gooch, A. M. Vandiver, Joseph 
S. Glahn, Jonathan Webdell, John W. Hardin, William T. Whitelock 
and Elijah Hall. 

The news of the slaughter of so many of their friends and kinsmen 
was received by the people of Shelby county first, with grief, then 
with great indignation. The long, loud wail that went up from 
homes desolated, robbed of their chief supports, and forever stricken, 
soon gave way to cries for vengeance. Man}' were for taking 
redress upon those of Confederate sympathies here at home, as if 
innocent blood could atone for innocent blood. Soon more righteous 
counsel had sway. The widow sat in her weeds and gathered her 
sobbing brood about her to pray for strength to endure her calamity. 
The mother and sister bewailed the loss of a son and a brother in 
what calmness they could and in what resignation they might. 

The next da}'^ after the massacre Mr. J. C. Hale and others went 
down to Sturgeon and identified and shipped home the bodies of Sergts. 
Dunn and Lair and Louis jVTarquette. The next week Mr. B. F. 
Dunn and others went to Centralia, but it was found impossible to 
identify any more of the bodies, and they left them in the long wide 
trench where the citizens had buried them. In 1873 the remains were 
taken up and conveyed to the National Cemetery at JeiFerson City, 
where they yet repose. 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 

At the Presidential election, 1864, the vote of Shelby county was : 
For Lincoln, 366 ; for McClellan, 216. Republican majority, 150. 
This year Hon. John F. Benjamin, of Shelby county, was elected to 
Congress on the Republican ticket by a large majority. Mr. Benja- 
min was the first Congressman ever elected from the county and 
served three consecutive terms. 



ES 



CHAPTER X. 

LEADING INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY, FROM 

1865 TO 1884. 

The War Over — Adoption of the Drake Constitution — The " Ousting Ordinance " — 
Indicting the "Rebel" Preachers — Registration of Voters — Miscellaneous — 
Robbery of the County Treasury — The Political Campaign of 1870 — Universal 
Amnesty and Impartial Suffrage — The Floods of 1876 — The Benjamin Will Case — 
The Robber Johnson — Murders and Homicides. 

1865. 

The early spring of this year was unusually wet and cold, and the 
season was backward and unpropitious, but the farmers in the county 
began to plow and sow, although it was not certain but that another 
should reap. The news from the chief seats of war and all the signs of 
the times indicated that the war would soon be over, but these signs and 
tokens had all appeared before, and many had been deceived thereby. 
Not until the middle of May and the 1st of June was planting finished 
in this county. But the season turned out fruitful, and crops were 
extraordinarily large. Everything was abundant and prices good. 

' « RICHMOND HAS FALLEN I ' ' 

About the 1st of April news came that Gen. Lee's army in Virginia 
was in a bad way. April 9, four years, lacking three days, from the 
capture of Ft. Sumter by the Confederates, Gen. Lee surrendered to 
Gen. Grant at Appomattox. A few days previously Richmond had 
been occupied by the Federal troops, and when this intelligence was 
received there was the wildest rejoicing among the Unionists of the 
county. Even many of Confederate sympathies were not sorry that 
peace was in prospect, though the terms might not have been to 
their likino-. 

The hearts of the Southern sympathizers of the county now sank 
heavily. It was clearly evident that a bad investment had been made 
when stock was taken in the Confederacy ; for it was apparent that 
defeat, utter and complete and overwhelming, would soon overtake 
those who followed the stars and bars. The Confederate people of 
(778) 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 779 

the county became reconciled to the inevitable, and waited with resig- 
nation for the end. 

THE AVAR OVER. 

And the end soon came. A few days after Lee had surrendered to 
Grant, Gen. Joe Johnston's army surrendered to Gen. Sherman, and 
May 13, Kirby Smith's Trans-Mississippi army, except a portion of 
Shelby's brigade and some other Missourians, gave up to Canby. 
Gen. Price, Gen. Shelby, and certain other Confederate Missourians 
to the number of 500 or more went to Mexico for awhile. Verv soon 
thereafter the Confederate soldiers began to return to their Missouri 
homes. Many passed through this county, and others lived here. In 
most instances the vanquished men in gray were allowed to return to 
their homes in peace, but occasiouall}'^ some brute or brutes in blue, 
who shamed the name of soldiers, insulted and abused them. The 
returned Confederates, having fought a good fight and been fairly 
defeated, philosophically accepted the situation and set to work to 
retrieve lost time and mend their broken fortunes. That is, those 
who did return, for many a Shelby county soldier who wore the ^ray 
had lost his life in the cause he deemed right, and filled a soldier's 
grave. 

ADOPTION OF THE ' ' DRAKE ' ' CONSTITUTION. 

On the 18th of April, the State Convention, by a vote of 38 to 14, 
framed an entirely new constitution of the State, which was to be 
presented to the voters for adoption on the 6th of June. The can- 
vass which succeeded was one of great bitterness. Although the war 
was practically over, all of the regular Confederate armies having sur- 
rendered, and the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, a close 
prisoner, yet a few guerrillas and bushwhackers continued in existence 
m this State, to the detriment of the peace and safety of the sections 
which they infested. The presence of these villains furnished an 
excuse for keeping bands of the militarj^ in the field, in many counties, 
to " preserve the peace," hold the guerrillas in check, and punish them 
for disorders. 

All of those who had participated in, or given any sort of volun- 
tary aid or encouragement to the rebellion or the Confederate cause, 
were, by the third section of the proposed new constitution, debarred 
from voting or holding office, as well as from teaching, preaching, 
practicing law, etc. And all such were prohibited from voting for 
or against the adoption of the constitution ! A spirit of unrest and 
malevolence, hatred and ill-will, prevailed among our people, and ilie 



780 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

character of the issue discussed, to say nothing of the discussions 
themselves, was not calculated to restore an era of good feeling, or 
cause the two factions to make haste to clasp hands over the bloody 
chasm. Hundreds of our tax-payers, many of them old and honored 
citizens, non-combatants during the war and men of education and 
influence, were disfranchised by the third section, and denied the 
privilege of the ballot in the decision of the great issue before the 
State — that issue being the adoption or rejection of an organic law, 
which was to govern them and their children after them. 

On the other hand, the Radicals and friends of the new constitution 
maintained that citizens who, by overt or covert acts, had attempted 
to destroy their government; who had, by fighting against the Fed- 
eral government, " committed treason," or in deeds, words and sym- 
pathy, given encouragement to those who had, were not and could not 
be proper recipients of the ballot. It was further alleged that, had 
the Confederate armies succeeded, and Missouri become in fact and 
indeed one of the Confederate States, then every Union man in the 
State might have considered himself truly fortunate if he had been 
allowed to live in Missouri ; that no Union soldier, or militiaman, 
or those who had sympathized with either, would have been allowed a 
vote ; and that, in all probabihty, Gen. Price's threat, made in the 
fall of 1861, would have been carried out — and the $250,000,000 
worth of property belonging to the Union people of the State would 
have been confiscated for the benefit of those who had remained loyal 
to the Confederate cause, and suffered thereby, etc., etc. 

In Shelby county the threat of Senator Green, at Shelbyville, in 
the summer of 1861, was quoted. Speaking to the Union men, he 
said : " If r/oM win, we will leave ; if we win, you shall leave." 

In the whole State only 85,478 votes (including soldiers' votes) 
were cast at the election adopting the wQVf constitution, as follows : 
For, 43,670; against, 41,808; majority for, 1,862 — a very small 
majority, indeed, to decide so important a question. The constitu- 
tion went into effect on the 4th of July following. At this election, 
the following was the vote of Shelby county : For, 282 ; against, 164. 

No wonder the ex-Confederates and those who sympathized with 
them hated intensely the Drake constitution, and still retain vivid and 
bitter memories of the days when it was in force. Happily those 
days have passed, and with them nearly all of the bitterness and ani- 
mosities then engendered. 

By a section of Article II, every person holding any office of honor, 
trust, or profit, in this State, whether under the authority of the State 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 781 

or any municipal cori)onition, was required to take the oath of loyalty 
within 60 days after the adoption of the constitution. 

THE "OUSTING ORDINANCE." 

The State Convention passed an ordinance Vacating certain civil 
offices in the State and filling the same anew by appointment of Gov. 
Fletcher. This authority His Excellency exercised generally by the 
elevation of his political friends over the incumbents who were not 
Radicals. In this county the appointments were : — 

W. J. HoUiday, county clerk, vice T. O. Eskridge, removed ; John 
S. Duncan, circuit clerk, vice W. L. Chipley, removed ; James Bell, 
treasurer, vice C. K. Cotton, removed. County court justice Samuel 
Huston gave way to Lewis F. Carothers. The other officials 
remained. 

In this judicial circuit John I. Campbell was appointed judo-e in 
the room of Hon. Gilchrist Porter. 

All of the new appointees were Radical Republicans. When it 
came to holding offices in those days, no Democrat needed to apply. 
Judges Bay and Dryden, of the Supreme Court (Democrats), who 
had been elected in 1863, were removed by force, being placed under 
arrest by the police of St. Louis for refusing to vacate when ordered, 
they holding the ousting ordinance to be unconstitutional. Those 
who were removed in Shelby county submitted without an audible 
murmur ! 

INDICTING THE " REBEL " PREACHERS. 

Under section 9 of Article II. of the Drake constitution, teachers 
and preachers were liable to arrest and punishment if they could not 
take the oath embodied in the second section. In this county there 
were many such. 

In November, 1866, the grand jury of Shelby county indicted the 
following ministers of the gospel for preaching without taking the 
Drake oath: Rev. Jesse Faubiau, three counts; Henr}'^ Louthan, 
Robert Holliday, Milford Powers, William Pulliam, Father D. P. 
Phelan, and Rev. Robey and Brown. 

The indictments against the preachers were found separately, and 
charged each and every one of them with having, on a certain day, 
" at the county of Shelby aforesaid, more than 60 days after the 4th 
of July, 1865, unlawfully, feloniously, etc., 'preached,' without first 
having taken, subscribed and filed, * * the oath of loyalty," 
which said preaching was " contrary to the form of the constitution 



782 HISTORY OF SHKLllY COUNTY. 

in fiiich cases made .■iiid provided, and against the peace and dignity of 
the State I '' 

Tlio pn^icliors w(m-o .'irrcsled, hut never broiiglil, to trial and convic- 
tion. Th(i c:is('H wore postponed, and some time this year the Supreme 
Court of the United States decided the " teaching and preaching" 
chiUHO oftiie Drake Constitution to be in conflict with the Constitution 
of the United States, and the charges wore dismissed. 

UKUIHTKATION OF VOTKIiS. 

Under tlie constitution of 18(55 every voter in the State had to bo 
rogistoriMl l)e(oi-e \\i.\ could vole. J I" lie li:i(l not been *' strictly loyal" 
lie (U)uhl not regist(^r. A board of r(^gistrars was appointed and before 
these each voter must appear. 

In this county the board of regisl rars prepared a list of questions 
whi(rh wen^ submitted to every a|)plieant for registration. These 
questions w(m-(! priiil(Ml in a, book, with blanks for answers, one book 
for ea(!h township, and answers of IJie applicant became a matter of 
record. 

MISCUOI.LANKOUS. 

TT{)on the concrlusion of the war the county made rapid progress in 
its development, increase of ])opulation, acquisition of permanent 
imi)rovement, etc. Immigrants came in from other States and found 
good homes on Ihe cheap lands tluMi Ix^ng oinn-ed. Much new land 
was opened and other older tracts wcm'c better improved. 

As soon as tlu^ county got rid of sonu^ of its indebtedness, a part of 
the l(\gacy left by the war, it began tlu^ construction of bridges and 
the improvement of roads. July If), 1871, the contract for the large, 
long bridge across Salt river, betw(>en Shelbyville and Shelbina, at the 
old Dickerson ford, was let. Addison Lair was the commissioner and 
Morse & Hearne were the contractors. The contract i)ricc for the 
bridge proper was %:),'M'^.i:y, but the entire cost of the bridge and 
its approaches was $10, 007. Morse & llearne built the api)roachcs 
also, '{'he work was (completed in December, 1871. Throe or four 
years sIikh? this bridge was pronounced unsafe. 

The same year (1871) the iron bridge across the South Fal)ius, in 
the north-eastern part of the county, was built by liishop & Eaton, 
at a cost of about $2,800. This was the lirst, and up to Ihe present 
is the only, exclusively iron britlge in the county. There are many 
Coml)in;ilion bridges, however. 



IIISTOltY OF HHIOLIiY f;OlJNTY. 783 



KOUnKKV OF Til 10 (;(>[JNTV TUKASI/RY. 

Oil llio iii^hl. of the 2()Ui of Novoiribcr, IHOH, llio cjtnnly Irousmy 
of Sljcll)y county wan rol)l>od of about $10,000 by burglars. 'JMio 
treasury at that time corisistocJ of a Hafc jMinjliasod by the county iti 
1857 and set into a vault in the county chji-k'n oflice, l)ui]t forth(; [nir- 
pose. It liad previously b(!(!n de(!nied secun;, and was f,h(; only 
rece[)tacl(! provifhid by the county in which to l<(!ep tin; funds and 
other valuabl(;s belonging to the county. 

The burglars effected an entrance; into the clei-k's oiWcc, throu'di tin! 
north window. The doors of the safe were pried open with powerful 
levers and [)riesand steel wedges made expressly for the purpose. The 
safe was thoi-oughly ransacked and every cent of money it containcul 
was taken. Tlie robl)ery was first noticed by the county clerk, W. .1. 
Holliday, on his rcj)airing to the office tin; next rnoi-nin*''. 

The safe contained the following anioiints of money: — 

1 $1000 mttionaj l>ank note $l,f)00 0(> 

500 00 

or greenbacks . . ;>00 00 

. . ;}50 00 

. . f;,02o 00 

. . «30 00 

. . 400 00 

i(;o 00 

li.O 00 

:vj 00 



1 


500 




< ( 


( i 




I ( 


3 


100 




i I 


i i 




(( 


7 


50 




i i 


i i 




( ( 


301 


20 




I < 


i i 




t ( 


63 


10 




( ( 


i i 




<( 


80 


5 




( ( 


I i 




( ( 


10 


10 u 


nion 


milita 


U 


bonds 


19 


5 


( ( 




( ( 




(( 


13 


3 


( ( 




( ( 




( ( 



Total, $U,4i)4 00 

Of this sum $1,290 'had been rec(!iv(;d from the tax on licenses, 
$3,224 Ijelonged to the State revenue fund, and $4,980 to the State in- 
terest fund. In addition to the sums of public money in the safe, 
Clerk Ilolliday had some funds of his own, and a considerable sum 
belonged to the Enrolled Militia, having not yet been disbursed, mak- 
ing in all about $10,000. 

A few days before, Sluiriff J. M. Collifir, then the county f;oll(jf;tr)r, 
had taken a considerable amount of the public funds, af)out $30,00(j, 
to Quincy for safe keeping. Had the robbers come while this sum was 
in the vault their visit would have been quite i)rofitable. The collec- 
tor had made a full and legal investigation of the case, in which county 
attorney M. J. Manville represented the county. The result was an 



784 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

exoneration of the public officials from all blame or censure, and the 
inculpation of no one. 

Two men from Quincy, sojourning in Shelbyville at the time, were 
objects of suspicion, and the citizens took them into custody. They 
were taken out of town and lynched to make them confess, but they 
protested their innocence so fervently that at last they were released. 
The real culprits were never discovered. A year later some heavy 
iron and steel pries and drills and a few wedges were found in a fence 
corner in a little meadow south of town and north of Black creek. 
These were supposed to have been used in "cracking" the Shelby 
county safe. 

THE POLITICAL CANVASS AND ELECTION OF 1870. 

No more important or exciting political contest ever came off in 
Shelby county, not even in Presidential years, than that in 1870. 
The contest was between the regular Republicans or " Radicals" on 
the one side, and the Liberal Republicans and Democrats on the other, 
and this contest extended throughout the State. 

The questions of universal amnesty and enfranchisement, of the 
repeal of the Missouri '* iron-clad" test oath for voters, jurors, min- 
isters, lawyers, teachers, etc., were rapidly sowing the seeds of dis- 
cord and disintegration in the Republican party of the State, and 
dividing it into two wings, the Radicals and Liberals. The former, 
led by Charles D. Drake, maintained the extreme and harsh policy, 
and the latter, headed by B. Gratz Brown and Carl Schurz, con- 
tended for the more magnanimous policy in regard to those who, by 
word or deed, or both, had held complicity with the rebellion. 

There was a growing sentiment among the people that the war was 
over ; that the time for expurgatory oaths of all sorts had passed ; 
that taxation without representation was unjust; that since, by the 
adoption of the XV Amendment this year, negroes who formerly were 
slaves were allowed to vote, it was but equitable that their former 
white masters should be given the same privilege ; that public senti- 
ment, inside and .outside of the State, was making largely against 
the condition of things as illiberal, proscriptive, unjust and tyrannical, 
and that circumstances demanded a change. 

Owing to the test oath prescribed by the Drake constitution, and the 
very stringent registry laws passed to enforce it, the Democrats were 
in an almost hopeless minority at the polls, and therefore had little or 
no voice in the direction of public affairs. As was natural, few ex- 
Confederates or their sympathizers were Republicans ; their disfran- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 785 

chisement by the Republicans kept them from becoming voters, and 
embittered them, of course, against the authors of their condition. 
There being but two parties, they were forced therefore to sympathize 
with the Democrats, even had many of them not been at heart of that 
faith for years before the war. 

Hoping to gain the ascendancy in the State by the acquisition of the 
disfranchised Confederates, rehabilitated with the elective franchise, 
through a repeal and destruction of the constitutional and legal bar- 
riers which interposed between them, the policy of the Democrats was 
first to divide and then to conquer the Republicans. To accomplish 
this, no way seemed so hopeful of favorable results as "the passive 
policy," — or, as it was popularly called, " the 'possum policy," — 
which signified the withdrawal of the Democratic party as an organiza- 
tion from the canvass of 1870, and the co-operation of its members 
individually with the Liberal Republicans as allies. It was apparent 
that, once the disfranchising clause of the constitution should be 
removed, the Democratic party would come speedily into power, and 
once in power and place, it would be secure in the possession thereof 
for an indefinite period, intrenched behind the huge majority it would 
have. 

The Democratic State Central Committee, Hon. D. H. Armstrong, 
chairman, refused in March to call a State convention, tacitly binding 
the party to the support of the Liberal Republican nominees, whoever 
they should be. The counties were to be left to take care of 
themselves. 

The Republican State convention met August 31, and of course 
there was a split. The Liberals, headed by Carl Schurz, withdrew 
from the convention and organized another, nominating B. Gratz 
Brown for Governor and Col. J. J. Gravelly for Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, on a platform unequivocally in favor of the adoption of the 
amendments proposed to the constitution by the previous Legislature, 
to be voted on at the coming election, and commonly called the suf- 
frage and office-holding amendments. The Radicals nominated Joseph 
W. McClurg for re-election on a platform favoring " re-enfranchising 
those justly disfranchised for participation in the rebellion as soon as 
it can be done with safety to the State,''^ and recognizing the right of 
any member of the party to vote thereon as he pleased. McClurg 
personally favored re-enfranchisement. Then the canvass opened. 

Among the prominent Liberal Republican speakers this year in 
Missouri was Gen. John McNeil, the commander of this district dur- 



786 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



ing the war, who was now in favor of enfranchising the men whom he 
had once ruled so rigorously. 

In Shelby county the politicians were excited. The old Democratic 
war-horses, which had for so long been grazing on scanty pastures, 
out in the cold, cocked up their ears as they sniffed the official pro- 
vender in the public crib, and ambled forward for a chance at it. 
There was something of a scramble for the offices believed to be in 
prospect. The party managers drove back some of the aspirants, 
however, and allowed the Liberal Republicans a chance. A combi- 
nation ticket between the Liberals and Democrats was arranged, and 
shrewd preparations made for the overthrow of the Radicals. 

When the registrars had completed their work this year, it was 
found that there were 1,403 legal voters in the county, as fol- 
lows : — 

REGISTRATION IN 1870. 



Townships. 


No. of Voters. 


Salt River ..... 


. 308 


Jackson ..... 


. 178 


Clay 

Jefferson ...... 


. 184 
93 


Taylor 

Black Creek ...... 


87 
. 263 


Bethel 


183 


Tiger Fork 


. . . .107 


Total 


1,403 



The election in the county resulted in a mixed triumph for the Lib- 
erals and Democrats, as follows : — 

Governor — McClurg, 600; Brown, 637. 

Congress— J. T. K. Hayward, 594 ; J. G. Blair, 635. 

Representative — Shorts, 571; Shafer, 653. 

Circuit Clerk — Leonard Dobbin, 616 ; Duncan, 591. 

County Clerk — U. A. Graves, 661; J. S. Preston, 542. 

Sheriff— William A. Poillon, 534; S. F. Dunn, 677. 

Straight Republicans in italics. 

On the amendments the vote stood; For, 881 ; against, 242. In 
the State they were adopted by a majority of more than 100,000. 
Brown defeated McClurg by 41,038. In this Congressional district 
the vote stood : Blair, 11,682 ; Hayward, 9,143. The year 1870 will 
ever be memorable in Missouri, by reason of its having been the year 
when both " rebels" and " niggers" were allowed to vote — or that 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 787 

witnessed the triumph of the principle of *' universal amnesty and 
impartial suffrage." 

THE FLOODS OF 1876. 

In the summer of 1876 the waters in some of the streams of the 
county rose to a remarkable height. Salt river was higher than it had 
ever before been known, even by the oldest settlers, who remembered 
the floods of 1844, 1851, and 1856. It was literally from bank to 
bank in many places. Where the, Shelbina and Shelby ville road 
crosses, at the long bridge, over the old Dickerson ford, the water 
covered the bridge and its approaches. On the north side it washed 
the base of a huge granite boulder, a prominent object in the road. 
Nailed high up on a large black oak tree to the east of the road is 
now (1884) the high water mark of 1876, "so plain that all may 
see." 

CENSUS OF 1880. 

The total population of Shelby county in 1880 was 14,024, divided 
as follows : Whites, 13,089 ; colored, 935. The foUowino- was the 
population by townships : — 



TOWNSHIPS. 



Bethel 1,343 Jefferson 1,548 

Black Creek, including Shelbyville . 2,074 Salt River, including Shelbina . 2,866 

Clay, including Clarence .... 1,761 Taylor I,2i2 

Jackson, including Hunnewell . . 2,057 Tiger Fork 1 163 



Shelbina 1,289 Clarence 570 

Shelbyville 619 Hunnewell 424 

LAST THREE CENSUSES COMPARED. 

I860. 1870. ' 1880. 

Whites . \ 6,565 9,540 13,089 

Colored 736 671 935 



Total 7,301 10,111 14,024 

THE GREAT BENJAMIN WILL CASE. 

In April, 1878, a suit was begun in the Shelby circuit court to set 
aside a will made or alleged to have been made by Hon. John F. 
Benjamin, of this county, a few hours before his death, March 8, 1877. 
This was and is a " celebrated case " in the annals of North-east Mis- 
souri jurisprudence, and will bear something of detailed mention and 
elaboration. 



788 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Mr. Benjamin was a native of New York, born in 1817. He came 
to Shelby county at an early clay — before 184B — and settled at 
Shelbyville. He Avas an attorney of more than ordinary ability and 
was possessed of great shrewdness, sagacity, and aptness for money 
making. He improved every opportunity to add legitimately to his 
property, and in time became possessed of a considerable fortune, esti- 
mated at about $75,000. It is said that he made something of a start 
in California, during the flush times of 1849-51. He was himself a 
«« 49er." 

During the Civil War Mr. Benjamin was an ardent Unionist, and 
early entered the Federal service. Some of his services are noted 
elsewhere. He rose from a captaincy to a brigadier-generalship of the 
Missouri militia. In 1864 he was elected to Congress as a Radical 
Republican, and re-elected in 1866 and 1868, serving three terms as 
a member of the thirty-ninth, fortieth and forty-first Congresses. In 
1872 he was again a candidate, but was defeated by Col. John M. 
Glover, the Democratic nominee. 

After the war Mr. Benjamin removed from Shelbyville to Shelbina, 
where he built a handsome and comfortable residence, costing over 
$15,000. After being defeated for Congress, he repaired to Washing- 
ton and in the fall of 1874 engaged in banking with one Otis Bigelow, 
the firm being known as Bigelow & Benjamin. 

Gen. Benjamin had long been married, but was childless. While 
in Washington as Congressman he formed the acquaintance of some 
ladies named Welsh. One, Miss Minnie Welsh, he took under his 
patronage and assisted financially and in many other ways. Upon her 
marriage to a gentleman named Hammond, he assumed a protectorate 
over her sister Guy H., a beautiful and winsome young lady, but 
capricious and guilty of certain breaches of propriety, and offenses 
against good morals. Married to a Mr. Allen, she eloped from him at 
Los Angelos, California, and in male attire concealed herself in the 
state-room of her paramour on board a vessel bound for San Fran- 
cisco. She was apprehended and the elopement frustrated. 

In Washington and elsewhere Gen. Benjamin introduced Guy Allen 
as his adopted daughter, and she called him " Papa." She made at 
least one trijo to Shelbyville with him, and accompanied him elsewhere 
on many occasions. It can not be questioned that the General, old 
and mature as he was, was very much attached to if not infatuated 
with the fascinating lady. Her enemies allege that his relations with 
her were illicit, as had been those he formerly maintained with her 
sister. It does not seem that Mrs. Benjamin recognized Guy as her 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 789 

daughter, or approved of her intimacy and familiarity with Gen. Ben- 
jamin. She and others had been informed that Mrs. Allen was a 
Washington City adventuress, pretty and engaging, but wily and 
wicked. 

In April, 1876, while at Shelbina, Benjamin made a will which was 
witnessed by W. A. Reid, Daniel Taylor and other citizens of the 
county. By the provisions of this will Guy Allen was to receive a 
specific legacy of the General's military clothing and equipments, his 
private silver plate and his diamonds. She was also to receive the 
income from the proceeds of the investment of one-half of his estate 
remaining after certain other legacies had been ]jaid and satisfied. The 
investment was to be made in United States or Missouri bonds, the 
interest on which was to be paid " to my adopted daughter, Guy H. 
Allen, aforesaid, during her natural life — the same to be for her sole 
and separate use, and neither to be paid to nor in any manner con- 
trolled by her husband." 

Also in this will the General directed that there should be erected 
over his grave a monument costing not more than $5,000, and on 
which should be inscribed the following: '■'■John Forhes Benjamin; 

horn in Cicero, New York, Jany. 23, 1817 ; died at 18 — . 

A captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, and hrigadier-general in the 
Federal army, and a member of the 39th, 40th and 41st Con- 
gresses." 

Gen. Benjamin spent a great deal of his time in Washington. He 
had rooms on D street, between Second and Third, which he occupied in 
connection with Mrs. Allen. Their rooms adjoined and communicated. 
Mrs. Benjamin remained at the elegant home in Shelbina. 

In the early winter of 1877 Gen. Benjamin sufifered from colds and 
neuralgic pains. On the 1st of March he was seized with a violent 
attack of pleuro-pneumonia. He died March 8. At the time of his 
decease, Mrs. Allen was lying very ill in an adjoining room, and was 
not informed of his death until ten days after it occurred. The Gen- 
eral's body was immediately given to an undertaker, who prepared it 
for shipment and, in charge of one George C. Rowan, it was shipped 
to Shelbina and there buried. 

Immediately after Gen. Benjamin's death, a will was produced 
bearing his undoubted signature, '< John Forbes Benjamin," and pur- 
porting to have been made March 7, 1877, the day before his death. 
This paper was written by one George Truesdell, a real estate agent 
of Washington, whose office was in the banking house of Bigelow & 
Benjamin, and who was well acquainted with the General in his life- 



790 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

time. He swore that the paper was written at Benjamin's dictation, 
and signed by him as represented. There signed this paper as wit- 
nesses the General's attending physicians, Drs. J. H. Thompson and 
G. L. Magruder ; his partner, Otis Bigelow, and Mr. Truesdell ; and 
there was pr.esent and witnessed the signing, the nurse, Catherine 
Mahonej. The following is a copy of the will : — 

THE WILL. 

Know all men by these presents that I, John Forbes Benjamin, of 
the town of Shelbina, connty of Shelby, and State of Missouri, being 
of sound mind, but conscious of the fact that I have but a few days 
to live, do make, publish, and declare the following to be my last will 
and testament, thereby revoking all wills and codicils heretofore made 
by me. 

1st. I give and bequeath the following specific legacies : — 

To my good friend, Charles M. King, of Shelbina, of Missouri, my 
law library and furniture, or all that portion of the same now in use 
by him, and my gold-headed cane. 

I give to George C. B. Eowan, of Washington, D. C, who has 
given me so much kind care and attention during my sickness, one 
hundred dollars ( $ 100 ) . 

To my beloved wife, Diana, all my property of every description 
owned or possessed by me in the State of Missouri ; also, $12,000 in 
District of Columbia six per cent, gold bonds. I also give her a deed 
of trust loan of $4,000 made to John G. Waters, and a note for $2,000 
of William Ridge, of Shelbina, Missouri, which I hereby direct to be 
forwarded to her at Shelbina, Missouri. 

I give and bequeath to my adopted daughter, Mrs. Guy H. Allen, 
wife of James M. Allen, late of Cleveland, Ohio, all my interest in 
the partnership of Bigelow & Benjamin, and all debts which may be 
owing to me by persons in the District of Columbia, and all the real 
estate owned by me in the District of Columbia. She is now very ill 
and may not survive me many days, and perhaps not at all ; in either 
event, I give and bequeath the part given to her to her sister, Mrs. 
Minnie Hammond, of Cumberland, Maryland, wife of Eugene Ham- 
mond, of Cumberland, Maryland. 

My remains after death here to be suitably but not extravagantly 
cared for by an undertaker and the same forwarded to Shelbina, 
Missouri, for such cemeterial disposition as may be had there. I leave 
it all to the discretion of my wife aforesaid. 

I have long professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ before men, as 
the Son of God. Into his hand I commit my spirit. 

I nominate and appoint my friend, Joshua M. Ennis, of Shelbyville, 

Missouri, the executor of this my last will and testament, so far as my 

in-operty in the State of Missouri is concerned ; and appoint George 

Truesdell to wind up my business in the District of Columbia, so far 

as will not interfere with the rights of Otis Bigelow, my surviving 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 791 

partner. Subscribed by own hand. Done in the City of Washing- 
ton, in the District of Columbia, on the 7th day of March, A. D. 
1877. 

John Forbes Benjamin. 
Subscribed by us as witnesses in the presence of each otlier, and in 
the presence of and at the request of the testator, who declared to us 
that the foregoing was his last will and testament, the testator being 
known to each of us to be the party signing as such. 

J. H. Thompson, M. D., 
G. L. Magruder, M. D., 
Otis Bigelow, 
George Truesdell. 

About March 1, 1877, or eight days before his death, Mr. Benjamin 
made what was intended evidently to be a schedule of his property. 
This schedule, or memorandum, which was in his own handwriting, 
was as follows: "Bank, $34,500; St. L., 2,000; Notes, $11,440; 
Kidge, $2,000 ; Waters, $3,000 ; Bonds, $12,000 ; R. E. [real estate], 
$2,000; Int., $310; Profit, $50; cash, $2,450. Total, $69,750. 

The immediate relatives of Gen. Benjamin — his wife, Mrs. Diana 
Benjamin ; his brothers, George H. and Henry H. ; his sister, Mrs. 
Louisa Wood ; and a niece, Mrs. Thurza Parks — contested this will, 
and in April, 1878, brought suit in the Shelby circuit court to have it 
set aside and declared null and void, on the ground that it had been 
fraudulently obtained and made ; that the principal beneficiary, Mrs. 
Guy H. Allen, had an undue influence over the testator, etc. 

It was further charged or insinuated that there had been the foulest 
of foul play in the transaction ; that a general conspiracy had been 
entered into by the doctors, the nurses. Col. Truesdell, Jennie Welsh, 
a sister of Mrs. Allen, and Mrs. Allen herself, to put Gen. Benjamin 
out of the way, and to obtain possession or control of the greater por- 
tion of his valuable property. Some thought he had been drugged la 
his last illness ; others that a will different from the one shown had 
been prepared by the General's dictation, but that the one exhibited 
was substituted when it came to siornino;. 

Numerous witnesses testified to the genuineness of the will, giving 
circumstantial accounts, substantially agreeing, of its preparation, and 
of the soundness of mind of the testator at the time of making it. It 
was also testified by all the witnesses who were present when Gen. 
Benjamin died that at the time of his death, and for some days pre- 
ceding and succeeding that event, Mrs. Guy Allen herself lay in an 
adjoining room unconscious of what was occurring and had occurred 
to Mr. Benjamin. It was furthermore sworn to that Mr. Benjamin 

45 



792 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

was not friendly disposed towards his brothers and sisters ; that he 
had been estranged from them for years, and it was sought to estab- 
lish the conclusion that this was the reason why they were excluded 
as beneficiaries of his will. It was furthermore sworn to that the 
testator had repeatedly introduced and represented Guy Allen as his 
adopted daughter, and treated her openly with great aflfection. His 
first acquaintance with her had begun during his first term in Congress, 
when he was a boarder in her mother's establishment. 

The suit was begun in April, 1878, but was not tried until a year 
later. The intervening time was spent in taking depositions in Wash- 
ington and in other proceedings incident to the law's delay. In April, 
1879, the case was called in the circuit court at Shelbyville. Judge 
John T. Kedd, of Palmyra, was on the bench. A strong array of 
lawyers, from Washington and elsewhere, was present, and the court- 
room was crowded with spectators. The trial was prolonged for some 
days, and every point was hotly contested. 

For the plaintiffs there wereD.C. Cameron and Judge Barrow, talented 
and experienced attorneys of Washington City ; Thomas L. Anderson, 
the veteran lawyer of Palmyra, the Nestor of the North-east Missouri 
bar ; and King & Giles, the well known accomplished practitioners of 
Shelbina. For the defendant, Guy Allen, there were A. S. Worthiugton, 
of Washington, now district attorney; Hoij. B. F. Dobyns, a most 
learned counsel and brilliant advocate, of this county ; Hon. Theo. 
Brace, now a erudite judge of this circuit. P. B, Dunn, Esq., repre 
sented J. M. Ennis, the executor for Missouri, and a lawyer named Bar- 
nard appeared for Geo. Truesdell, the Washington City executor. Mrs. 
Allen herself was present throughout the trial and testified as a witness, 
making a most favorable impression — demure and modest as a 
Quakeress, and shrewd and quick-witted as a queen's maid of honor. 

He over whose effects the litigants were wrangling and snarling lay 
silent in his narrow house in the Shelbina cemetery, and those who 
ought to have been mourning his memory were quarreling over his 
dollars. Of what avail now was the wealth he had toiled so long and 
so hard for — the privation he had endured, the hard bargains he had 
made, and the enemies he had created thereby? How much had he 
taken with him to that city whose gates are of pearl and whose streets 
are paved with gold and lighted with the divine glory? Alas ! for the 
dross which he had striven so hard for ! It had become as the spoil of 
a pirate — as a bone over which dogs might fight ! Far better had he 
done good with it while he lived, visited the widow and the fatherless 
and them which were sick and in distress, and ministered to them in 
their affliction. Far better had he never acquired it. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 793 

After some days the jury retired, but found it impossible to agree. 
In October followins^ the case was tried again, with the same result. 
The multiplicity of testimony, some of it conflicting, the weary law- 
yers with their endless tongues, the lengthy and learned instructions 
of the judge, the entrancing features of the principal defendant in the 
case, who was present on both occasions, and sat the trial through, 
muddled the senses and confused the opinions of our Shelby county 
yeomanry. 

Before it could be brousiht to trial as^ain the case was taken on a 
change of venue by consent of parties (Judge Brace, who had come 
to the bench, having been of counsel) to Macon county, where it yet 
lies undisposed of. But in the meantime a suit was begun in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia by Mrs, Allen, now married again to a Mr. Schley, 
of Washington, to secure the property which she claims was be- 
queathed to her by her "foster father." The nisi prius courts 
decided in her favor, and it is understood that their decisions now 
await confirmation by the Supreme Court of the United States. Upon 
this decision rests the ultimate fate of the case in its entirety, in the 
courts of Macon and elsewhere. The property in the District of 
Columbia has already been distributed by order of the probate court 
there, and Mrs. Allen given her share, or the greater part thereof. 
The Benjamin relatives are still fighting the case, without much show 
of success, however. 

But the fascinating and beautiful Guy, fair of feature and light of 
love, yet reigns as a queen. She has at least the partial enjoyment of 
her fortune, and is happy in the possession of her new lover and hus- 
band. She speaks in the tenderest terms of Gen. Benjamin, and takes 
great pride in exhibiting his letters wherein he speaks of her fondly, 
calling her " Bonnie," and by other terms of endearment. 

Mrs. Benjamin, the widow of the General, did not survive him but 
a few months. She died in Shelbina in the summer following, and 
was not buried beside her husband, but in the Shelbyville cemetery, 
and there is as yet no stone to mark her resting place, or that of her 
husband. 

THE ROBBER "JOHNSON." 

On the night of June 16, 1882, Mr. B. F. Smith, the proprietor of 
the City Hotel in Shelbyville, was robbed of about $50 by a guest of 
the house, calling himself "J. B. Johnson," although registering as 
" J. B. Salmon." He had walked into town from the East the even- 
ing before, and had represented himself to Mr. Smith as a carpenter, 



794 HISTORY OF SHELBT COUNTY. 

whose home was in St. Joseph, whither he said he was returning after 
having finished a job of work in Lewis county. Of fair address and 
agreeable deportment, there was nothing in the man's appearance, save 
it might be his cold, glittering gray eyes and his hard, cruel mouth, 
that would indicate him to be as he was, and is, one of the most des- 
perate criminals in the country. Another alias of his is Henry Clark. 
It has not been ascertained where his home is or was. 

Smith's guest retired early, after requesting change for a $20 bill. 
The next morning at about 2 o'clock Smith was awakened by his wife, 
who directed his attention to the robber standing at the foot of the 
bed with a drawn revolver and demanding that his host should at once 
rise and deliver up his money or yield up his life. Smith arose and 
handed over the contents of his pocket-book and some loose change, 
amounting in all to about $50. He then accompanied his guest to the 
hotel office, gave him his valise, and then the robber bade him good- 
night and stepped out into the darkness in the midst of a heavy thun- 
der storm then prevailing. 

The next morning pursuit was attempted, and that afternoon the 
robber was captured near Clarence. Deputy Sherifi" Charles Ennis 
first discovered him, and a party. from Clarence, headed by the mar- 
shal, and J. D. Dale, captured him a mile east of the town. They had 
been notified by a telegram sent by Ennis from Lentner, and Ennis 
had recognized him from the east-bound train as the robber was walk- 
ino; on the road. In the face of cocked revolvers the bris^and was 
cool and collected, refused to throw up his hands, deliver his weapon 
or make a surrender. He was captured by main force and taken to 
Clarence. 

The same evening of his capture, while in the second story of the 
hotel and under guard, " Johnson," as he called himself, proposed to 
sell to the highest bidder a hat which he claimed had belonged to 
the renowned bandit, Jesse James. Having attracted a large number 
of men from the street, he suddenly sprang through an open window 
to the ground in an attempt to escape. Luckily, he broke his leg by 
the fall and was easily apprehended. 

On a preliminary examination " Johnson " was bound over and sent 
to the Palmyra jail for safe keeping. Here, before his broken leg 
was yet well, he headed an attempted outbreak, making a most savage 
assault on the young man who brought his food, and whom he beat 
most cruelly before a rescue was effected. October 13, 1882, he was 
arraigned in our circuit court and pleaded guilty to robbery. Judge 
Redd sentenced him to 12 years at hard labor in the penitentiary. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 795 

In the penitentiaiy he headed a revolt of some of the most hard- 
ened inmates. With his own hand he fired the prison, cut the hose 
used in attempting to quench the flames, and struck down one or two 
of the guards. The fire destroyed $150,000 worth of property 
belonging to the State. Sentenced to a dark cell for his conduct, he 
subsequently made an unprovoked attack on a cell-keeper, whom he 
beat with a stone into a state of insensibility. He is more like a 
demon than a man. 

MURDERS AND HOMICIDES. 

Since the war there have been but few homicides in Shelby county. 
The record in this particular is especially creditable, especially when 
compared with that of some of the other counties in this part of the 
State. In Marion county there have been no fewer than 86 cases of 
murder and homicide, and only one execution therefor — that of a 
negro named " Ben," who was hung in January, 1850, for the murder 
of two children of Michael Bright. 

MURDER OF GEORGE QUEARY. 

On September 4, 1873, a negro named George Ashby shot another 
negro named George Queary, a barber, in Shelbina. The shot tore out 
the bowels of the victim. He was standing on a sidewalk, and cauo'ht 
up his bowels, thrust them back, and held them with one hand while he 
clung for support to a lamp-post with the other. Soon he fell to 
the ground, was carried home and died that night at 11 o'clock. In 
a quarrel between them an hour or two before Queary had struck 
Ashby, and the latter went off vowing vengeance. At the time of the 
shooting Queary had a revolver and called to the crowd to " get out 
of the way." 

In May, 1875, Ashby was tried at Shelbyville, found guilty of mur- 
der in the second degree and sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in 
the penitentiary, where he still is. He was ably defended by Messrs. 
Jewett & Hale, who were assigned him by the court. 

THE DALE-PHELPS TRAGEDY. 

On the night of the 1st of May, 1875, there was a most desperate 
affray in Clarence, resulting in the death of one man and the serious 
wounding of two others. 

John and Jonah Phelps were two young men, brothers, who lived 
on a fiirm six miles south of Clarence, whither they had removed 
from near Roanoke, Howard county. Their cousin, James Phelps, 



796 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

lived on a farm adjoining town. On the night in question all three 
of the Phelpses were in town. 

In Mr, Dale's restaurant two men had Just eaten some oysters and 
had fallen on the floor in a drunken sleep. John Phelps was teasing 
them. Mr. Dale's son, John D. Dale, then a boy 15 years of age, 
was attending the restaurant, and remonstrated with Phelps. James 
Phelps came in and said to young Dale, " What is it your d — d busi- 
ness? " In a short quarrel that resulted Phelps struck the boy and 
knocked him down, and the two clinched. The boy's father sought 
to interfere, but John Phelps caught him and held him. Jonah 
caught up a chair and used it when and where he could. 

Jim Phelps and John Dale were on the floor and Phelps was stab- 
bing and cutting the boy fearfully. He made eight severe wounds. 
Jonah Phelps struck at Dale with a poker, but missed him and the 
blow fell upon Jim Phelps, stunning him. Young Dale then sprang 
up, all bleeding from his stabs, and ran behind the counter and 
secured a revolver. Jim Phelps recovered and again advanced, when 
Dale shot him through the upper portion of the body from side to 
side. He stao-o-ered to near the door and fell dead. As he was walk- 
ing off Dale again fired, or the pistol was accidentally discharged, 
and wounded him in the heel. At the first crack of the pistol John 
Phelps released old man Dale and started towards young John, who 
fired and shot him fairly through the body, the ball passing through 
one lung. Jonah ran away and escaped unhurt. 

Young Dale was arrested while lying in bed suffering from his 
numerous wounds, and upon a preliminary examination was bound 
over. He was indicted soon after and at the November term follow- 
ing (1875) was tried on a charge of murder. Prosecuting Attorney 
Dobyns made most strenuous efforts to convict him, going, as some 
thought, beyond his duty in his zeal ; but the jury acquitted him 
without leaving their seats. Indeed, they announced that they were 
ready to render a verdict as soon as the evidence in the prosecution 
was in, and before that of the defense had been introduced. 

John Phelps recovered from his severe wound. John Dale grew to 
manhood here and is the present circuit clerk for Shelby county. It 
is perhaps just to say that it is universally considered that there was 
not the least element of crime in what he did. Indeed, there are 
many who think that, for a 15-year old boy, he exhibited remarkable 
courage and proved himself a hero instead of a criminal, and that he 
should never have been indicted or even arrested. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 797 



KILLING OF CALVIN WARREN BY BRUCE GREEN. 

In the summer of 1880 a young man, named Bruce Green, stabbed 
and fatally wounded another man, named Calvin Warren, in the village 
of Lakenan. The two men had been to Shelby ville that day with a 
load of pottery, which they had disposed of. They returned home by 
way of Shelbina. On the way from Shelbina to Lakenan, both being 
intoxicated, they quarrelled over some trivial matter. On arriving at 
Lakenan the quarrel was renewed. It seemed that Warren, who was 
a much older man than Green, was the aggressor. He made an 
assault upon Green, and the latter stabbed him so badly that he died 
in a few hours. 

Green was indicted in October, 1880, and released on a bond of 
$1,000. At the April term of the circuit court, 1881, he was tried at 
Shelby ville and acquitted. The trial was vigorously conducted, and 
attracted a great deal of interest and attention. The prosecuting 
attorney, R. P. Giles, made strenuous efforts to secure a conviction. 
Two of Warren's sisters, wealthy married ladies, were present and 
offered to employ additional counsel to assist the prosecutor, but he 
refused. The prisoner was defended by his uncle, Hon. J. G. Blair, 
of Lewis county. 

The speech of Mr. Blair in behalf of his nephew is said to have 
been remarkable for its ability and eloquence, and was delivered with 
great force and power. At the conclusion of the trial young Green 
went home with his uncle to remain permanently. 

A NEGRO MURDER CASE. 

In the fall of 1881 a negro woman was killed in Shelbina by some negro 
men who surrounded her house and shot her through a window. It 
seemed that the negroes had an enmity against another man who was 
the recipient of more favors at the hands of another colored woman, 
an inmate of the house where the shootino; was done. On the night 
in question five negro men, George Buckner, William Wilson, Bailey 
Lafoe, Ben Heathman and Oscar Brown, visited the house where they 
supposed the "fancy nigger" was, with an avowed purpose to "do 
him up." They attacked the house, and the old woman started up 
from her bed and sought to run to another room. The negroes saw 
her through a window, and, believing she was the man they were 
after, fired and killed her. 



798 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



All the members of the party were arrested. Oscar Brown turned 
States' evidence. At the October term of the circuit court, 1881, 
George Buckner and William Wilson were convicted of murder in the 
second degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary, Buckner for 11 
years and Wilson for 10 years. At the April term following a nolle 
prosequi was entered in each of the other cases, and Lafoe, Heathman 
and Brown were discharged. It was said that Brown fired the fatal 
shot. 



CHAPTEE XL 

LEADING INSTITUTIONS OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Sketch of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Fair Associations — " The Agri- 
cultural Society of Shelby County" — The Shelby County Agricultural and 
Mechanical Association — The Shelbina Fair Association — Newspapers — The 
"Shelbyville Spectator " — The "Shelby County Weekly" — The "Shelbina Ga- 
zette"— The "Shelby County Herald" — The "Shelbina Democrat "— The 
"Clarence Tribune" — The "Clarence Courier" — The " Shelbina Index"— The 
" Shelby County Times." 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE HANNIBAL AND ST. JOSEPH RAILROAD. 

The first step taken to build tlie Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad 
was the holding of a meeting, in the spring of 1846, in the office of 
John M. Clemens, Esq. (the father of " Mark Twain"), in Hannibal. 
Hon. Z. G. Draper was president and R. F. Lakenan was secretary. 
The enterprise had a small beginning, it is true, but it succeeded 
because its inauguration was timely and its existence was imperatively 
demanded. It was at first contemplated to run the road through Pal- 
myra, Shelbyville, Bloomington, Linneus, Chillicothe, Galhitin — 
all county seats — and on to St. Joseph. But local jealousies and 
controversies sprang up, and prevented its location anywhere for 
some time. 

The newspapers in the towns through which it was thought the 
roads would be built favored it ; those located off the line were 
opposed to it, and the people divided with the newspapers. The St. 
Joseph Gazette^ of November 6, 1846, in an article favoring the 
building of the road said : " We suggest the propriety of a railroad 
fiom St. Joseph to some point on the Mississippi, either St. Louis, 
Hannibal, or Quincy." The people of Hannibal were interested in 
having their town made the initial point ; St. Joseph only cared to be 
the terminus. It was important, therefore, that Hannibal should 
watch carefully, and not allow any other Mississippi river town to 
step in and take the prize. An effective ally in favor of Hannibal was 
secured in the person of Hon. Robert M. Stewart, of St. Joseph. In 
the year 1846 he was elected to the State Senate, and promised to 
work for the procurement of a charter making Hannibal the initial 
and St. Joseph the terminal point. 

( 799) 



800 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

In the winter of 1847 the Legislature granted the charter of the 
road. This charter was drawn up by Hon. R. F. Lakenan, one of 
the strongest, most earnest and efficient workers in favor of the 
enterprise. 

The act was passed by our Legishiture with some opposition. The 
leading workers in its favor were Col. E. M. Stewart, James Craig 
and J. B. Gardenhire, of Buchanan county, and Carty Wells and 
John Tajdor, of Marion. 

A vigorous canvass was immediately opened along the line to secure 
subscriptions from the several counties. Meetings were held in every 
county seat and town. A large meeting, or convention, was held at 
Chillicothe, June 2, 1847. Delegates were present in considerable 
numbers from all the counties on or near the line. Gov. Austin A. 
King, of Ray county, presided ; the vice-presidents were Dr. John 
Cravens, of Davies, and Alexander McMurtry, of Shelby. The 
secretaries were Henry D. La Cossitt, of Marion, and C. J. Hughes, 
of Caldwell. 

For a year or two thereafter interest in the enterprise flagged, and 
there was a time when some of its friends thought best to abandon it. 
But in 1850 real and earnest efi'orts were renewed to secure subscrip- 
tions to the capital stock of the company. Such of the directors as 
were lukewarm gave way to those who were more zealous and enthu- 
siastic. Each county through which the road was expected to pass 
was i-ecanvassed. The measure was made popular, and candidates 
were elected to the Legislature, and even to Congress, because they 
pledged themselves to favor it whenever opportunity should ofi^er. 

In February, 1851, the Missouri Legislature granted the credit 
of the State to the road to the extent of $1,500,000 in bonds, on 
condition that the company expend a like amount, in installments of 
$50,000 each. In 1851 Marion county subscribed $100,000, and 
Hannibal $50,000 to the project. 

In July, 1851, Shelby county subscribed $25,000, conditioned that 
the road should run through and locate a depot at Shelbj^ville. On 
the 10th of March previously an election was held to determine the 
sense of the people in regard to making the subscription. The vote 
resulted largely in favor. In July, on motion of Col. R. M. StcAvart 
(afterward Governor, etc.), the agent of the road, the bonds were 
ordered to be issued on certain conditions, one of which was that the 
county should receive stock in the road to the amount of the bonds 
issued. The bonds were to run 20 years, and to bear ten per cent 
interest. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 801 

In October, 1852, on two calls from the officers of the road for five 
per cent of the amount of the county's subscription, the sum of 
$2,500 of bond — $1,250 on each call — was issued. These were all 
that were ever issued, and in July, 1854, they were returned, can- 
celed, to the county by the railroad company, and the books were 
squared. The county had previously given the railroad a release 
from all liabilities arising out of the subscription, and the railroad 
released the county from its liabilities. The county also granted the 
road the right of way across all roads and streams. Hon. John 
McAfee was the county's agent for the return of the bonds. 

December 10, 1855, the Legislature of Missouri extended its credit 
to the road to the extent of $1,500,000 more in bonds, to run thirty 
years, and bearing not to exceed seven jDer cent interest. This exten- 
sion of credit, virtually a loan, was to be a first mortgage on the road, 
the same as the first loan. This was all the friends of the road wished, 
and then Duff & Co. began operations in earnest. Work was to be 
commenced at both ends, but nothing was done at the western end 
until 1857. 

On the 10th of June, 1856, the track was finished, and the cars ran 
from Hannibal to Palmyra. The road gradually worked its way 
along, and in the year 1857 it was completed through Shelby county. 
The " Southern route," which had been selected, carried it through 
the southern part of the county. The road entered Shelby in the 
south-eastern corner of the county, near the Monroe line, running 
within a quarter of a mile of that line for four or five miles, then bear- 
ing north-west, and leaving the county five miles north of where it 
entered it. The road runs through the county a distance ef about 
243/4 miles (24'3/ioo). 

The building of the Hannibal and St. Joseph through Shelby was of 
vast importance to the county. True it ran through only the southern 
portion, but it opened up a fine section of country and brought it to a 
high state of perfection. The towns of Hunnewell, Lakenan, Shel- 
bina, Clarence and Lentner's Station were established, and the popu- 
lation, wealth and general prosperity of the county were largely 
increased. While the road was in process of construction there was 
considerable employment for unoccupied men and teams in the county. 
The road also made a market for all sorts of produce and provisions, 
and at far better prices than before. 

November 3, 1851, occurred at Hannibal the ceremony of breaking 
ground for the new railroad. The occasion called forth a large crowd, 
and many distinguished persons from all parts of the State were 



802 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

present. The first shovel-fulls of dirt were thrown by Col. R. M. 
Stewart (afterwards Governor), Hon. James H. Lucas and Hon. L. 
M. Keunett. The orator of the day was Hon. J. B. Crickett, of St. 
Louis. It now seemed that the road would be speedily built. 

Work on the new road progressed slowly, however. The route was 
not definitely located, and the subsidies not all secured. Besides, not 
as much was known about railroad building in those days as is known 
now. The board of directors, in 1851, memorialized Consress for a 
large grant of the public lands to aid in building the road, and made 
earnest efforts to secure this result. The president and attorney, in 
1852, visited Washington to aid in securing the favorable action of 
Congress. No better agents than Bob. Stewart and Mr. Lakenan 
could have been selected for this work. 

In May, 1852, after an animated discussion, and much shrewd 
management. Congress passed an act giving alternate sections of land 
to the State of Missouri in trust for the benefit of a railroad, from 
Hannibal to St. Joseph, and the State turned those lands over to the 
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company. 

The grant of 600,000 acres of fine agricultural land settled the fact 
that the road would eventually be built ; the people knew it was a mere 
question of time. In August, 1852, a contract was made with Duff & 
Leamon, of New York, to build the entire line. This contemplated 
the "Northern route" through Shelbyville, in this county, and 
Bloomington, then the county seat of Macon county. Afterwards, at 
a meeting of the directors at Glasgow, March 10, 1853, the " Southern 
route " — on the present line — was chosen, and the contract relet to 
John Duff & Co., of New York, at $23,000 per mile. 

The road was located byMaj. James M. Bucklin, the chief engineer. 
The " Northern route " came up Black Creek the greater portion of 
the way to Shelbyville, leaving that stream west of town and passing 
on to Bloomington. This was surveyed in 1851. 

All of these temporary and permanent advantages to the county 
resultant from the building of the road were obtained almost without 
money and without price. Not a bond of either county or township 
was issued, and but a few trifiing private subscriptions were made — 
rights of way granted, etc. Shelby county has never issued its bonds 
in aid of any railroad. 

It is quite probable, as has been often asserted, that the Hannibal 
and St. Joseph could have been made to run on the " Northern route " 
if the people and the authorities along the line had been a little more 
liberal in the matter of subscriptions. That route was more expen- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 803 

sive than the Southern route — much more so. The citizens and the 
county courts were asked to make up the difference, according to the 
estimates of the engineers. They uniformly refused — in some 
instances for the reason^ avowed, that they " didn't want any raih'oad 
running through their neighborhood, scaring the stock and killing 
men, women and children, besides setting the words and fields afire ! " 
In other cases, as in Linn county, prominent men objected to the 
building of the road, because it would furnish superior facilities for 
the slaves to run off and escape. 

Certain citizens of this connt}^ made desperate efforts to have the 
road located through Shelbyville, but they could not induce enough 
of their friends to join them. Too many were indifferent, many 
thought the road would come anyhow, and those who worked so hard 
gave up in despair. So Shelbyville was left " out in the cold," and 
Shelbina was created, to become the leading town in the county. 

Early in the year 1857 work was begun at the St. Joseph end. In 
March of that year the track extended east from St. Joseph seven 
miles. The first fire under the first engine that started out was 
kindled by M. Jeff. Thompson, afterward the Missouri Confederate 
brigadier. 

The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was completed February 13, 
1859. The next day the first through passenger train ran out ©f St. 
Joseph. Of this train E. Sleppy was engineer, and Benjamin H. 
Colt, conductor. The first engineer to run a train into St. Joseph 
was George Thompson, who ran first a construction train, then a 
freight train. The final work on the road was not done by Duff & 
Co., but by J. M. Ford and others. 

On the 22d of February, 1859, occurred at St. Joseph the celebra- 
tion of the completion of the road. Not less than 600 invited guests 
were feasted at a grand banquet. The mayor of St. Joseph, Broaddus 
Thompson, performed the ceremony of " mingling the waters," of 
the Atlantic, the Lakes, the Mississippi, and the Missouri, there was 
great joy and enthusiasm, and so was completed the first railway 
across the State of Missouri, and the first between the Mississippi and 
the Missouri rivers. 

The road did a large business the first two years. It had no com- 
petition, charged five cents a mile for passengers, and sometimes more, 
and had all the business it could well do. The Pike's Peak excite- 
ment crowded all its trains both ways for some time, and the settle- 
ment of Kansas added largely to its revenues. 

During the war it suffered severely. Its officers were all loyal, and 



804 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

early in the clay the entire management was known to be on the side 
of the government. The principal stock was held in Boston, and 
nearly all the various superintendents and other officers were North- 
ern men. 

The secessionists of the State, therefore, attacked it, and injured it 
not a little. In June, 1861, the bridge across Platte river was des- 
troyed by them, and a train containing men, women and children ran 
into the chasm, and some were killed. In September following. Mart. 
Green's men burned the Salt river bridge, in this county. It was 
again burned in July, 1864, by Bill Anderson. The Chariton bridge 
was burned. It became necessary to station detachments of troops at 
every bridge and trestle work. The bushwhackers tore up the track, 
ditched the trains, burned cars and stations, from time to time, and 
the road came out of the war, like other property in the State — much 
the worse for the conflict. 

In the early fall of 1861 the military authorities compelled the union 
of the tracks of the Hannibal and St. Joseph and the Quincy and Pal- 
myra, at the latter city, and Quincy became the terminus, practically, 
although Hannibal was and yet is the nominal and legal terminus, 
according to the charter. March 2, 1867, the Quincy and Palmyra 
passed into the hands of the Hannibal and St. Joseph. This was done 
under authority of the act of the Legislature of that date, all the stock 
of the Quincy and Palmyra (having been previously acquired) being 
merged into that of the Hannibal and St. Joseph, under the charter 
of the latter corporation. 

In 1867-68 was built a "feeder" of the road from Kansas City to 
Cameron. This road was chartered before the war, and was origi- 
nally called the Kansas City, Galveston and Lake Superior. After- 
ward the name was changed to the Kansas City and Cameron, and 
February 14, 1870, it was merged into the Hannibal and St. Joseph, 
and is still a part of the same. The first train over the railroad bridge 
across the Missouri at Kansas City, passed July 4, 1869. 

In the summer of 1872, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Company com- 
menced the building of a branch or extension of the road from St. 
Joseph to Atchison, Kan., a distance of 21 miles. This branch was 
completed in October of the same year. 

FAIR ASSOCIATIONS. 

At the session of the Legislature in January, 1837, an act was 
passed for the promotion of agriculture and encouraging the forma- 
tion of asrricultural societies. The first agricultural association in 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 805 

North-east Missouri was formed iu Shelby county. The older settled 
counties took no action in the premises until many years later. In 
February, 1839, a number of the farmers of this county met at Shel- 
byville and formed what they called 

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The proceedings of this meeting were recorded and the record was 
happily discovered and rescued from oblivion by the compiler hereof, 
who found it among a pile of other old musty papers in the court- 
house. The following is a transcript : — 

Shelbyville, 2 2d February, 1839. 

At a meeting begun and held in the court-house, in the town of 
Shelbyville, for the purpose of forming an agricultural society, Capt. 
S. S. Matson being called to the chair and William Moore appointed 
secretary pro tern. On motion, B. W. Hall stated the object of the 
meeting. 

Question being put by the president, " Whether society be formed," 
decided in the affirmative by 25 — no one opposing. 

The meeting being organized, they proceeded to the election of 
officers for the present year : Samuel S. Matson, president ; William 
Vannort, secretary, and James M. Rider, treasurer. 

On motion, John Dunn and William Gooch be managers in Black 
Creek township. On motion, B. W. Hall and Thomas B. Rookwood be 
managers for North River township. On motion, $2.50 be the amount 
of each subscriber. On motion, it was agreed that there be an addi- 
tional manager in each township. Robert Duncan be appointed man- 
ager in Jackson township, Thomas J. Bounds for Black Creek, and 
Thomas O. Eskridge of North River township. 

It was agreed that the proceedings of this meeting be published in 
some public journal. It was agreed that the society be called " The 
Agricultural Society of Shelby County." It was motioned and agreed 
that the annual meeting of this society be held on the first day of our 
March term in 1840. 

It was agreed that William Moore assist B. W. Hall and Thomas J. 
Bounds to draft the constitution. It was moved and agreed that the 
subscription money be paid on the first of August. It was agreed that 
this society meet on the first Monday of our next circuit court for the 
purpose of adopting or rejecting the by-laws. 

On motion, this meeting adjourned until the first Monday in March 
nqxt, 1838. S. S. Matsqn, President pro tern, 

William Moore, Secretary. 



806 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



NAMES OF MEMBERS. 



James M. Eider, B. W. Hall, James Foley, William Gooch, Mon- 
tillion H. Smith, S. S. Matson, John Dunn, James Graham, O. H. 
Perry, David O. Walker, Thomas J. McAfee, O. Dickerson, Abraham 
Matlock, Robert Duncan, Charles Smith, Elijah J. Pollard, Thomas 
O. Eskridge, Thomas B. Rookwood, William A. Davidson, William 
Moore, John Davis, C. P. Shepherd, John W. Long, Elias Kincheloe, 
Lawrence Turner, James C. Hawkins, Milton Hood, Thomas J. Bounds, 
Robert Blackford, William H. Vannort, William S. Chinn, J. B. Mar- 
maduke, Frederick Rook, George Anderson, John Hays, Samuel B. 
Hardy, Russell W. Moss. 

No record of the constitution of this society was found ; but the 
following were the by-laws : — 

BY-LAWS OF THE SHELBY COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

Article 1. Any person may become a member of this society on 
application to the secretary. 

Art, 2. Each member shall pay to the treasurer the sum of $2.50 
on or before the 1st of August. 

Art. 3. None other than a member of this society shall be permit- 
ted to contend for a premium. 

Art. 4. All members intending to exhibit stock shall enter the 
names, pedigrees and age, as near as possible, with the secretary, 
before the exhibition commences, on or before 10 o'clock of that 
day. 

Art. 5. No member shall be permitted to contend with any other 
than an article belonging to him or some other member of the 
society. 

Art. 6. The following persons are appointed judges to award 
premiums and certificates for the year 1839. [Names omitted.] 

Art. 7. Premiums shall be conferred on the following: 

1. Best stallion, $6 ; second best, certificate. 2. Best sucking colt, 
$6 ; second best, certificate. 3. Best three-year old colt, $6 ; best 
yearling colt, certificate. 5. Best bull, $6; second best, certificate. 
6. Best cow, $6; second best, certificate. 7. Best boar, $6; second 
best, certificate. 8. Best sow, $6 ; second best, certificate. 9. Best 
four pigs [amended], $6 ; second best, certificate. 10. Best six sheep, 
$6; second best, certificate. 11. Best yoke of oxen, $6 ; second best, 
certificate. 12. Best five acres of corn $6 ; second best, certificate. 
13. Best five acres of wheat, $6 ; second best certificate. 14. Best 
five acres of timothy, $6 ; second best, certificate. 15. Best yield from 
one bushel potatoes, $6; second best, certificate. 16. Best five yards 
jeans, $3. 17. Best five yards linen, $3. 18. Best five yards 
flannel, $3. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 807 

Art. 9. Each member contending for a premium on any of the 
above articles, if on live stock, to furnish his manner of breeding, 
rearing and fattening, and all other matters calculated to throw light on 
the subject. 

Art. 10. The successful competitor for each species of grain to 
give his method of cultivation and kind of soil ; also the kind of 
seed. 

Art. 12. Those on domestic manufactors the whole method of pre- 
paring and manufacturing the same. 

No record of the March meeting can be found ; but in June the 
society held another meeting, the proceedings of which were as fol- 
lows : — 

Shelbyville, June 8, 1839. 

Society met according to adjournment. William Gooch, Thomas 
J. Bounds, Thomas O. Eskridge, B. W. Hall, Thomas B. Eookwood 
and R. P. Blackford, a majority of the managers present. The 
society proceeded to business. 

On motion, resolved, that any person wishing to become a member 
shall have the opportunity of now having his name enrolled. 

On motion of John W. Long, resolved, that no member of this 
society shall be appointed as a judge. 

On motion, resolved, that Samuel Blackburn, George Eaton and 
Hiram Rookwood be appointed judges to judge horses and cattle. 

On motion, resolved, that Anthony Minter, S. E. Lay, and Will- 
iam Conner be appointed to judge hogs and sheejD. 

On motion of John W. Long, resolved, that the articles of wheat, 
corn, timothy and potatoes shall not be entitled to a premium ; decided 
that they shall. 

On motion of B. W. Hall, '* that stallions shall be excluded;" 
decided they shall not. 

On motion, resolved, that the three last judges be appointed to 
judge wheat, corn, timothy and potatoes, as follows: John Jacobs, 
James C. Agnew and W. J. Holliday. 

On motion, resolved, that the ninth, tenth and eleventh articles of 
the byrlaws be adopted. 

On motion of J. W. Long, resolved, that no one article shall be 
entitled to more than three premiums. 

On motion, resolved, that the premiums be paid in silverware with 
the initials engraved on the same. 

On motion of R. W. Moss, resolved, that the two best pigs shall be 
entitled to a premium, and the article in the by-laws naming the four 
best is hereby repealed. 

On motion, resolved, that the best calf be entitled to a premium. 

On motion, resolved, that no pig shall be exhibited over the age of 
six months. 

On motion, resolved, that the greatest quantity of potatoes raised 

46 



808 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

from one-eighth acre of ground shall be entitled to a premium, and 
the fifteenth article of the by-laws is hereby repealed. 

On motion, resolved, that the exhibition be held on the last Tues- 
day in October next, [1839.] 

On motion, resolved, that the secretary inform the judges of their 
appointment by letter. 

On motion, resolved, that any member failing to pay on or before 
the time specified shall pay the sum of one dollar. 

The fair came oflf at Shelbyville, as advertised, on the last Tuesday 
in October. There was a liberal attendance of the people, and con- 
sidering the time quite a number of entries. Some of the premiums 
awarded were as follows : — 

Best stallion, Maj. O. Dickerson's " Sir Harrison ; " second best, 
J. B. Lewis' " Bertrand." Best three-year-old colt, Nicholas Wat- 
kins ; second best, John Dunn. Best mare, O. Dickerson ; second 
best. Dr. J. W. Long. Best yearling colt, O. Dickerson. 

Best bull. Dr. J. W. Long's " Gustavus ; " second best, William 
McMurray. 

Best boar, B. W. Hall's "Thomas H. Benton;" second best, 
Russell W. Moss's " Duff." Best sow. Dr. Long's " Queen." Best 
pigs, William Moore ; second best, Hiram Rookwood. 

Best five acres of wheat (1258/4 bushels), Hiram Rookwood. 

Best five yards of jeans, Mrs. Long; second best, Mrs. Eskridge. 

At this fair Dr. J. W. Long acted as marshal and general master of 
ceremonies. 

Only two fairs of this society were ever held. As mentioned else- 
where, the dissatisfiaction with the awards was so great, and the occa- 
sions were seized upon by so many to get drunk and fight, that the 
substantial members withdrew, and the association died in the year 
1841. 

THE SHELBY COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL ASSOCIATION. 

This association was organized July 7, 1868. The first officers 
were: G. G. Muldrow, president; J. C. Duncan, vice-president; P. 
B, Dunn, secretary, and W. B. Cotton, treasurer. The directors 
were J. M. Ennis, John T. Cooper, Joseph H. Forman, William 
Ridge, T. W. Sheetz, Samuel Darrah, Robert J. Taylor, O. T. Terrill, 
and James Chenoweth. 

The first fair was held the ensuing fall. 

The grounds of the Association, a mile south of Shelbyville, were 
purchased July 18, 1868, of A. M. and D. A. Brant, and comprised 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 809 

at first forty acres (se. se. 29-58-10). The consideration paid was 
$600. Afterward, December 6, 1869, the Association sold and deeded 
back to D. A. Brant the east half of the grounds for $250, leaving 
only 20 acres as the property of the Association. 

The Association has been fairly prosperous since its organization. 
Its ftiirs and exhibitions have been satisfactory and successful, and 
have been regularly held. Its exhibitions are not horse-races, and it 
has no course or track for such performances. Desiring to promote 
agriculture and husbandry purely and simply, premiums are paid on 
horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and asses, and on the products of the 
field, orchard, garden and pantry, together with the fabrics of the 
loom and the needle, the work of the skill and dexterity of the fingers 
of the fair. 

The present officers of the Association are : J. M. Collier, presi- 
dent ; Joseph Hunolt, vice-president ; S. V. Vaughn, treasurer; L. 
A. Hay ward, secretary; Milton Baker, chief marshal; John Ellis, 
Barney Moore, ring marshals ; D. M. McNeil, field marshal ; T. j! 
Gentry, ticket agent; James Baker, gate keeper. Directors : —T. 
W. Sheetz, B. F. Frye, W. Vaughn, W. D. Gardner, W. A. Hughesj 
J. M. Gentry, J. M. Freeman, A. W. Muldrow, John T. FrederTck. 

THE SHELBINA FAIR ASSOCIATION. 

This association was organized March 18, 1881, at Shelbina, and 
the following were the first officers : J. H. Fox, president ; Daniel 
Taylor, vice-president; R. C. Dickerson, secretary ; C. H. Lasley, 
treasurer. The directors were George W. Greenwell, J. R. Ridge, 
C. W. Hanger, J. T. Frederick, J. H. Gough, J.H.Ford, S.G. 
Parsons, I. N. Bonta, J. M. Ennis. 

The grounds of the association, half a mile north of town, were 
purchased the same year of Dr. J. H. Ford, for $3,500, and the en- 
closing and the erection of the buildings was completed in time for 
the first fair, which was begun August 30 and lasted till September 2. 
Shortly after the first fair the amphitheatre was blown over, entailino- 
considerable loss, but another was erected the following year, to 
which, in 1883, a considerable addition was made. 

From the beginning the exhibitions of this association have been 
very successful and popular. The large and expensive improvements 
have all been paid for but about $300, which it is confidently expected 
will be paid oflf out of the net proceeds of the fair of 1884 (to be 
held a month from present writins"). 

The officers for 1882 were: C. H. Lasley, president; J. T. Fred- 



810 HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 

erick, vice-president ; P. M. Hanger, secretary ; J. W". Towson, treas- 
urer. Directors : C. W. Hanger, A. G. Chapman, Lewis Hale, B. F. 
Frye, J. J. Ellis, J. H. Fox, J. M. Ennis, J. B. Settle, W. T. 
Dobyns. 

The officers for 1884 are : S. G. Parsons, president ; W. D. Gard- 
ner, vice-president ; J. W. Ford, treasurer ; P. M. Hanger, secretary. 
Directors : J. J. Ellis, C. H. Lasley, J. T. Frederick, I. B. Little, E. 
W. Worland, J. R. Eidge, J. L. Hardy, R. B. Taylor, I. N. Bonta. 

NEWSPAPERS — THE ' ' SPECTATOR. ' ' 

The first newspaper in Shelby county was called the Shelbyville 
Spectator^ and was established at Shelbyville, in the spring of 1853. 
Mr. F. M. Daulton was the editor and publisher. He removed the 
press and material from Bloomington, Macon county, and the office 
was located on the north side of the square, near the north-west cor- 
ner, where was a row of small buildings. 

The paper was a small one, a folio, containing six columns to the 
page. It had but 300 or 400 subscribers, and a meager list of adver- 
tisers. Some of the latter were James Marmaduke, the Cotton 
Brothers, McAfee & Dickerson, and Thomas Applebury. In poli- 
tics, the Spectator was Whig, and the subscription price was $2 a 
year. 
\/ Mr. Daulton's lot, like that of the average newspaper man, was 

not an especially happy one, except in the matter of a quiet con- 
science. He worked hard, and received poor pay. In about a year 
he formed a partnership with James Wolfi", who bought the material 
of the Hannibal Journal and added it to the Spectator. The proprie- 
tors had just united the two offices, when, according to Mr. Daulton, 
*' one half negro wench, through jealousy of another, set the resi- 
dence of a Miss Dines (or Mrs. White) on fire, and the flames 
spread to other buildings, among which was our office, which was 
destroyed."^ Nothing of consequence but a few cases of type were 
saved. 



1 The "wench" alluded to by Mr. Daulton, was the Creole wife of a prominent 
physician of Shelbyville. She, although handsome and intellectually gifted, was a 
Cyprian, of New Orleans, where her husband married her, and was most loathsomely 
depraved. Her conduct in Shelbyville was most infamous. One of her paramours 
was a huge, coal-black negro slave, named " Tom " Kemper. There was no doubt of 
her shameless relations with him. She was ill-tempered, vicious and revengeful, 
treated her husband with great severity, and at last a committee of citizens waited 
on her and ordered her to leave the town, which she did, taking her children and 
going to Iowa. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 811 

•The citizens then contributed a few hundred dollars or thereabouts, 
and Mr. Duulton went at once to St. Louis, and purchased another 
outfit. The publication of the paper was then resumed, and, for a 
time, it was printed in a small brick building belonging to B. F. Dunn, 
standing on the north-west corner of the square, now (1884) used as 
a blacksmith shop. In a short time Daulton sold his interest to 
James Carty, a school teacher, who did not live but a short time 
afterward. 

James Wolff then ran the paper alone, but soon after taking exclu- 
sive charge, he died. 

By some means one, N. C. Sperry, a sort of tramp, whom Daul- 
ton characterizes as a " d — n idiot," got control of the office. He 
began the publication of a paper which he called by the rather 
euphonious but singular title of The Star of the Prairie. But the 
Star did not shine long. Its conductor became impecunious, and 
was always worthless and shiftless, and finally ran away, leaving the 
office to its rightful owners, and his debts to his friends. The office 
material was finally removed to Mexico, Mo. 

Mr. Daulton is now at Gainesville, Ark., and editor and publisher 
of a Democratic paper, called The Events. 

THE SHELBY COUNTY WEEKLY. 

After the obliteration of the Star of the Prairie^ the next paper in 
this county was the Shelby County Weekly^ the first number of 
vrhich was issued at Shelbyville, March 7, 1861 ; Griffin Frost, pub- 
lisher ; G. Watts Hillias, editor. It was a folio, 22x32 inches in size, 
six columns to the page. 

Mr. Frost, the publisher, was a practical printer, who had come 
from Mexico, Mo., where he had published the Mexico Ledger. Mr. 
Hillias was a young attorney of Shelbyville. The material for the 
paper had been purchased in St. Louis in the fall of 1860, but while 
being transported by water to Hannibal, was caught in the ice at Cap 
au Gris and lay there during the winter, and until the river broke up 
and allowed the boat to proceed. 

The office of the Weekly was over Gooch's grocery, on the west 
side of the square, near the south-west corner. The compositors on 
the paper were John Frost, now publisher of the Quincy (111.) Daily 
Neios, and a boy named Henry De Jarnett. Mr. Frost also assisted 
in the mechanical department. The paper had about 400 subscribers 
and quite a liberal advertising patronage. Its motto was: "i'Vee 
as the Windy Pure and Firm as the Voice of Nature^ the Press 
Should Be.'' 



812 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The Weekly was short-lived. It came into existence at the out- 
break of the Civil War, and the seventh number chronicled the firins 
of the first shot at Sumpter. Jts editor and publisher were secession- 
ists, and in time made the paper "red-hot" for the cause of the 
South. Some time in June representatives of the Union Home 
Guards, of the county, visited Mr. Frost and told him that if he did 
not stop the issue of his "treasonable sheet," they would stop it for 
him. He thereupon closed up his office and abandoned it, going to 
Marion county. A month or two afterward he entered the Missouri 
State Guard service, under Martin E. Green, and soon became captain 
of a company from Marion county. He was in the service four years, 
two of which were spent in Federal prisons. After the war he pub- 
lished a volume entitled, "Prison Life and Eecollections," reciting 
his varied experiences. He is now editor of the Edina Democrat. 

Upon Frost's departure and the suspension of the Weekly^ the 
office material was locked up for a time. Afterward it was reported 
that a portion was thrown into the street by the soldiery, and the 
remainder was shipped to Maryville, Mo. At any rate, Mr. Frost 
now remembers that it was so disposed of. 

SHELBINA GAZETTE. 

The first paper in Shelby county after the war was the Shelbina 
Weekly Gazette, the first number of which was issued at Shelbina, 
January 10, 1866. The editor and publisher was J. D. Moudy, of 
Illinois, who was a conservative Democrat, and molded the political 
opinion of his paper accordingly. The Gazette was a folio or four- 
th "P'dge paper, containing seven columns to the page. Its first office was 
on Center street, in Goodman's block, since burned. 

In April, 1866, Mr. Moudy sold the Gazette office to E. D. Hosel- 
ton, his foreman. Soon after Hoselton took in J. S. Bates as part- 
ner, but in the fall of 1866 Bates sold his interest to Frank M. Daul- 
ton, the veteran editor and publisher of the first paper in the county. 
Some time afterward Daulton became sole editor and proprietor, Hos- 
elton retiring. In a few months afterward Daulton sold the establish- 
ment to Col. Shafer and Col. A. M. York, who changed the politics 
of the paper to be Republican, and the name to 

THE SHELBY COUNTY HERALD. 

Shafer and York continued the publication of the paper under its 
new name until 1871, when — the Democrats having come into 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. ■ 813 

power through the operation of the repeal of the disfranchising clause 
of the Drake constitution — they sold out a part of their establish- 
ment to W. L. Willard & Bro., and Col. York removed the remainder 
to Independence, Kan., where he resumed the dissemination of Repub- 
lican literature. In a year or two he gained considerable noto- 
riety as the exposer of U. S. Senator Pomeroy, of Kansas, who, in 
seeking a re-election to the Senate, gave Col. York $7,000 for his vote 
and influence. York gave the scheme away in the joint convention 
of the Kansas Legislature, and Pomeroy was defeated. 

Willard & Bro. removed the Herald office to Shelbyville and resumed 
the publication of the paper. It has always been anti-Democratic — 
first Republican, then in 1874 " Tad Pole " and latterly Greenback. 
In time W. L. Willard became editor and proprietor. June 15, 1881, 
H. B. Dines and F. M. Springsteen purchased the office from Willard, 
who then went to Edina and established another Greenback paper. 
Dines and Springsteen conducted the paper until in March, 1883, 
when Springsteen retired, and Mr. Dines has since been sole editor, 
proprietor and manager. 

The Herald is still an advocate of the principles of the National 
Greenback party, and it is perhaps but the truth to say that it is 
mainly owning to its existence and influence that the party has so 
many adherents in this county — more than in any other in the Con- 
gressional district. It is a large, well-filled journal and all printed at 
home. 

THE SHELBINA DEMOCRAT. 

This journal was established April 1, 1869, by E. D. Hoselton, 
before mentioned as editor and proprietor of the Gazette. It was 
originally a seven-column folio, all printed at home. Early in 1870 Mr. 
Hoselton associated with him Col. S. A. Rawlings, an able and tal- 
ented gentleman, who died September 28, 1875. Col. Rawlings was 
a native of Fauquier county, Va., born October 12, 1827. He came 
to Shelby county in 1848, where he studied law and was admitted to 
the bar. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate army, and 
for a time commanded an organization known as the Third Battalion 
of Infantry, Harris' Division, Missouri State Guard. 

After the death of Col. Rawlings, J. C. Hale was editor of the Dem- 
ocrat for a time. In May, 1881, Mr. W. O. L. Jewett became a 
partner with Mr. Hoselton, and the firm is still Hoselton & Jewett. 
The latter is as well known as an able lawyer as an accomplished news- 
paper man. 



814 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The Democrat office is well equipped with first-class material. A 
fine Campbell power press was added to the office in the fall of 1882, 
and other machinery exists in proportion. 

THE CLARENCE TRIBUNE. 

The first paper in Clarence was established in 1877, by — Steele. 

The first numbers were printed in Macon, but some time in the year 

^ the office material was moved to the town. The office was over the 

post-office, and the paper ran about two years. It was neutral in 

politics. 

THE CLARENCE COURIER 

was established about February 20, 1881, by W. M. Bradley. May 
J 1, 1882, the present proprietor, W. D. Powell, took charge. The 
paper is independent in politics, and devotes much of its space to local 
matters and home news. In size it is an eight-column folio. 

THE SHELBINA INDEX 

was established July 13, 1881, by William N. Bumbarger and H. J. 
McRoberts, who came from Lewis county to Shelbina. It was, as 
now, an eight-column folio. In January, 1882, the firm became 
Bumbarger & Simpson. In about a year N. H. Downing became the 
proprietor and editor. This gentleman is well known as " the deaf 
editor," having been totally deaf since 12 years of age. He is an 
efficient newspaper man, however, and under his management the 
Index was newsy and interesting. Although running a Democratic 
paper. Downing was and is a Republican, as he readily admits. 

March 1, 1884, Dr. J. M. McCully purchased a half-interest in the 
Index, and July 1, following. Downing sold his interest to C. W. 
Christie. The Index is an uncompromising Democratic paper, aggres- 
sive and vigorous in tone, and has an enviable popularity. In size, as 
from the start, it is an eight-column folio. 

THE SHELBY COUNTY TIMES. 

This journal, now the youngest in Shelby county, was established 
first at Hunnewell, May 1, 1883, and was called the Hunnewell ^c/io. 
Its founder was the present proprietor, J. R. Horn. It was run in 
Hunnewell as a Democratic paper until in January, 1884, when the 
[y office was removed to Shelbyville, and the paper issued February 1 as 
the Shelby County Times. Mr. J. R. Horn has been from the start 
the sole editor and proprietor. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



815 



The limes is an eight-column folio, printed on new type and with 
new material, and presents a neat, tasty and attractive appearance. 
Its editor is painstaking and industrious, and every issue of the 
paper contains something worth reading. It is strictly Democratic in 
politics. 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE CHURCHES OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Baptist Churches : Mount Zion Church — Shiloh Church — North River Church — Prai- 
rie Church — Oak Ridge Church — Looaey's Creek Old School Baptist Church. 
M. E. Church South: Shelbyville Church — Shelbina Church — Bacon Chapel — 
Clarence Church — Bethany Church. Methodist Episcopal Church: Bereau 
Church, Shelbyville — Clarence Church — Evans Chapel. Presbyterians: Presby- 
terian Church of Shelbyville — Pleasant Prairie Church — Clarence Presbyterian 
Church — Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Christian Churches : Shelbyville 
Church — Antioch Church — Concord Church. Catholic Churches: St. Patrick's 
Roman Catholic Church at Clarence. 

THE CHURCHES OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Following in the wake of the pioneers, and identical with the pio- 
neers themselves, were the early preachers of Shelby county. It is 
diflScult, if not impossible, to say now which denomination came first 
and held first services, the distinction lying between the Methodists, 
Baptists and Presbyterians. But very early the Christians or Disci- 
ples held meetings, and their preachers cried aloud in the wilderness, 
when for a truth the country was a wilderness, and when their meat 
was chiefly venison and wild honey. 

Not all of the churches in Shelby county are represented in this 
chapter, as many of the clerks and those in possession of information 
concerning them have failed to respond to requests for such informa- 
tion. Want of time has prevented the compiler from giving his 
attention repeatedly to the matter. 

BAPTIST CHURCHES. 

Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, M. Hurley, and William Fuqua were the 
first Baptist ministers in Shelby county. They held services here as 
early as 1835. 

Mount Zion Church — Tiger Fork Township, was organized on the 
fourth Saturday in August, 1838, by Revs. M. Hurley and Jeremiah 
Taylor, and is situated in Tiger Fork township on Sec. 6. — 58 — 9. The 
original members of this church are Edward Rutter, Elizabeth Rutter, 
Levan Brown, Lucinda Brown, Caroline Looney, William Randolph, 
(816) 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 817 

Lucy Moffett, Jesse Vanskike, Martha Vanskike, Amanda Moore, 
Edmund Rutter, Jane Rutter, W. Moffett, and Hannah and Sarah, 
colored women. The present church consists of 59 members. The 
pastors who have had charge of this congregation are Jeremiah Tay- 
lor, John Keach, Nathan Ayers, Frank Smith, P. N. Haycroft, R. 
Kaylor, Sanford Smith, George C. Brown, C. S. Taylor, William 
Pulliam, J. P. Griffith, J. H. Rubenson and others. The church is a 
frame buildins:, having been erected in 1856 at a cost of $600. The 
Sabbath-school is composed of 15 scholars, William T. Looney being 
its superintendent. W. Moffett was the first clerk of this church, 
filling that office for a number of years. 

Shiloh Church — Situated on section 10, township 59, range 10, 
Bethel township, was organized on the second Saturday in May, 1869, 
its constituent members being George H. Rager, Bedford Brown, Ann 
E. Brown, Elizabeth A. Brown, Lucinda Brown, George C. Brown, 
Elizabeth R. Brown, Sarah A. Brown, Eliza Nicol, Henry M. Nicol, 
Vincent C. Nicol, Elizabeth Neel, Robert A. Todd, Elizabeth Todd, 
Nancy Vanskike, Martha Latimer, Herbert Bloom, Jennett Bloom, 
George Elgin, Ducebelle Elgin, Addie Elgin, Henrietta Hewitt, 
Elizabeth Graves, Lucy Graves, Eliza Graves, Allen Wright, Ma- 
tilda Wright, Nathan Martin, John Finney, Ann Finney, Mar- 
garet Finney, Jesse Vanskike, Martha Vanskike, Robert Lankford, 
Rebecca Lankford, W. Cochran, Monroe Mcllhaney and Edmonia 
Moore. The present membership of this church consists of 105 
communicants. The pastors who have administered to the spirit- 
ual needs of this congregation are D. V. Inlow, James P. Griffith 
and Thomas Smoot, the last named being the present pastor. The 
present church building was constructed in 1870 ; it is a frame, and 
valued at $1,200. The Sabbath-school consists of 60 members, the 
superintendent being Marion Hougland. This church was organized 
by Revs. C. S. Taylor, John Easton, Nathan Ayers, R. Kaylor and 
George W. Eaton. 

North River Church — Was organized in 1844, being situated on 
section 17, of Taylor township. The original members were Shelton 
Dodd and wife, John H. Garnett and wife, James Singleton and wife, 
Masco Garnett and wife, Jesse Stuart and wife, C. L. Harris and J. 
T. Garnett. The present membership numbers 67. John Sweeney, 
William Pulliam, S. C. Goodrich, John A. Clark, James Holt and 
John Raton are those who have served this church as pastors. The 
present church was built in 1882, a frame structure, costing $1,000. 



818 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

There are 30 scholars in the Sabbath-school, W. A. Dodd being its 
superintendent. 

Prairie View Church — Is located on section 15, township 57, range 
9', Jackson township, and was organized February 5, 1876. This 
church was formed by the consolidation of three other churches — Oak 
Dale, Hunnewell and Friendship churches — there being about 50 or 60 
original members. The present organization is composed of 102 mem- 
bers. The pastors who have served this church are James Green, 
Joseph Terrill, W. B. Lile and Thomas Smoot, who is the present 
pastor. The church edifice was built in 1876 and is valued at $1,200. 

Oiik Ridge Church — Located six miles south of west of Shelbina, 
in Jefferson township, was constituted an organization February 16, 
1867, with the succeeding named persons: Henry Kidwell, Nancy 
Kidwell, Sophronia Kidwell, Louisa Kimble, William Kidwell, Re- 
becca Kidwell, Benjamin F. Kidwell, Elijah Dungan, Frances Dun- 
gan, Aaron L. Webdell, Milly Webdell, Nancy Thrasher, Annie E. 
Clark, Joel Thrasher, Cora Perry, John M. Wright, Mary J. Wright, 
Joseph Clark, Jeptha Smith and Nelson Thomas. Sixty-nine is the 
number of the membership at this date. During 1881-1882 a frame 
church building, 36x44 feet, was constructed and cost $1,200. The 
pulpit has been occupied by Milfred Powers, A. G. Goodrich, W. B. 
Craig, J. G. Swinney and the present pastor, George D. ToUe. 
Preaching is held once a month. J. T. Miller is superintendent of a 
Sabbath-school of 50 members. 

Looney's Creek O. 8. Baptist Church — In Tiger Fork Township, 
was organized in 1835, being situated on section 33, township 59, range 
9. The names of the original members are William Randolph, Nancy 
Randolph, Henry Louthan, Mary Louthan, Manly Elgin, Evalina Elgin, 
William Moffett, Edward Wilson, Mary Wilson, Edmund Rutter and 
Elizabeth Rutter. The present church has 19 members. Henry Lou- 
than served this congregation as pastor for 34 years, after which F. 
M. Turner took charge, but there is no pastor at present. The church 
building is brick, valued at about $1,200. This church was organized 
before the division of the Baptist Church into the two factions, Old 
and New School. (See History of Tiger Fork Township). 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH. 

M. E. Church South, Shelbina. —This, church was organized in the 
fall of 1858. The following were some of the first members : Will- 
iam A. Reid, J. R. Colvert and wife, F. M. Harrison and wife and 
William Wood and wife. The first church building was of brick, and 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 819 

was built ill 1867. The present building is also a brick, and was erected 
in the year 1882 at a cost of about $5,000. It was dedicated the 
same year by Rev. J. D. Vincil. Some of the pastors of this church 
have been : Eev. Hudson, Thomas DeMoss, W. W. McMurry, Will- 
iam Bell, L. Rush, R. N. T. Holliday,B. H. Spencer, D. R. Shackle- 
ford, S. L. Wood, W. A. Tarwater and J. W. Jordan. The first meet- 
ings of this congregation were held in the bar-room of Thomas' Hotel 
on the present site of the Waverly ; then in the public school-house 
until the first church was erected, which was built in connection with 
the Baptists and used until the present building was occupied. Dur- 
ing the war services were partially discontinued. The church is out 
of debt and has a flourishing Sabbath school of 150 scholars. W. A. 
Reid is superintendent. 

M. E. Church South, Shelhyville — Was organized in about 1839. 
Upon the division in 1844 it was reorganized with Thomas J. Brown 
and family, Cyrus Sanders and family, Dr. Thomas Irvin and family, 
eTames Irwin, William Broughton and famil}^ Mrs. Edmonds, Mrs. 
Vandiver, William Dines and family, Tyson Dines, John W. Dines, 
Thomas Dines, Joseph Dines, James Ralph and family, Mrs. Craw- 
ford, John Laws and family, Jacob Vandiver and family and Cyrus 
Van Nort and family as its original members. The house of worship 
is a frame building, and the membership is about 100, Rev. J. M. 
O'Brien being the present pastor. The Sunday-school, of 100 scholars, 
is superintended by J. J. Hewitt. The old M. E. Church was a brick 
building, being the first church ever erected in Shelbyville. 

Bacon Chapel — Salt River Township, was organized in the fall 
of 1837 with John B. and Charlotte Lewis, Charles and Dollie Chris- 
tine, Mary I. Wailes, Margaret A. Moore, M. Wheeler, David Wood, 
William Wood and Stanford Drain as its original members. The 
names of the ministers who have served this consfreofation are as fol- 
lows: Revs. William Pryor, Conley Smith, T. Ashby, Tyson Dines, 
Martin L. Eads, James M. Green, P. M. Pinkard, Jacob Sigler, James 
Wainright, James B. Callaway, George Smith, J. B. Baker, M. 
Birch, L. Newraann, James Light, E. K. Miller, William M. Bush, 
James Monroe, Joseph Dines, E. Hudson, T. DeMoss, L. Bush, W. 
M. McMurry and B. A. Spencer. Their church building, a frame 
structure, was erected in 1845 at a cost of $1,900. The land on which 
it stands was donated by George Bacon, Esq., of Hannibal, and for 
him the church was named. The congregation consists of 217 mem- 
bers. John W. Wailes is the superintendent of the Sunday-school, 
which is composed of 100 scholars. This church was organized at 



820 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the residence of J. B. Lewis, and services were held there for a Ions: 
time, and afterwards the worship of God was continued in a log cabin 
known as Bacon's cabin, where the first Sabbath-school was organized 
in 1838, Judge P. B. Moore being its superintendent. 

Clarence M. JS . Church South. — A reorganization of this church 
was effected through the efforts of Rev\ L. Rush in 1867, the names 
of W. O. Huston and wife, George Hall and wife, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. 
Whitby, Alice Burkholder, C. Hornback and wife, Mary Hodge and 
Mrs. Mary Jacobs appearing on the records as the constituent mem- 
bers. Their church building, a frame structure, 36x54 feet in dimen- 
sions, was constructed in about 1876 and is valued at about $1,800. 
It was dedicated by Rev. Tarwater. The Revs, L. Rush, Blackwell, 
Babcock, Walter Tool, Todd, William Warren, D. R. Shackleford, 
William Wood, William Wainright, J. W. Jordan, A. P. Linn and 
Dr. Kimsey have ministered to the spiritual needs of the congrega- 
tion. The number of present membership is 67. Mr. William Dim- 
mitt is superintendent of a Sabbath-school numbering about 60 
scholars. 

Bethany M. M. Church South — In the eastern portion of Black 
Creek township, was formed March 4, 1882, the following persons 
constituting the original membership : R. J. Taylor and wife, George 
F. Carmichael and wife, Lulia Z. Taylor, 0. E. Scott, Angle Fore- 
man, Thomas Tingle and wife, Eliza Smith, J. H. Carmichael and 
wife, Levena Forman, Sarah Smith, Sallie Raine, Lucia Carmichael. 
There are now 23 members. A frame house of worship costing 
$1,200 was completed in 1881 and dedicated in July, 1884. Charles 
E. Smith superintends a Sabbath-school of 60 pupils. For one and 
a half years W. A. Toole filled the pulpit, being succeeded by J. M. 
O'Brien. 

Pleasant View M. E. Church South — Situated on section 6, town- 
ship 59, range 9, was organized in February, 1881, its constituent 
members being Joseph A. Brown, Joseph H. Brown, Lucy V. Brown, 
Thomas T. Brown, Francis M. Brown, Mary B. Carlisle, John W. Car- 
lisle, Julia Gardner, John R. Glasscock, Mattie E. Glasscock, Fannie 
L. Glasscock, Margarette E. Glasscock, Annie L. McGraw, Jennie 
Oder, James W. Settle, Carrie Settle and Elizabeth Seidelmeier. . The 
present church consists of 21 members. The pastors who have served 
it are T. B. Kendall, William M. Wainright and James Penn. The 
l)uilding, a frame, was erected in 1880, at a cost of $1,000. The Sab- 
bath-school is composed of 40 scholars, the superintendent being 
James W. Settle. Two of the members of this consi'es'ation have 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 821 

died, namely : Elizabeth Seidelmeier, in Colorado, September 30, 
1883, and Julia Lydick, in June of the same year. 

Oak DaleM.E. Church South — Was organized in about 1836, 
and is situated on section 5, township 57 and range 9. The pres- 
ent church is composed of 75 members, Rev. H. James being its pas- 
tor. The church building is a frame and was erected in 1871, costing 
in the neighborhood of $2,000. The Sunday-school is composed of 
40 scholars, superintended by R. W. Douglass. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The Berean M. E. Church — Shelbyville, was organized January 
13, 1850, by Christopher J. Houts, presiding elder of the Hannibal 
district, and J. M. Chivington. The original members were Leonard 
Dobbin and wife, James W. Ganby and wife, Joseph Hitch and wife, 
David Wood and wife, E. B. Stover and wife, John Short and wife. 
The first church building was erected in 1860 at a cost of $2,500. It 
was moved to its present site and repaired in 1874, was dedicated by 
Rev. N. P. Heath, of St. Louis, and re-dedicated by Rev. William 
Taylor, of India. The pastors who have served this congregation 
are J. M. Chivington, J. M. Powers, J. F. New, John James, Ezra 
Sayre, James M. Oyler, Wesley Whorton, W, S. Wentz, Isaac Mar- 
tin, J. W. Prince, T. J. Williams, J. M. Parker, A. M. Pilcher, Jacob 
Miller, L. P. McNeily, John F. Mesner, H. B. Seely, A. H. Powell, 
J. S. Barwick, Z. S. Wheeler, D. B. Dorsey, M. H. Butler and R. 
Stillvvell. The number of present membership is about 40. 

After the organization of the M. E. Church South in 1846 the M. 
E. Church had no organized church in Shelby county until 1850 ; but 
most of its former members were taken into the M. E. Church South, 
where they remained until the Missouri Conference of the M. E. Church 
was organized by Bishops Janes and Morris, at the request of the 
General Conference of 1848. 

Clarence M. E. Church — Was organized by Rev. John Gillis and 
the presiding elder. Dr. N. Shumate, in 1866. Since that period the 
pastors in charge have been Revs. John Gillis, Comfort E. Ransom, 
G. W. Walker, A. Chester, and others. At a cost of $3,250 a brick 
house of worship was completed in 1881. Mr. W. T. Carothers is 
superintendent of the Sabbath-school, which has a membership of 75. 

Evans CJiapel — Located in Taylor townshij), section 22-59-12, 
was organized in 1865. The names of the original members are John 
Barkley and wife, G. W. Greenfield and wife, R. Cox and wife, John 
Clemmons and wife and James Ward and wife. The present member- 



822 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ship is 30. The names of the pastors who have been here are James 

Parker, Pilcher, Jacob Miller, L. T. Meiiley, Albert Cluster, H. 

J. Eobins, H. C. Darehoff and F. M. Green. This church was built 
in 1882, a frame building, costing in the neighborhood of $1,500. 
The Sabbath-school consists of 45 scholars, the superintendent being 
Recompense Cox. 

PRESBYTERIANS. 

No record can be found or remembered of the existence of a Presby- 
terian Church in Shelby county until the year 1859, when the church 
was^;organized at Shelby ville. But prior to this, however, there was 
preaching in the county by Presbyterian clergymen as early as 1836. 
Dr. David Nelson, of Marion College, Marion county, a very eminent 
divine, and one who has left an imperishable memory, and Rev. W. 
P. Cochran, still living in Marion county, both Presbyterians, preached 
in this county in 1836. At intervals from that time forward services 
were held in different portions of the county. 

The Presbyterian Church of Shelby ville — Was organized July 30, 
1859, by Rev. W. P. Cochran. The names of the original members 
are Joseph M. Irvin, Esther Vaughn, Mary Vaughn, Elizabeth Caro- 
thers. Dr. Darius Day, Peter B. Lightner and Mrs. Rachel Lightner. 
The names of the pastors who have served are Revs. George C. Crow, 
A. Steed, Duncan Brown, James Lafferty, J. C. Robinson and Edward 
Vincent, who is the present pastor. The church building, a frame, 
was erected in 1860 at a cost of $3,000, The present membership of 
the organization is 45. P. B. Dunn is the superintendent of a Sabbath- 
school composed of 60 scholars. 

Pleasant Prairie Church — Is located on section 18, township 59, 
range 10, and was organized in 1866. The present membership is 20, 
withfJ.^J. Wilson as its pastor. The original members were J. A. 
Ewing, Rebecca Ewing, Sallie Card well, Eva Cardwell, Martha Card- 
well, James Cardwell, Susan Cardwell, Joseph Blackwood, Ella Finley, 
Nancy Finley, Israel Cannon, Mary Cannon, Mary Cardwell, Susan 
Bostian and W. N. Bohon. The present frame church was erected in 
1869 at a cost of $1,500. The Sabbath-school of 30 scholars is super- 
intended by J. J. Wilson. 

Clarence Presbyterian Church — Was organized July 17, 1859, by 
Rev. J. R. Winters, with James S. Martin, J. E. Martin, Mrs. Mary 
J, Martin, Susan M. Hollyman, James B. Ryland, Mary J. Ryland 
and R. A. Newcomb. This church consists of 25 members. The 
pastors who have served this congregation are Jacob R. Winters, Rev. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 823 

A. Steed, from November 1862 to 1872 ; Rev. James Lafferty, Duncan 
Brown, — Carson, Rev. Robinson and Rev. E. Vincent, the pastor 
at present. The church building, a frame, was built about 1860, 
being remodeled in 1883 at a cost of about $750, its original cost being 
$1,200. The Land Company donated the lot upon which it stands. 
The Sabbath-school is composed of 35 scholars. J. P. Morse is the 
superintendent. This church is further mentioned in the early history 
of Clarence. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN. 

New Providence Church — In the south-eastern corner of Taylor 
township, was organized November 10, 1859, by Rev. S. C. David- 
son, with the following as its original members : Nathan Byars, J. P. 
Killinger, Hugh Kirkwood, S. F. Dunn and wife, Jacob Killinger and 
wife. Glen Killinger, Margaret Kirkwood, Mary Evans and James G. 
Byars. The present membership numbers 47. The names of the 
pastors who have served this congregation are Robert H. Wills, John 
Winn, Nicholas Langston, J. R. Lowrance and T. G. Pool. This 
church Avas erected in 1874 ; it is a frame structure, and cost $1,000. 
The number of the scholars in the Sabbath-school is 50, the superin- 
tendent being Nathan Byars. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 

Probably the first Christian minister in Shelby county was Rev. 
Jacob Creath, who was not only one of the first preachers of that 
denomination in North-east Missonri, but in the country. It is related 
of him that he held a meeting on Black creek as early as 1839. On 
this occasion, one of the settlers, who had been very proficient in the 
use of profane language before his conversion, and who had a singu- 
lar, but a very strong aversion to snakes, was present. Though an 
experienced hunter, brave as a lion and able and willing to " whip 
his weight in wildcats," the sight of a snake, of whatever species, 
was sufficient to unnerve him. 

But after Mr. S 's conversioa it was necessary that he should be 

baptized by immersion. He was taken down to Black creek with some 
others, and when it came his turn Rev. Creath led him into the deep 
water, meek and contrite, and looking as solemn as an anchorite. 
Suddenly, from a little drift not far away, a small water snake glided 
for what it thought a safer retreat and went swimming toward the 
preacher and the convert. As the latter discovered the wriggling little 
reptile making for him, his former fear and his former style of speech 

47 



824 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

came to him, and catching his preacher by the arm he exclaimed: 
*' Good God ! Brother Creath, looh at that d — d snake! " 

Brother Creath was a little disconcerted at first, but recovering him- 
self, he said, *' O, come along, brother; a good Christian need have 
no fear of serpents." 

Shelbyville Christian Church. — The first congregation of this 
church was organized in 1839. The following were a majority of the 
first members : William Gooch, Tandy Gooch, Wm. S. Chinn, Joseph 
Chick, Hiram Rookwood, Warren Hall, Wm. Conner and their wives 
and families, and Mrs. Zerelda Hill. The congregation was reorgan- 
ized in 1874 with the following members: Catherine B. Collier, Jane 
E. Black, Eliza J. West, Sallie Oakes, Sarah J. Hiter, Sarah Carley, 
Jane Brawner, Lucy S. Chinn, J. M. Collier, Maria L. Sullivan, Cor- 
delia P. Dobyns. The first church building was erected in 1844 or 
1845. It was a brick and cost about $1,800. It stood on lot 3, 
block 15, on Jackson street, west side of the square. It was torn 
down in the fall of 1865. The present church building was erected 
by the Baptists. This congregation expended $400 in the improve- 
ment of the building, and now use it in connection with them. Some 
of the pastors that served this church under the first organization 
were Jacob Creath and W. H. Hobsou. Under the present organiza- 
tion they have been J. N. Wright, E. C. Browning, H. Northcutt 
and J. T. Welch. The church meets monthly for regular preaching, 
and meets every Sabbath for social worship and for Sunday-school. 
The latter is composed of about 40 scholars, and is superintended by 
Prof. W. R. Holloway. The present membership of the church is 78. 

Antioch Church — In Taylor township, was organized in 1867, some 
of the original members being T. P. Manuel and wife, L. H. Gillaspy 
and wife, S. A. Vandiver and wife, J. McWilliams and wife, Mrs. 
Rebecca Peoples, J. P. Tandy, Mrs. C. G. Magruder, George A. 
Stuart and wife, J. D. Gray and wife, John A. Gillaspy and wife, 
Joseph Stuart and wife, Mrs. S. A. Magruder, and J. T. Baker. The 
membership now numbers 150. J'he names of pastors are J. P. 
Tandy, E. C. Browning, S. A. Vandivers and J. T. Welch. The 
present frame building was erected in 1884, at a cost of $2,000, and 
was dedicated on the 11th of May. The Sunday-school is composed 
of 50 scholars, and is superintended by T. P. Manuel. This church 
is located at Leonard. 

Concord Christian Church — Was organized December 1, 1883, 
and is situated on section 23, township 59, range 9, in Tiger Fork 
township, and a frame building was erected the same year of its 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 825 

organization at a cost of $1,200. It was organized by Rev. J. P. 
Tandy, with L. Hunter, William Daniels, S. I. Bragg, William Peak, 
James DeMoss, Levi Plight, Millie Plight, Mary Bragg, Martha W. 
Triplett, M. Peak, Alice Browning, Caroline Dougherty, Ida 
Dougherty, Mary E. Wolf, Susan Melburn, E. P. Allen, America 
Allen, Mahala Siminon, A. S. Rife, G. A. Rife, John McGraw, Eliza 
J. Bragg, Benjamin Talbott, Mary J. Pierce, Walker Pue, Ellen Sim- 
inon, Mary E. Jones, Charles Siminon, Elizabeth Poor, and F. M. 
Poor, as its original members. The membership is at present 40. 

CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 

St. Patrick's Boman Catholic Church — Was built in 1883. It is 
a frame building (located at Clarence) and was erected at a cost of 
$2,000. The congregation of the church is composed of 150 mem- 
bers, its pastor being Rev. P. B. Cahill, of Macon. Only this meager 
information concerning this church can be given for want of proper 
knowledge of its affairs. 

There is a Catholic Church organization and building at Shelbina, 
and also at Hunnewell. The pastor of these churches promised their 
histories for this volume, but for some reason, doubtless a good and 
sufficient one, has not done so. There are probably 400 Catholics in 
Shelby county, but only one resident priest, Rev. Father Casey, of 
Shelbina. 




CHAPTEE XIII. 

CIVIC ORDERS AND TEMPERANCE ORGANIZATIONS. 

Masonic Lodges: St. Andrew's Lodge, Shelbyville-Shelbina Lodge - Hunnewell 
LoTge-Shelbina Royal Arch Chapter. Odd Fellows: Shelby Lodge -HuBtaewell 
Lo2. uLdWorLn: Shelbina Lodge - Select Knights -Charity Lodge - 
Clarence Lodge- Hunnewell Lodge. Grand Army of tke EepubUc: Shelbyvjlle 
Post -"Paddy" Shields Post. Order of Chosen Friends: Progress Council- 
Echo Council. Temperance Organizations: The Old Shelbyville Temperance Soci- 
ety-Sons of Temperance-Brief Mention of Temperance Work in the County- 
The Good Templars. 

MASONIC. 

St. Andrew's Lodge No. 96. A. F. and A. M., Shelbyville -W^s 
instituted by M. W. Thomas S. Miller, D. G. M The dispensation 
was issued January 25, 1848. The charter bears date May 10 1848. 
The charter members and first officers were : Samuel B. F. Caldwell, 
master • Perry B. Moore, senior warden ; William Moore, junior war- 
den • William S. Chinn, senior deacon; James Graham, junior dea- 
con;' Isaac W. Moore, secretary; Abraham Matlock, treasurer; 
Julius C. Gartrell, tyler. The present officers are: A. G. Priest, 
master; William Carson, senior warden ; J. L. Feely, junior warden ; 
J M. Collier, treasurer; W. L. WiUard, secretary; Thos. Mitchell, 
senior deacon; R. W. Weedon, junior deacon; S. P. Engle tyler. 
The present membership is 57. The hall, in Marmaduke s block, is 
of brick and was built in 1877, at a cost of $1,000. Julius C. Gart- 
rell is the only one of the original members now livmg. 

Shelbina Lodge 1^0. 228 -Was instituted by David Dean The 
charter was issued May 29, 1862. The charter members and first 
officers were: George T. Hill, W. M. ; James Jameson, senior war- 
den ; L. A. HoUiday, junior warden; R. T. Sparks, treasurer ; Will- 
iam M. Sparks, secretary; C. C. Fuqua, senior deacon ; Wilham 
Stansberry, junior deacon; E. M. Wood, tyler; and G. A. Jenks. 
The present officers are: C. H. Lasley, master; J. W. Sigler, senior 
warden ; J. H. Kennerly, junior warden ; S. Downing, treasurer ; C. 
K. Dickerson, secretary; John Carnahan, senior deacon; Taylor 
Thompson, junior deacon ; William Ashley, tyler. The presen 
membership is 72. The Lodge meets in a brick hall which was bmlt 
(826) 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 827 

in 1867, at a cost of $2,500. The Lodge is out of debt and has a 
good surplus in the hands of the treasurer. 

Hunneiuell Lodge Ko. 415 — Was instituted by the Masons of 
Hunnewell and vicinity. The dispensation was issued June 3, 1871. 
The charter bears date October 15, 1871. Some of the charter mem- 
bers were: A. F. Barr, A. L. Yancy, A. P. Vance, C. W. Cox, D.C. 
Byrd, J. W. Christian, C. F. Robbins, C. H. Godfrey, S.J. Webber, 
J. G. Baird, John Maddox, E. A. Wood, E. C. Davis, S. Bragg, 
John Thomas, W. H. Byrd. The first officers were : A. F. Barr, W. 
M. ; A. L. Yancy, senior warden ; A. P. Vance, junior warden ; C. 
H. Godfrey, treasurer ; A. C. Balliet, secretary ; E. C. Davis, senior 
deacon; C. W. Cox, junior deacon ; D. C. Byrd, tyler. The present 
officers are: W. S. McClintic, master; John G. Baird, senior warden; 
E. C. Davis, junior warden ; A. L. Yancy, treasurer; W. B. Thie- 
hoff, secretary; D. A. Stoddard, senior deacon ; H. M. Mefford, jun- 
ior deacon; C. H. Ragsdale, senior steward; John Bohrer, junior 
steward ; W. James, tyler. The present membership is about 30. 
The hall is of brick and was built in 1875 at a cost of $1,000. 

ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER. 

SheTbina Chapter No. 99, Royal Arch Masons — Was instituted 
by J. G. Howe. The charter is dated May 3, 1883. The first officers 
were : S. Kennedy, high priest ; G. A. Jenks, king ; I. D. Nelke, 
scribe ; J. H. Kennerly, captain of the host ; J. M. Bates, principal 
sojourner ; C. H. Lasley, royal arch captain ; A. C. Bryan, W. P. 
Dean, J. William To wson, masters of third, second and first veils ; 
J. W. Sigler, secretary. The present membership is 30. 

ODD FELLOWS. 

Shelby Lodge No. 33, I. 0. O. F. — At Shelbyville, was insti- 
tuted by C. D. Bourne, D. D. G. M. The charter bears date April 
3, 1848, and the charter members were: — W. J. Holliday, C. J. 
RatclifFe, William L. Chipley, Hiram W. Rookwood, John T. Cooper, 
C. K. Cotton, Thomas Cines, G. Gatewood, J. M. Irwin. The first 
officers were: W. J. Holliday, N. G. ; C. J. Ratcliff'e, V. G. ; W. L. 
Chipley, secretary ; H. W. Rookwood, treasurer. The present 
officers are: J. C. Priest: N. G. ; O. P. Robison, V. G. ; John Rey- 
nolds, recording-secretary; J. D. Levan, treasurer; S. P. Eagle, 
warden; J. D. ToUe, conductor; M. M. Bigelow, inside guardian. 
The present number of members is 36. The hall in which the Lodge 



828 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

meets was built in the year 1876. It is of brick and cost about 
$1,000. 

Shelbina Lodge — Tliere is a strong Odd Fellows Lodge at Shel- 
bina, but neither a secretary nor any of the members can be found 
who have time to furnish information concerning its history. 

Hunnewell Lodge No. 302 — Was instituted by A.M. Alexan- 
der, Grand Master. The dispensation was issued May 21, 1874, and 
the charter bears the same date. The charter members were : Dr. 
E. C. Davis, J. T. Davis, C. H. Ragsdale, J. W. Burdett, 
G. B. Brown, P. A. Brown, S. H. Brown, Hugh De H. White, A. 
C. Balliet, I. R. Jones, H. M. Mefford. The first officers were: 
P. A. Brown, noble grand; Hugh White, vice-grand; I. R. Jones, 
secretary ; A. C. Balliet, treasurer. The present officers are : A. H. 
Lightner, noble grand ; J. D. Webber, vice-grand ; Thomas Irons, 
secretary ; A. C. Balliet, treasurer. The hall in which the Lodge 
meets is situated in the Blackburn and Balliet block. The hall is 
well furnished, the furniture alone costing about $200. The Lodge 
is out of debt and is in a flourishing condition generally. The present 
membership is about 20. 

UNITED WORKMEN. 

Shelbina Lodge No. 164, A. 0. U. W. — Was organized No- 
vember 18, 1879, by H. W. Busse, with the following list of charter 
members : James W. Barr, J. S. Bates, A. J. Bauter, J. S. Chand- 
ler, W. T. Dean, C. K. Dickerson, R. C. Dickerson, W. L. Fox, A. 
N. Gary, E. N. Gerard, A. R. Gibbons, R. P. Giles, E. J. Goodrich, 
A. R. Graham, James Gvvynn, P. M. Hanger, W. M. Hanley, E. D. 
Hoselton, G. A. Jenks, W. O. L. Jewett, L. W. Kelley, C. R. Kin- 
der, L. C. Mayer, J. H. Miles, J. W. Miller, D. Morgan, J. F. Mul- 
drow, A. M. Revely, J. W. Sigler, J. D. Smith, C. H. True, J. M. 
Willis. 

The first officers were : R. P. Giles, past master workman ; 
W. P. Dean, master workman; G. A. Jenks, financier; P. M. 
Hanger, overseer; E. G. Goodrich, receiver; C. K. Dickerson, fore- 
man ; J. W. Miller, recorder; E. D. Hoselton, guide; W. L. Fox, 
inside warden; J. M. Willis, outside warden. Some of the present 
officers are: C. H. Myers, past master workman ; J. H. Miles, master 
workman ; C. G. Thomas, foreman ; John Byman, overseer ; John S. 
Chandler, recorder; A. R. Graham, financier; A. N. Gray, receiver ; 
J. W. Barr, guide ; G. R. Sparks, inside warden, J. W. Miller, out- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 829 

side warden. The present membership is 43. Only one death loss 
has occnrred in the Lodge since date of organization. 

Shelbina Legion No. 47, Select Knights of A. 0. U. TF. — Was 
instituted by H. L. Dean, January 19, 1883, the date of the charter. 
The first officers were : A. R. Graham, select commander ; C R. Dick- 
erson, vice commander; C. H. Myers, lieutenant commander; L. W. 
Kelly, recorder; E. D. Hoselton, treasurer; L. C. Mayer, recording 
treasurer; J. D. Smith, standard bearer ; E. N. Gerard, chaplain. 
Other charter members were Thomas G. Lear, J. H. Miles, John 
Byrum, John Graham, A. N. Gary, J. C. Booth, J. S. Chandler, S. 
A. Sparks, R. T. Sparks, C. E. Tabler, J. H. Dudgeon, Gentry 
Thomas, J. C. Dussair, W. O. L. Jewett, Amos Brownell and J. W. 
Barr. The present officers are A. R. Graham, select commander; C. 
H. Myers, vice commander ; T. G. Lear, lieutenant commander ; J. 
H. Miles, recorder; John Graham, recording treasurer; J. S. Chan- 
dler, treasurer; J. D. Smith, standard bearer; E. N. Gerard, chap- 
lain ; E. N. Gerard, medical examiner. A. R. Graham is a member 
of the board of finances of the Grand Lodge. The present member- 
ship is 19. 

Charity Lodge No. 257, A. 0. U. W. — Shelbyville, was insti- 
tuted by Charles R. Arnold. The charter was dated September 20, 
1882. The charter members and first officers were : M. E. McMaster, 
P. M. W. ; J. C. Dussair, M. W. ; J. A. Doyle, foreman ; S. S. Ter- 
willeger, overseer ; C. B. Duncan, recorder ; F. M. Springsteen, 
receiver; J. J. Clemmons, guide; H. B. Dines, inside warden, and 
Dr. J. W. Mahaffey, medical examiner. The present officers are : S. 
S. Terwilleger, master workman ; C. F. Wainright, foreman ; M. E. 
McMaster, overseer ; S. V. Vaughn, recorder ; George Kirtly, receiver ; 
J. C. Dussair, financier; J. A. Carney, guide; C. B. Duncan, inside 
warden ; J. A. Doyle, past-master workman, and C. F. Wainright, 
medical examiner. The present membership is 14. 

Clarence Lodge No. 172, A. 0. U. W. — Was organized in 
December, 1879. Its charter members were Dr. E. Magoon, M. 
W. ; J. A. Watkins, overseer; C. H. S. Cronkrite, recorder; R. N. 
Shanks, financier; Solomon Moore, A. L. Crain, foreman; Joseph 
Skates, G. M. Morrison, Durbon Davis, A. J. Roswell, G. F. Hain- 
line, J. H. Robinson and George W. Porter. The lodge is in a 
flourishing financial condition and has a good lodge room. They 
bought eight acres of land and laid out a cemetery, laid it off with 
streets and alleys and family lots, it being the burial place of the city 
of Clarence. 



830 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Hunnewell Lodge JVo. 287, A. 0. U. W. — Was instituted by C. 
R. Arnold. The charter bears date September 17, 1883. The char- 
ter members were : S. A. Parsons, George Utz, P. W. Blackburn, M. 
R. Brown, J. G. Stillions, H. H. Learj, A. H. Lightner, W. B. Arnold, 
J. A. Darby, J. R. Horn, D. W. Taylor, J. A. Spencer, J. M. Leary, 
John W. Cox, S. V. Saunders, T. F. Hughes, Hiram Selsor. The 
first officers were : Thomas F. Hughes, past-master workman ; Hiram 
Selsor, master workman ; John R. Horn, foreman ; Henry H. Leary, 
overseer ; James A. Spencer, financier ; J. W. Cox, receiver : A. H. 
Lightner, guide; William B. Arnold, inside watchman; D. W. Tay- 
lor, outside watchman. The present officers are : S. A. Parsons, mas- 
ter workman ; Henry Leary, foreman ; J. A. Darby, overseer ; J. A. 
Spencer, recorder ; T. F. Hughes, financier ; A. H. Lightner, receiver. 
The present membership is 16. The hall in which the lodge meets is 
rented from the Odd Fellows. The lodge is in a sound financial con- 
dition and in good working order generally. 

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

Shelbyville Post JSfo. 102, G. A. R. —Was organized by Dr. Richard- 
son, of Macon, August 11, 1883, with 27 members. The first officers 
were: J. M. Collier, post-commander; C.«B. Duncan, adjutant; J. J. 
Hiles, senior vice-commander ; L. Dobbin, junior vice-commander; A. 
L. Hayward, quartermaster ; M. M. Bigelow, surgeon ; H. Eaton, chap- 
lain ; H. C. Carlisle, officer of the day ; J. Griggs, sergeant-major ; 
O. P.Robison, officer of the guard; M. H. McMaster, quartermaster- 
sergeant. The present membership is 42. The post meets in a hall 
over Collier's store, on the west side of the public square. 

''Paddy'' Shields Post N'o. 36, G. A. i2. — Was organized in 
October, 1882. Its charter members were: Lewis Rider, comman- 
der; E. Magoon, Fred W. Hyatt, O. D. ; William Davis, W. H. 
Moore, O. G. ; A. Clark, S. V. ; P. P. Burkholder, R. F. Oxley, 
George W. Coder, B. F. Combs, J. A. Watkins, A. Jordan, Thomas 
Graves, S. K. Dungin, James Carothers, J. W. Prichard. Its present 
membership numbers 60. The post was named in honor of Gen. 
James A. Shields, the distinguished Irish-American soldier and states- 
man, whom his men sometimes called " Paddy" Shields. 

ORDER OF CHOSEN FRIENDS. 

Progress Council JVo. 41, O. of C. F. — At Shelbyville, was insti- 
tuted by O. A. Crosby, Acting Supreme Councilor, under a dispensa- 
tion dated July 7, 1884. The first officers and charter members were : 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 831 

H. B. Dines, past-chief councilor ; Rev. J. S. Todd, chief councilor ; 
Mrs. Mattie Dines, vice councilor ; John Reynolds, secretary ; James 
A. Doyle, treasurer; Mrs. Mattie Duncan, prelate; Dr. C. J. Wain- 
right, medical examiner ; C. B. Duncan, marshal ; Mrs. Ella Wain- 
right, warden, and Mrs. Ann Reynolds, guard, and Mrs. Mary Todd. 
Number of present membership is 11. 

Echo Oouncil No. 39 — At Hunnewell, was instituted by O. A. 
Crosby. The charter bears date June 20, 1884. The first officers 
were : J. L. Yancy, chief councilor ; Mrs. J. A. Darby, vice coun- 
cilor ; T. F. Highbee, past-chief councilor ; Mrs. E. C. Davis, prelate ; 
W. C. Blackburn, marshal; James A. Darby, secretary; A. C. Bal- 
liet, treasurer; J. C. Davis, warden; E. C. Davis, guide; H. T. 
Anderson, sentry. The present membership is about 11. The coun- 
cil meets in the Odd Fellows Hall. 

TEMPERANCE OROANrZATIONS. 

In the early settlement of Shelby county intemperance was quite 
prevalent. Whisky was obtainable everywhere. It was kept for 
sale in every store, especially in every grocery establishment, and 
nearly every household possessed a family jug, a family bottle. It is 
not true, as is often asserted, that there was less drunkenness then 
than now, in proportion to the population. Drunken rows were so 
frequent that they ceased to be remarkable. Every Saturday in Shelby- 
ville, and on every public occasion — as an election, a muster, a bar- 
becue, etc. — numerous drunken men were present, and brawls and 
fights were almost as numerous as the couples. 

In 1840 the first public temperance meetings were held in the 
county, at Shelbyville, under the auspices of the old *' Washington- 
ians." So general was the evil that the people felt called upon to 
act in the matter, and to make an organized effort to rid the commu- 
nity of it. Some favored legislative prohibition, even at that day. 
Others thought best to try moral suasion, without coercive measures of 
any character, and induce every one possible to sign the pledge. 
With whisky at 25 cents a gallon and 6V4 cents a pint, and with 
habits long formed and appetites keen and unrestrained, it was diffi- 
cult work to effect much in the way of reformation among the drink- 
ing men of that day. 

In the fall of 1840 the temperance people of the county met at 
Shelbyville and formed a temperance society, consisting at first of 
about 25 members, of which about two-thirds were males. The fol- 
lowing was the constitution adopted : — 



832 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE SHELBYVILLE ^ TEMPERANCE SOCIETY. 

We whose names are hereunto subscribed, do hereby join ourselves 
into a society to be governed by the following constitution and such 
by-laws as may from time to time be adopted. 

Article I. Section 1. This society shall be known by the name of 
the Shelby Count}^^ Temperance Society. 

Sec. 2. Its officers shall consist of a President, Vice-President and 
Secretary, who shall be elected by a plurality of the votes of mem- 
bers, hold their offices for one year, and until their successors are 
elected, and shall perform all the duties ordinarily discharged by such 
officers. 

Article II. Section 1. This society shall meet once in every 
month and be addressed by some persen chosen by the President, the 
time and place of meeting being first published by the Secretary in 
such manner as he shall deem most calculated to make it generally 
known. 

Article III, Section 1. This society shall be limited in the use of 
liquors by the following : — 

pledge. 

We do hereby pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of all in- 
toxicating liquors, either by ourselves or in our families, as a drink 
or beverage. 

The following were the members of this society, the first 18 gen- 
tlemen and six ladies constituting the original membership ; — 

gentlemen. 

Augustus E. Whitby, William Dines, Thomas J. Bounds, Law- 
rence V. Turner, James M. Rider, John M. Eastin, James A. Irwin, 
Thomas H. Irwin, Jacob Harper, Thomas Dines, E,. L. Foster, Joseph 
Hitch, E. La Cossitt, W. H. Van Nort, John W. Dines, Cyrus A. 
Saunders, John B. Lewis, James W. Gunby, J. C. Hawkins, William 
C. Mitchell, Jeremiah Rust, Stephen E. Lay, John B. Singleton, Jos- 
eph S. Irwin, James C. Agnew, Joseph Dines, Julius A. Jackson, 
Richard Sheckels, Addison Cook, John Sheckels, John T. Tingle 
Tyson Dines, Jeremiah F. Riggs, Jefferson Whitby, Thomas T. Ash- 
ley, G. L. Cook, John Dunn, James Foley, Luther D. Kennedy, Jos- 
eph M. Irwin, Andrew Voss, Henry S. Lipscomb, John W. Stavely, 
Peter C. Rust, John Jacobs, Jr., Thomas W. Bounds, John Davies, 
William Holmes, George A. Riggs, James Ralph, Hezekiah Sheckels, 
F. M. Potts, Charles L. Bounds, John E. Powell, Peter Sheckels, 
Tandy Gooch, Theodore P. Rider, James V. Potts, B. W. Hall, F. 
Minter, James O. Cook, Isaac C. Matson, Joseph Holman. 



1 At first called Shelbyville Temperance Society; afterwards Shelby County Tem- 
perance Society. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



LADIES. 



833 



Eliza E. Eust, Mary J. Eust, Elizubeth Moberly, Harriet E. Eust, 
Frances A. Bounds, Mary C. Hawkins, AnnN. Eastin, Catherine Irwin, 
Hattie Bounds, Caroline A. Hawkins, Eachael Irwin, Sarah A. Van 
Nort, Mary A. Ennis, Martha Ennis, Elizabeth Eider, Jane W. 
Toimer, Mrs. Cook, Martha Lay, Sarah Lewis, Lavina Switzer, Mary 
Flaherty, Catherine Gooeh, Deziah Blackford, Mary J. Blackford, 
Adaline C. Duncan, Mary Gooch, Elizabeth Duncan, Jane A. Jacobs, 
Lucy M. W. Lipscomb, Mary Ann Agnew, Mary Jacobs, Martha P. 
Davies, Catherine Ingram, Susan Gooch, Sallie M. B. Tingle, Ann M. 
Tingle, Mary V. Jacobs, Elizabeth Lewis, Amanda M. Griggs, Ceatta 
Jacobs. 

The society existed until in 1848, when it was succeeded by a di- 
vision of the Sons of Temperance, which was called Shelbyville 
Division, No. 44, and which was organized February 23, 1848, by 
Bernard Bryan, G. W. P. of the order of the State. The first offi- 
cers were Jacob Sigler, W. P. ; Chas. J. Eackliff, W. A. ; James A. 
Irwin, recording secretary ; Elias HoUiday, assistant recording secre- 
tary ; C. M. Pilcher, financial secretary ; Hedgman Eookwood, treas- 
urer ; Thomas J. McAfee, C. ; John Cooper, A. C. ; Andrew Voss, 
inside sentinel ; David Farrington, outside sentinel. Other original 
members were Andrew Welling, William Vandeventer, James Ivans 
and H. Shriock. The same evening L. W. Turner, Thomas Dines, 
and William L. Chipley were admitted. 

The Sons of Temperance existed in Shelbyville until in 1854, when 
the membership was merged into the Good Templars. During its ex- 
istence it met in the grand jury room in the court-house. 

The county has not since 1840 been without a temperance organiza- 
tion of some sort. Lodges of the Good Templars are in various 
portions of the county and temperance people and prohibitionists are 
numerous everywhere. Every application for saloon or dram shop 
license is vigorously resisted and everything possible is done to bring 
about prohibition in Missouri. 

The ♦' blue ribbon " movement, in the spring of 1878, received much 
encouragement in the county. In Shelbyville numerous meetings 
were conducted by Mr. Ferguson, a temperance apostle from Illinois, 
and they were largely attended. 

July 4, 1878, all the temperance organizations of the county united 
in (he observance of Independence Day, in the fair grounds, near Shel- 
byville. There was a long procession and thousands were in attend- 



ance. 



834 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



THE GOOD TEMPLARS, 



Tranquil Lodge JSfo. 22^ I. O. G. T. — Was organized at Shelby ville, 
under a charter dated January 29, 1878. (Twenty-five years prior to 
this, however, there had been a lodge of the order in existence, as 
stated elsewhere, but no record is obtainable at present). The first 
officers were : H. B. Dines, worthy chief templar ; Mrs. Dee Hale, 
worthy vice ; S. V. Vaughn and Charles L. Ennis, secretaries ; George 
B. Rush, past worthy chief, and Thomas E. Garrison, chaplain. A 
sort of reorganization was effected in Januaryj 1883, and the following 
are the present officers : John A. Dunn, worthy chief; Lizzie Dunn, 
worthy vice ; Dick Kirtley, recording secretary ; E. D. Reynolds, 
financial secretary; H. M. Levan, chaplain. There are now but 20 
members in full and good standing. The lodge meets in a frame hall 
on the west side of the square, which it purchased some years ago at 
a cost of $100. It is well furnished, and the lodge itself is altogether 
out of debt. 

There are three or four other lodges of Good Templars in the county, 
but no report has been received from them. 




CHAPTER XIY. 

CITIES AND TOWNS OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Shelbvville ■ Early History - The Commissioner's Report - - The Firsts " - Digging 
Torwlier-Lner.l History - Burglar Shot- Schools -In corporations Skel- 
lina: Early History-The War-War Prices-Peace-Official History. Clarence: 
Early History-" The Eirsts"-War Tio^es-Murder of Mr. Switzer-Eu-es- 
Homicides - Incorporations. Hunnewell : Early History - During the War- 
Tragedies - Since the War- School Interests -Incorporations. Bethel . General 
History. 

SHELBY VILLE. 

As previously stated, Shelbyville was laid out by the county seat 
commissioners, in the fall of 1835. Prior to that time Lewis H. 
Gillaspy lived a little south-east of the town site, his land formuig a 
part of the town. He was the first settler near the site. 

Upon the organization of the county, Maj. Dickerson and others 
bestirred themselves to have the county seat located upon lands m 
which they were interested. They sought out the commissioners and 
notified them that the geographical center of the county was better 
suited for the county seat than any location elsewhere, and as they 
were restricted bv law to a point three miles from said center, there 
was but little difficulty in getting them to a conclusion. ^ _ 

To the county court, at the October term, 1835, the commissioners 
made the following report : — 

COMMISSIONEES' REPORT. 

We the undersigned, being notified by Henry Shurlds, Secretary 
of State of the State of Missouri, of our appointment as com- 
missioners for selecting the seat of justice for Shelby county, did- 
after causing the time and place of our meeting to be published in a 
pub ic newsr3aper, viz. : the Palmyra Courier, which circulates in said 
county of She by, and causing the requisite number of advertisement, 
to be set up in the most public places in said county -proceed, on 
the 5th day of October last, to view the difi-erent sites proposed by the 
citizens of said county; and, after a thorough examination ot all of 
the most eligible places within three miles ot the g«°S^^P^'^,f^/,^"^^^ 
(to which we were restricted by the act organizing said 5«"^^fcy)' ^'^ 
select the following described lots: Twenty-five acres in the south- 
east corner of the so^uth-west quarter of section 20, townshq. 5b North, 
range 10 West ; also, 25 acres in tlie south-west corner of^ the south- 



836 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

east quarter of the same section, donated by Obadiah Dickerson and 
Abraham Yandiver ; also, ten acres of land in the north end of the 
west half of the north-east quarter of section 29, township and range 
aforesaid, donated by Lewis H. Gillasp}'; and ten acres of land in the 
north end of east half of the north-west quarter of section 29, town- 
ship and range aforesaid, donated by Samuel J. Parker. 

Joseph Hardy, 
James H. Lay, 
October 7, 1835. Elias Kincheloe, 

Commissioners. 
In addition to the within donation of land, Obadiah Dickerson 
donated $50, as evidenced by his due bill dated October 7, 1835. 

Elias Kincheloe. 

As to the title of the land on which Shelbyville stands. Com- 
missioner Elias Kincheloe made to the county court the following 
report: — 

An abstract of title of the land selected for the seat of justice by 
the commissioners as evidenced by the title papers exhibited, to wit: 
A deed from O. Dickerson and wife and Abraham Vandiver and 
wife for 50 acres. Dickerson and Vandiver purchased of Andrew H. 
Crary and holds his deed duly acknowleged and certified. Crary 
holds the certificate of the receivers of the land-office for the land 
conveyed by him to Dickerson and Vandiver. 

A deed from Moses D. Bates and wife and Lewis H. Gillaspy for 
10 acres of land. Moses D. Bates holds the receiver's certificate for 
the land conveyed by him and wife and Gillaspy to the county of 
Shelby. 

A deed from Samuel J. Parker for 10 acres of land. Parker holds 
the certificate of the receiver for the land conveyed by him to the 
county of Shelby. 

The donation embraces 70 acres of land — 50 out of section 20, 
and 20 out of section 29, in township No. 58, of range No. 10, west, 
and is 125.22 poles north and south, by 89.44 poles from east to 
west. Elias Kincheloe. 

" THE FIRSTS." 

The first house in the place was built by Abraham Vandiver late in 
the fall of 1835 and completed in the early winter of 1836. It was 
of huge hewed logs, a story and a half high, and was built on lot 7, 
in block 8, or just south of the extreme south-west corner of the 
square — immediately south of the present site of Smith's City 
Hotel. It is still (1884) standing, in a good state of preservation, 
having been weatherboarded many years ago, and presenting a sub- 
stantial and comfortable appearance. Here the first tavern stand was 
opened, the first courts in the town held, and the first goods sold. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



837 



March 15, 1836, the first sale of town lots came off. Thomas J. 
Bounds was the town commissioner, and it was under his direction 
that the town was surveyed. 

May 21, of the same year, Abraham Vandiver took out license to 
keep an inn or tavern, and July 6, the first term of the county court 
was held here. 

In April, 1837, Joseph and Thomas Holman and Robert Blackford 
opened grocery stores, and in June following Robert Brewington 
started a similar establishment. In July, Thomas O. and Hamlet W. 
Eskridge opened a tavern. In March, 1840, Joab Moberly had a 
tavern, and his and George Gaines', at Oak Dale, were then the only 
licensed places of entertainment in the county. But in that day no 
man turned a traveler away if there was room in his cabin, and the 
entertainment was usually without money and without price. 

The name of the first child born can not now be definitely learned ; 
but John Irwin was born in 1836, and if not the first he was certainly 
amono- the first-born of the town. His father. Dr. Thomas H. Irwin, 
settled in Shelby ville in 1836. 

The first marriage was that of Gilbert Edmonds and Minerva J. 
Vandiver, at the house of Abraham Vandiver, November 12, 1835. 
Rev. Richard Sharp performed the ceremony. 

The first physician was Dr. John W. Long, who came in the spring 
of 1836. 

DIGGING FOR WATER. 

In the first settlement of Shelbyville there was great inconvenience 
experienced from the want of water. It was found to be impossible 
to obtain a supply by digging to any ordinary depth. People began 
to talk of removing the county seat to some other locality, where 
water could he obtained. 

At last the county court took action. In June, 1836, $100 was paid 
out of the county treasury to Abraham Vandiver, " for digging and 
walling a well on the public square in Shelbyville." 

In October following a contract was let to Ezekiel Kennedy to dig 
another well, " within 25 rods of the public square," for $299, and of 
this sum $100 was paid him in advance. In December the remainder 
was paid. 

Concerning these wells Mr. Holliday says : — 

At that time (1836) there was no water in Shelbyville, and the 
supply was hauled from Black creek. This unpleasant way of getting 
water was a source of so much annoyance that measures were taken to 



838 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

have a public well dug, and to this end a subscription was raised by 
the citizens, and an appropriation made by the county court, which 
amounted in the aggregate to $250. Ezekiel Kennedy was apponited 
a special commissioner to let the contract for sinking the well. A. 
Vandiver undertook the work on the spot selected, which was about 
140 feet north-west of the court-house. He hauled the rock for a 
wall, and dug down about 100 feet when he found water ; but it being 
a weak strean], the contractor intended to dig to a greater depth ; but 
on the night following the discovery of water a heavy rain set in, 
which caused a caving in of the wall and the labor was thus entirely 
lost. 

However, the people again subscribed, and the court made another 
appropriation for the same purpose. A '* wise" man was consulted 
as to the best spot whereon to commence the digging. Acting under 
his advice, a new well was dug on the east side of lot 6 of block 9, 
on the line between the sidewalk and the street. The Avork was com- 
menced and carried forward with energy, and the rock for wallino^ 
was on the ground. At the depth of 100 feet water was struck, but 
the quantity was so great, and flowed with so much force, that the 
workmen had barely time to escape with their lives — leaving their 
implements behind. The water raised in the well so fast that to build 
a wall was impossible, and it was determined to throw the rock in loose 
until a foundation was formed whereon to build a wall, which was 
done, and the wall commenced 26 feet from the bottom and finished 
to the surface. All congratulated themselves upon having an abun- 
dance of the necessary fluid, which was of a superior quality, and the 
indications were sufficient to justify the hopes ; but, alas, for human 
expectations ! The stream formed a channel around the pile of rocks 
at the bottom, and the water disappeared, leaving the well entirely dry. 

The citizens, although sorely disappointed, were not disheartened. 
They again raised funds, and under the supervision of a committee of 
citizens, employed a company of Norwegians, who had just arrived, 
to remove the rock from the well. The work was pushed forward 
rapidly ; the rock was all taken out, yet no water was found, although 
the committee were satisfied that it was not far away. The earth, in 
three-fourths of a circle was removed, thus leaving a portion of the 
circle untouched as a dam to keep the water out until a wall could be 
built to hold the water. The wall was built a good distance upward, 
and the earth on the un walled portion of the well was thrown out, 
when, to the satisfaction of all, the water flowed in copiously. 
Attempts were then made to complete the wall. Two men laid the 
rock at the bottom and a number assisted at the top. A frame was 
improvised for the occasion, upon which a long rope and pulley were 
fostened, with a horse at one end of the rope and a whisky barrel at 
the other. By driving the horse near the frame, the barrel, which 
was filled with rock, Avould descend to the bottom, where it would be 
emptied and filled with water : and by starting the horse on a trot 
down the street the barrel would ascend. In this manner the work 
progressed, and the wall completed 30 feet upward from the bottom. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 839 

We were well paid for our trouble, for we hud plenty of splendid 
living water for a long time after. However, the constant action of 
the water upon the earth behind the rocks soon caused a caving-in of 
the entire wall. Dirt was then hauled and the hole filled up. 

Some years afterward, when the town had increased in size, it was 
decided to repair the old well. The former great quantity of water, 
however, had disappeared, and the last enterprise of the citizens did 
not prove remunerative ; besides, the citizens had provided cisterns 
for their own use, and thus the old well being almost unused, got out 
of repairs and was finally filled up. 

GENERAL HISTORY. 

From 1840 to 1860 the town grew slowly. Only an occasional new 
comer moved in ; and only an occasional house was built. The Han- 
nibal and St. Joseph road was built on the Southern route and 
Shelbyville left out in the cold, and certain projects for another rail- 
road to run through the town from east to west or from north to 
south proved unsubstantial and vanished into thin air. 

If the town had been ever so progressive, the hard and heavy hand 
of war which was laid upon it from 1861 to 1865 would have crushed 
every enterprise and forbidden every advancement. The town became 
a military post and soldiers were stationed here the greater portion of 
the time. The court-house was surrounded by a strong stockade, 
and the building itself was used for quarters for the soldiers, and as a 
prison for captured "secesh." Ofttiraes the military were quartered 
in private houses and at the hotels. 

After the war business revived somewhat, and some improvements 
were made. Progress was slow in this respect, however. Since 1876 
the majority of the best buildings have been put up. In the fall of 
1877, M. H. Marmaduke's corner front, on the north side of the south- 
west corner of the square, a two-story brick building, was built. The 
Collier block, adjoining the Marmaduke building on the north, was 
built in 1875, by Collier, Darrah & Co., and cost $3,500. Dussair, 
Levan & Co. (J. C. Dussair, J. D. Levan and W. L. Willard) com- 
pleted their fine brick block in September, 1881, at a cost of $2,500. 
The brick work of this building was done by William Moore, the wood- 
work by Doores Bros. 

BURGLAR SHOT. 

In the early spring of 1871, a negro burglar, named Joe Chandler, 
who had recently come from Marion county with a Mr. Fletcher, was 
shot and killed by a trap-gun in Dussair & Co.'s store. The mer- 
chants had missed various articles from their grocery department, and 

48 



840 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

discovering that the thief had entered a back window, they pUiced a 
gun in such a position that it would be discharged by anyone attempt- 
ing to raise the sash. The negro Chandler was the victim. In the 
morning he was found dead withiu a few yards of the window. In 
his pockets were found a box of matches, a knife and some other 
articles he had taken from another establishment, that of Judge Mc- 
Leod. At the time of his death the negro was in the employ of 
Wilson Vaughn. 

SCHOOLS. 

In September, 1857, Hezekiah Ellis opened a select school in the 
old Methodist Church building. His assistants were R. C. Arendt and 
Miss Parmelia White. There had been select schools prior to this, 
but no particular information concerning them can be obtained. 

In September, 1858, Mr. Ellis opened school in the Shelbyville 
Seminary (now standing) with Prof. Dodd, R. C. Arendt and Miss 
Draper as his assistants. Six months later Ellis left the school by 
reason of the death of his father, and his assistants conducted it. The 
trustees thought $500 an ample annual salary to pay the principal, 
but Mr. Ellis refused to accept this amount and established a school 
of his own. He used the Baptist Church for a female department, with 
Misses Susan and Annie Bower as teachers. The male department 
was in the Christian Church, presided over by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Charles 
Johnson. In September, 1860, Mr. Ellis began teaching in a build- 
ing which he had erected in what was known as the Carothers block. 
Mr. Ellis served as a teacher in Shelbyville for four years. 

Cotemporary with Mr. Ellis were Rev. Joseph Dines, in 1859, and 
a Mr. Leonard, who taught the Methodist school in 1860. 

The public school building was built after considerable controversy 
among the people, many of whom were opposed to the public school 
system. Until the new school-house was built the present colored 
school building was used. 

A TRAGEDY. 

While the subject of building a new school-house and improving 
the public schools generally was under discussion a most unfortunate 
incident occurred. At a school election in April, 1871, there was con- 
siderable excitement and much dissatisfaction among the opponents of 
the schools over the result of the election, which was for directors or 
trustees, and resulted in a triumph for the friends of the school, who 
had voted the newly enfranchised negroes to achieve their victory. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 841 

Mr. J. M. Eiinis hud been opposed to the directors who were elected. 
Mr. W. R. Hill, a young married man of the place, and an ex- 
Confederate soldier, had voted for the successful ticket. After the 
election was over there was a short quarrel between the two men on 
the south-east corner of the square, near Mr. Ennis' place of busi- 
ness. Hill advanced upon Ennis and struck him in the face. He was 
about to repeat the blow, when Ennis, with a small pocket-knife with 
which he had been whittling, made a thrust upward and forward 
against him. The blade penetrated Hill's stomach sufficiently to pro- 
duce a fatal Avound. The parties were then separated. Mr. Hill 
sttirted for Dr. Priest's office, on the west side of the square, saying, 
" I am stabbed ! He has cut me bad." He fell twice before reaching 
the office. All that could be was done for him, but he died three days 
afterward. * 

Ennis was arrested and had a preliminar}' examination, but was 
never indicted, the prevalent opinion being that he acted in self 
defense, and that it would be impossible to secure a conviction. 

INCORPORATIONS. 

For nearly 25 years after it was founded Shelbyville was unincor- 
porated, and remained as but a small village without any municipal 
organization or regulation whatever. Breaches of the peace were 
taken cognizance of by justices of the peace, when they were noticed 
at all, but in other respects the people did nearly as in the day when 
there was "no king in Israel," and " every man did that which was 
right in his own eyes." 

The first incorporation was as a town, and made by the county court 
January 5, 1859, on the petition of Elias T. Holliday and 78 others. 
The metes and bounds of the town as fixed by the county court were 
doubtless definite and well understood by the people at that day, but 
are somewhat vague and uncertain now, being as follows : — 

Beginning at the north-east corner of Wilson Vaughn's stable ; 
thence west until it strikes the small l>ranch running through the lands 
of the heirs of Jane Hall, deceased; thence down said branch to the 
big branch known as Bound's branch; thence down and following the 
course of said branch to a point due north of the west side of the lot 
now occupied by Mrs. Harriet Rust ; thence south to a point due west 
of the south side of the lot owned by Felix J. Carley, formerly owned 
by William Dines, and now in the occupancy of A. Lockyer ; thence 
east to a point due south of the beginning ; thence north to the begin- 
nins:. 



842 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Under this incorporation the following iconiposed the first board of 
trustees : John F. Benjamin, Wilson Vaughn, John Dickerson, Will- 
iam B. Cotton and George W. Webb. 

At the April term of the county court, 1867, Shelbyville was rein- 
corporated as a town by the following order : — 

Now, at this day, comes Anthony Gooch and others, and present to 
this court a petition signed by two-thirds of the tax-paying inhabitants 
of the town of Shelbyville, in the county of Shelby, and State of 
Missouri, praying the county court of Shelby county, now sitting, to 
incorporate the town of Shelbyville by the following metes and bounds ; 
Be2:innin2: 20 rods north and 25 rods east of the south-west corner of 
the east half of the north-east quarter of section twenty (20) ; town- 
ship tifty-eight (58) ; range ten (10), west, running west 105 rods; 
thence south to the north line of Vandiver's addition to the town of 
Shelbyville ; thence, west 120 rods; thence south to a point 80 rods 
south of the south line of said section 20 ; thence east to a point due 
south of the place of beginning ; thence north to the beginning. Now, 
in the opinion of the court, the praj^er of the petitioners being reason- 
able, it is ordered and adjudged that the said town of Shelbyville be, 
and the same is hereby incorporated by the name and style of the 
" Inhabitants of the Town of Shelbyville." And it is further ordered 
that L. Dobbin, M. J. Manville, James W. Darrah, Anthony Gooch 
and Charles A. Benjamin be appointed the first Board of Trustees in 
and for said corporation. 

In August, 1877, the town was organized as a city of the fourth 
class, pursuant of the following ordinance, and the result of the 
election called thereunder : — - 

Be it ordained by the Inhabitants of the Town of Shelbyville^ Mo.: — 
Section 1. That from and after the 21st day of August, A. D., 1877, 
the town of Shelbyville, Mo., be, and the same is hereby declared a 
city of the fourth class under the name of the *' City of Shelbyville," 
described by the following metes and bounds. [Boundaries same as 
given above.] In compliance with an act of the General Assembly of 
the State of Missouri, entitled " an act for the classification of cities 
and towns," and in compliance with an act of the General Assembly 
of the State of Missouri, entitled *' an act for the government of cities 
of the fourth class." 

Sec. 2. That an election is hereby ordered to be held at the court- 
house in the town of Shelbyville, Mo., on Tuesday, the 21st day of 
August, A. D. 1877, for the purpose of ratifying or rejecting Section 
No. 1 of this ordinance. 

Sec. 3. All persons voting at said election in favor of said proposi- 
tion shall have written or printed on their ballots the words, " For 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 843 

new organization," and those voting against said proposition, the 
words, " As^aiiist new organization." 

H. B. Dines, ChairtJian. 

J. J. Bragg, Clerk. 

Passed July 31, 1877. ^ 

The election resulted in favor of incorporation by a large majority, 
and H. B. Dines, chairman of the Board of Trustees, made the follow- 
ing proclamation : — 

By virtue of the power vested in me as chairman of the Board of 
Trustees of the town of Shelbyville, Mo., I hereby proclaim the result 
of the election held in the town of Shell)yville, Mo., at which the 
proposition to organize said town as a city of the fourth class, was 
submitted on the 21st day of August, 1877, to be that a majority of 
the voters voting at said election voted in favor of said proposition, 
and now, by virtue of said vote, I declare the town of Shelbyville, as 
described by the metes and bounds in said proposition, organized as a 
city of the fourth class. 

H. B. Dines, 
Chairman Board of Trustees. 

Published August 29, 1877. 

The first officers under the city corporation were H. B. Dines, 
mayor ; J. C. Hale, attorney ; S. V. Vaughn, clerk ; S. C. Gunby, 
collector, marshal and street commissioner. The aldermen were J. 
W.Darrah and Samuel F. Dunn of the First ward, and Lewis A. Hay- 
ward and R. C. Calvert of the Second ward. 

SKELBINA. 
EARLY HISTORY. 

The city of Shelbina was laid out August 11, 1857, by Josiah Hunt, 
acting as attorney for William Osborne, of Waterville, N. Y. Maj. 
Hunt was the land commissioner of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 
road Company. The first dwelling places on the town site were one 
or two little shanties north of the railroad track. Mr. George Sparks 
claims he hauled the first load of poles of which the first shanty was 
built. Prior to this the site was raw, wild prairie, with but one 
house — that of George T. Hill — in view. 

After the town was regularly laid out shanties went up on both 
sides of the track. These were occupied for the most part, if not 
entirely, by the railroad hands, the track-builders and the track-lay- 
ers. In the fall of 1857 a few medium-sized frame houses were built. 
Kemper Bros, had the first store on the north side of the track oppo- 
site the depot. They kept a small general stock. Soon after a num- 



844 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ber of saloons wei*e built along the north side, and fighting whisky 
flowed freely. 

All the best buildings were small frames, but some time in the fall 
of the year Mr. P. Thomas came and built Thomas' Hotel, a large 
frame building which stood south of the depot, on the present site 
of the Waverly Hotel, on Chestnut street, between Center and Sec- 
ond. For some time this hotel did a rushing business. There was a 
large influx of strangers and others. The patronage was large, the 
accommodations meager, and the fare scanty and coarse. Guests 
were " doubled-up " or " threbled-up " — three in a hard bed some 
times, and were forced to submit to many other discomforts, and pay 
well therefor. Like many another hotel of the present day, claim- 
ing to be first-class, there was nothing first-class about this one but 
the prices. Transient people came and went by the hundreds, and 
swore at the hotel and the landlord, but Mr. Thomas only smiled at 
them, and went on piling up the boiled potatoes, fried fat bacon» 
soggy bread and sloppy coffee ; master of the situation, and indiffer- 
ent to public opinion and sentiment. 

In the winter, or by the spring of 1858, R. A. MofEtt had a store 
on the south side of the track, on the corner of Center and Chestnut. 
Judge Samuel B. Hardy had a small store in a building on the north 
side of the track, corner of Center and Maple, where the American 
House is now situated. W. A. Reid opened a general store this 
spring in a two-story building south of the track, on Chestnut street. 
Near by, on the same street, one, Kircher, opened a grocery store. 
John Meyer had a hardware establishment in the same block. Per- 
haps there were 25 houses in the place this spring. 

The town now progressed slowly. There was not a very general 
prevalence of good order and sobriety. The place was a great resort 
for railroaders and rough characters, frequenters of the numerous 
saloons, and on Saturdays there were numerous brawls and rows. 
Life in a new railroad town is seldom pleasant to those disposed to 
quietude and sobriety, and life in Shelbina was no exception to the 
rule. Sober, temperate and enterprising people were slow to come 
in. Only the bravest of them ventured to settle here. 

The first religious services were held over Reid's store, in the fall 
of 1858, by Rev. Powers, a Baptist minister of Monroe county. 
Afterwards preaching was had in Thomas' Hotel, for some time, or 
until the school-house was built, and subsequently all denominations 
used Miller's Hall on Center Street. 

The first school-house was built some time in 1859. It stood in 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 845 

the south-western part of the town, unci is still standing, but has 
been remodeled. Among the first teachers was Charles M. King. 

It is claimed that the first child born in the place was a daughter 
of M. P. Thomas, the hotel keeper. 

Dr. H. C. Lee was the first practicing physician to locate in Shel- 
bina. He came in 1857. After the war he unfortunately became 
bereft of reason, and in a fit of insanity he shot and killed one James 
Parker, a saloon keeper. Dr. Lee had shot Parker's dog, and ever 
afterward he was haunted by the fear and belief that Parker was try- 
ing to kill him in retaliation. At last, one night, he went to Parker's 
residence, called him out and shot him. After a thoroudi investio;a- 
tiou and examination it was decided that he was insane, and he was 
sent to the asylum at Fulton, where he now is. Dr. Ross was the 
second physician. 

It is believed that a Mr. Edmonds was the first resident lawyer. 

The first post-office was established in 1858, and W.A. Reid was 
the first postmaster. He had the office in his store, and was post- 
master until after the war broke out. Robert Montgomery was his 
successor. There was a daily mail from the first. ^ 

In 1861 the population of this place was about 500. Sparks, Hill 
& Co. had a considerable tobacco factory on the north side of the 
track, and did a good business. There were numerous good stores 
and business of all kinds was fairly active. The first brick building 
had been put up in 1859 by Kemper Bros., south of the depot on 
Chestnut street, where now the bank buildino- is. It was a two-storv 
structure and afterwards was burned. Nearly all the business was 
done along Chestnut street. 

THE WAR. 

The first Federal troops to pass through Shelbina belonged to the 
Second Iowa Infantry, Col. S. R. Curtis commanding, and were on 
their way from Hannibal to St. Joseph. Not long afterwards came 
Capt. Foreman's Home Guards, and then about September 1, came 
Williams' Third Iowa, and Hurlbut's men. On the 3d of September 
occurred the Shelbina fight, described elsewhere. 

Afterwards in July, 1864, came Bill Anderson and his baud of cut- 
throats and brigands, who effectually cleaned out the town, as narrated 



1 From January, 1, 1883, to January 1, 1884, the gi'oss revenue of the Shelbina 
office was $2,900.26. The amount of money orders issued was $14,397.24; money 
orders paid, $8,313.45. John S. Chandler is the present postmaster. 



846 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

on other pages of this volume. At intervals during the war Federal 
troops came in and occupied the place for a day or so at a time. 

The Federal authorities levied a tax on the people of Shelbina and 
vicinity, amounting to about $20,000 to pay for the damage done by 
Anderson and his band. This was done under an old general order 
requiring that "citizens of disloyal sympathies" should be held 
accountable for all damage done by rebel raiders to the property of 
" loyal men." Of course there was some consternation among the 
people when it was learned that they were to suffer for something 
they could no more help than the people of Illinois, and $20,000 was 
a large sum. The good Catholic priest of the parish. Father D. S. 
Phelan, volunteered to go to St. Louis and see Gen. Rosecrans about 
the matter ; and he did go and made such intercession that the Gen- 
eral revoked the order and removed the tax from the people. 

The town was often disturbed by alarms of various kinds — that the 
bushwhackers were coming, that the town was to be destroyed, etc. 
Sometimes the merchants actually boxed up their goods and removed 
the entire contents of their stock to Quincy for safety, and as soon 
as the danger had passed moved them back again and resumed busi- 
ness. In spite of all this the merchants who continued in trade made 
money. Prices were constantly advancing, and everybody had plenty 
of money. Calico was sold at 50 cents per yard, and muslin at 85 
cents. But hogs were $8 and $9 per hundred, and other produce 
brought proportionate prices. Most people, too, had no confidence 
in greenbacks, believing they would be eventually repudiated, and so 
sought to convert them into goods or something else of value. Some 
persons bought gold and horded it. 

WAR PRICES . 

An mcident showing the tendency of people to advance prices in 
those days is related of old Billy Wood, who was the first drayman in 
the town. In 1861, Uncle Billy charged per load for hauling goods 
only 15 cents, but gradually he adopted " war prices " and raised his 
charges to 25 cents, then 30 cents, and so on up to 50 cents a load. 
He kept an account with W. A. Reid, and one day in 1864 he called 
to square up. Looking over his long account, the most of which he 
considered paid, Reid saw that he had erased all of his old 15 and 25 
cents charges and increased them to 50 cents each, bringing the mer- 
chant in debt to the drayman. 

Calling Billy's attention to the erasures and substitutions, Reid 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 847 

asked for an explanation. " Why, you see," replied the old man, 
«' them charges hez riz, like everything else — come up, you see — 
these is war times, you know. Drayin ' wunst was fifteen cents, but 
now its four bits." 

" Hand me back that account of mine against you," replied Reid, 
and immediately he began the process of erasion and substitution. 
« What youdoin'?" demanded Billy. "Changing my charges to 
war prices," replied Reid ; *' calico once was I2V2 cents per yard, now 
it is 50 cents ; my charges have risen too ! " " Oh, hold on ! " de- 
manded the old drayman: "goods is goods, and drayin' is drayin,' 
and drayin ' always wuz wuth 50 cents a load ! " 

PEACE. 

After the war Shelbina began to improve. The buildings crept 
down Center street, and thence along Walnut, and the town began to 
spread out over the prairie. A newspaper was established and the 
place was well advertised. Among others who moved in was Hon. 
John F. Benjamin, of Shelbyville, who in 1872 assisted in starting a 
national bank, and erected a $15,000 residence. 

The panic in 1873 hurt the town very seriously. Property of all 
kinds depreciated in value and was very cheap, and business was dull. 
After 1874 there was some improvement, and from 1881 to the pres- 
ent it has grown very considerably. The population is of a profitable 
and substantial character, and of such stuff as makes the prosperity of 
a city abiding and increasing. The corporation is now entirely out of 
debt. 

The Shel!)ina Collegiate Institute was built in 1877 at a cost of 
about $6,000. Dr. Leo Baer was the first president. The present 
principal is Erastus L. Ripley, A. B., and Mrs. Caroline A. Ripley, 
Mrs. I. D. A. Winter, Miss Ada A. Williams and Miss Rosa More- 
man as his assistants. The present number of students is about 90. 
The board of directors is composed of William A. Reid, president ; J. 
W. Ford, treasurer ; C. H. Myers, secretary ; and Chester Cotton, S. 
B. Parsons, J. H. Ford and W. O. L. Jewett. 

The First National Bank of Shelbina was established in 1872. Hon. 
John F. Benjamin was the president and F. P. Jackson, cashier. This 
institution was succeeded by the Bank of Shelbina, of which David 
Taylor was president and W. A. Reid, cashier. In 1878 Reid & 
Taylor bought out the other stockholders and established their pres- 
ent banking house. 

As a trading and business point no town in North-east Missouri of 



848 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

anything near equal size is superior to or equals Shelbiua. Farmers 
from Monroe, Shelby and Macon counties all visit it, either to pur- 
chase supplies or to ship produce. It grows in favor year by year as 
its advantao;es increase and become known. 

TRAGEDIES. 

Two homicides occurred in Shelbiua, one about the close of the war 
and the other in 1866. The first was the stabbingand fatal woundinof 
of William Sparks, a tobacconist, by Zach. Ooley, a farmer. The 
two were fighting and Sparks was getting the better of his antagonist, 
when the latter stabbed him in the knee with a pocket-knife. Erysip- 
elas resulted and Sparks died some days or weeks later. Ooley fled, 
was absent a year or more, when he returned and remained for some 
time, and then left and went to Texas, where he died. He was never 
arrested. 

In the fall of 1866 James A. MoConnell, a farmer, living south of 
town, was stabbed by Jim Ferrill, who lived near Woodlawn. The 
two men were engaged in an affray, in which it appears McConnell 
was the aggressor. Ferrill ran and McConnell chased him and 
came upon him, when Ferrill stabbed him fatally. Both were 
drunk at the time. Ferrill was never apprehended, but a few 
years ago, in a difficulty, he was killed by Buck Noel, of Monroe 
county. 

OFFICIAL HISTORY. 

Shelbina was first incorporated as a town March 5, 1867, on the 
petition of W. W. Weatherby and others. The first board of trustees 
was composed of W. W. Weatherby, Daniel Taylor, John W. Miller, 
Simeon Downing and John W. Shafer. 

In the spring of 1878 it was incorporated as a city of the fourth 
class. The first election of officers occurred April 2, when W. T. 
Dean was elected mayor. One week later, April 9, another election 
was held and J. W. Towson chosen mayor ; J. J. Foster, marshal, J. 
W. Ford and W. H. Warren, aldermen from the First ward; G. A. 
Jenks and Charles Miller, aldermen from the Second ward. J. W. 
Ford was chosen president, and G. A. Jenks, clerk of the board of 
aldermen. 

1879. — Mayor, J. W. Towson ; marshal, J. J. Foster; new alder- 
men elected, James Hawley, from No. 1, and B. F. Monson, from 
No. 2; clerk, W. T. Dean. 

1880. — Mayor, W. T. Dean ; marshal, J. J. Foster ; new aldermen, 
J. W. Ford, No. 1 ; C. H. Lasley, No. 2. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 84U 

1881. — Mayor, W. T. Dean ; marshal, J. J. Foster ; aldermen from 
ward No. 1, John S. Preston for long term and David Morgan for 
short term, and from ward No. 2, H. J. Thomas for long term and 
Lewis Hale for short term. 

1882. — Mayor, W. T. Dean ; marshal, ,T. J. Foster ; new aldermen, 
J. W. Barr from No. 1, vice David Morgan, and Lewis Hale from No. 
2, to succeed himself. 

1883. — Mayor, W. T. Dean ; new aldermen, W. A. Reid from No. 
1 and H. J. Thomas from No. 2. 

1884. — Mayor, John J. Foster; marshal, T. H. Carothers ; alder- 
men. First ward, David Morgan, W. A. Reid; Second ward, S. G. 
Parsons, H. J. Thomas ; clerk, W. A. Reid. 

N 

CLARENCE. 

The town of Clarence is situated on the east half of section 17, 
township 57, range 12, about one mile and a half from the western 
line of the county. It was laid out October 20, 1857, by John Duff, 
the principal contractor for the building of the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Railroad. He was of course not the sole owner of the town site, 
which belonged to the Land Company, whose agent he was. Duff's 
action in laying out the town was duly acknowledged, as the record 
shows, before Gen. Thomas A. Harris, then a notary public of Han- 
nibal. 

The town site was originally listed as swamp land, and purchased 
from Shelby county by Fleming Turner, who sold it to John Duff & 
Co. The land was first conveyed by the Government to the State, 
and by the State to the county. 

It is said that the town was named for one of old John Duff 's children, 
who took his name, perhaps, from the famed Duke of Clarence — 
''False, fleeting, perjured Clarence, who stabbed me in the field by 
Tewksbury." 

The first house in the place was built by Wilson Hamilton, in the 
fall of 1857, not long after the town was laid out. It was a small 
frame, and stood on lot 10, block 7 of the original town, or north of 
the railroad depot and on the corner of Maple and Center streets, 
where now (1884) the lumber yard of Herriman & Waples is situa- 
ted. Hamilton had at first a few goods, chiefly railroad supplies, but 
not long afterwards opened a sort of eating house. 

In the spring of 1858 there were three families in the place. Wilson 
Hamilton was selling goods and running an eating house. C. S. Wat- 
son had a store south of the track, nearly opposite the depot, on lot 



850 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

1, block 11, corner of Chestnut and Center streets. He had been a 
farming living east of town, and had purchased a small stock of 
merchandise from a free negro named Cy. Maynard, who had sold 
goods at Watson's Crossing, a mile or so east of town. The third 
family was that of Esquire J. M. Matterson. 

The same spring came A. J. Higbee from Springfield, 111., and built 
and opened a store across the street to the east from Hamilton's eat- 
ing house — lot 1, block 6. Another early comer was one Wilson, 
who became at first a partner of Hamilton's. 

In the spring of 1859 A. J. Higbee built the first two-story building 
in Clarence. It stood north of the railroad track, opposite the depot, 
and was a frame. The lower room was a store-room, and the upper 
apartments were occupied by Mr. Higbee's family. P. M. Doyle, 
of Hunnewell, became a partner of Higbee's this year. William B. 
Switzer came up from Granville and built a store-house, which is still 
standing, north of the track and west of the depot. Jim Byers had 
a saloon on the south side of the track ; it is believed that he pur- 
chased this establishment from its founder. Another pioneer saloon 
keeper was W. H. Hall, now proprietor of the Olive Hotel. It is related 
that Hall kept a hotel (?) before the war, that is, he had one spare 
bed which he let to lodgers, and he fed all the hungry he could. 

The first depot was built upon the completion of the railroad, in 
August, 1857, and is still standing. The first station agent was Will- 
iam R. Strachan, afterward notorious as the provost marshal of North- 
east Missouri, and twice a member of the Legislature from this 
county. Strachan had a farm three miles north-east of Clarence, 
and on coming to the village he was for a time engaged with Wilson 
Hamilton. 

In 1858 the first post-office was established, and C. S. Watson was 
made postmaster. In the spring of 1861, P. M. Doyle was commis- 
sioned, and the office was removed to the store of Higbee & Doyle. 

Some time in the summer of 1859 the first relio-ions services were 
held in the railroad depot by Rev. J. R, Winters, a Presbyterian. Not 
long afterward the Presbyterian Church congregation was organized. 
Rev. Winters, in 1868, while a State Senator from Marion county, 
introduced the proposition into the Legislature to strike out the word 
*' white " from the constitution, and make nescroes eliofible to theriofht 
of suffra2:e. ' 

A certain Dr. Greer is said to have been the first physician to locate 
in the place ; but it is said that his attainments were meager, and that 
his practice was still more so, and that a Dr. Lodge, who came in about 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 851 

the close of the war, is really entitled to the distinction of being the 
first practicing physician in the town. Prior to him, however, Dr. 
Lyle and Dr. Hill, both of whom then lived in the county, ministered 
to the ills of the people of Clarence. Dr. Pipp was another early 
physician. Dr. Lodge now lives in Baltimore. Dr. Hill resides in 
Clarence and is still in active practice. 

Probably a child of Wilson Hamilton was the first born in the vil- 
lage ; but this can not certainly be learned. Anna Higbee, daughter 
of A. J, and Edith Higbee, was born in Clarence in October, 1860. 
She is now Mrs. J. D. Hale, of Macon. 

The first school was taught by a Mr. Strong, who, as best remem- 
bered, did not finish his term. His successor was Dr. D. H. Matthews, 
still a resident of the town. Another early teacher was a Miss Gal- 
breath. Perhaps the first room used as a private school room was in 
Higbee & Brown's building, on the north side, near the Presbyterian 
Church. The first public school-house, a brick, was built in 1865. 
It stood nearly half a mile from the railroad track, and now forms a 
portion of a dwelling house occupied by Watkins, the harness- 
maker. 

The first cemetery was laid out during the war, half a mile north 
of the railroad. The first death in the village — or at least the first 
interment in the cemetery — was that of a child of David Bush, a 
blacksmith, in 1862 or 1863. Among the first burials was that of one 
Slaughter, a Federal soldier, who died at Palmyra, and whose body 
was brought here for interment. 

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War the village contained, perhaps, 
75 or 100 inhabitants. It was not large enough to tempt either of the 
forces to occupy it, except temporarily, and it is best remembered 
that the rebel or Confederate troops never attempted to hold it. 
There was, of course, no progress made while the war lasted. 

MURDER OF MR. SWITZER. 

In the fall of 1864 Mr. William B. Switzer, one of the first mer- 
chants of the village, was murdered by a band of robbers from 
Macon county. Mr. Switzer had been appointed custodian of some 
money contributed by certain citizens to hire substitutes in case any 
of them were drafted. It was supposed that to obtain this money 
was the object of the robbers' raid, but it had been sent the pre- 
vious day to Shelbyville for safe keeping. The robbers made their 
raid at night. Riding up to the residence of Mr. Switzer, they 
called him to the door, and when he appeared they demanded his 



852 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

money. He had taken a revoWer with hirn, and standing on the 
threshold he instantly opened fire on them. The fire was returned 
and one shot struck him in the thigh, severing the femoral artery 
and causing his death in a few minutes. 

The robbers were identified as all belonging in Macon county, 
and all or nearly all as ex-Federal militiamen. Three of them 

were named John Rowland, Charles F , and Prickett. 

These three were arrested. F turned States evidence. It 

was sworn to that John Rowland fired the shot that killed Mr. 
Switzer. He was bound over, but escaped and forfeited his bond. 
Prickett was tried at Palmyra and acquitted. The fourth party was 
never apprehended. All lived in Macon county. 

Mr. Switzer was well respected by his neighbors and fellow-citizens. 
He was known as a " Southern sympathizer," but never took up arms 
or did anything to violate his obligations as a loyal, law-abiding citi- 
zen. 

After the war Clarence improved slowly for some years. In 1877, 
however, the town had a "boom." The large stretch of prairie 
about the town, hitherto bare and virgin, was settled up substantially, 
and then and from thence the town besfan to thrive. 

FIRES. 

Clarence has passed through two severe fires, which entailed consid- 
erable loss upon a small town like her, but from which she soon re- 
covered. The first occurred September 23, 1879, on Chestnut street, 
south of, and nearly opposite to, the depot. The buildings burned 
were Hall's block, including Hall's Olive Hotel, Whitby & Co.'s dry 
goods establishment, a saloon, and a barber shop. The total loss was 
about $10,000. 

The next fire was on a block west of the location of the first fire, 
and broke out February 15, 1884. The following business houses 
were consumed : R. E. Dale's restaurant, C. Z. Eberhardt's grocery 
store, M. Stahl's harness shop, Tembrook Bros.' and Mc Williams & 
Wright's grocery stores, A. O. Dunham's shoe-shop, William Shut- 
ters' hardware store, R. P. Richardson's clothing house. Birch Roan's 
barber shop, and the post-office, A. Clark, postmaster. The aggre- 
gate loss was not far from $50,000. 

John Lair's steam grist, saw and carding mill, which stood a little 
south-east of town, burned in the fall of 1883. The Clarence cream- 
ery, in the eastern portion, burned in July, 1884. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 853 



HOMICIDES. 

Some exciting homicides have taken place in Clarence during its 
existence. In addition to the murder of Mr. Switzer during the war, 
Mr. Pat McCarty was assassinated on the night of October 6, 1874. 
Mr. McCarty was a prominent citizen of the place and the proprietor 
of the steam mill, which institution he had purchased from the foun- 
der, a Mr. Wilson. He (McCarty) was a man of strong feelings and 
passions, thorough as a friend and dangerous as an enemy. Some- 
what addicted to drink, he was to be feared when in his cups, but 
when sober he was jolly, hearty and good-natured. He had many 
friends and many enemies. 

On the night of his murder Mr. McCarty was at home with his 
family. He was seated near a window in his sitting room and had 
just put down from his lap a little child with which he had been play- 
ing, and had taken up a newspaper. The assassin fired upon him 
through the window and a heavy charge of buckshot penetrated his 
body, killing him instantly. 

No clue was ever obtained as to the identity of the perpetrator. A 
coroner's jury was impaneled by Esq. Scates and a four days' inves- 
tigation held without important results. Nothing but suspicion, 
doubtless much of which is unjust, remains to be entertained, regard- 
ing the dastardly perpetrator, who, afraid to meet his enemy in open 
daylight and in fair combat, stole upon him like an Indian and slew 
him mercilessly and cruelly before the eyes of those who knew him 
best and loved him most. 

INCORPORATIONS . 

The first incorporation of Clarence was as a town, June 4, 1866, 
on the petition of A. J. Higbee and 24 others, who were " two-thirds 
of the inhabitants of said town," says the record. The corporate 
limits were a mile square, the boundaries being as follows : — 

Beginning at the north-west corner of the north-east quarter of 
section 17, township 57, range 12, running south one mile to the 
south-west corner of the south-east quarter of section 17, township 
57, range 12, then east one mile to a stake ; then north one mile to a 
stake, thence >vest one mile to the beginning. 

George Merriman, A. J. Higbee, J. M. Mattison, Stephen Doyle 
and S. A. Durham were appointed the first board of trustees, of which 
A.J. Higbee was chairman. 



854 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Oil the 25th of September, 1877, Clarence was incorporated as a 
city of the fourth chiss. The first major was G. W. Ohinn, who 
served until after the April election in 1881, when W. Houghton was 
chosen. Houghton was re-elected in 1881, but resigned in a few 
months and was succeeded by William Evans. The next mayor was 
G: W. Hodge. The present is S. M. Whitby, elected in April, 1884. 
R. E. Dale has been marshal since Mayor Hodge's administration. 

HUNNEWELL. 
EARLY HISTORY. 

The town of Hunnewell was laid off August 15, 1857, by Josiah 
Hunt, land commissioner of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. 
The town site was deeded July 28, of the same year, by Richard 
Drane and Susan J. Drane, his wife, and Benjamin West to John Duff, 
of Dedham, Mass., for $1,200. It comprised 62 1-2 acres of thenorth 
part of the west half of the south-west quarter of section 3, township 
56, range 9. John Duff, it will be remembered, was the principal 
contractor for the building of the railroad. 

The town was named for H. Hollis Hunnewell, of Boston, a native 
of New Hampshire, and connected with the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
Land Company. 

In February or March, 1857, Stephen Doyle built a small store 
house a little west of what afterward became the town limits. This 
afterward became the store of Doyle, Kellogg & Co., and has claims 
to being the first store in or at the place. Practically, and to all in- 
tents and purposes, it was in the town. Here were kept " railroad 
supplies," for the benefit of the railroaders at work in the cut west 
of town and at Salt river. 

Soon after the town was started, and before it was laid out, Richard 
Durbin built a house, still standing, on the south side of the railroad. 
It was a frame dwelling, a story and a half in height. Mr. Durbin's 
was the first family in the place. 

Very soon after Durbin's house was built Snider & Co. built 
the third house for a store room. It was a frame and is still stand- 
ing on the north side. The firm of Snider & Co. was composed of 
John H. Snider, W. F. Blackburn, A. L. Yancey and John Maddox. 
The first deed to a lot in the place was issued to W. F. Blackburn. 

In June, 1857, the railroad was completed to the town site, and on 
the 4th of July there was an excursion to Monroe City and return on 
flat-cars. A few shanties were built near to the track, on either side, 
this year. Out at Salt river the railroaders had numerous shanties 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 855 

clustered about on the bluff at the east end of the bridge, and the 
railroad company had about 60 men employed there and in the cut on 
this side for nearly two years. 

In the fall of 1857 came the first hotel, which was moved up from 
Clinton by a Mr. Ball and his son-in-law, one Smith. The building, 
a large two-story frame, with a large piazza in the old Southern style, 
is still standing south of the track and the depot, and now used as a 
dwelling house. Of Smith, the early landlord, it is related that he 
disappeared very suddenly and mysteriously, and was never afterward 
heard from. 

The railroad depot was built in the early fall after the town was laid 
out, and the first station ag-ent was a man named Pollard. He remained 
but a short time and was succeeded by W. F. Bhickburn, who was not 
only the station agent, but attended to the general business of the 
company — to the sale of lots and lands, etc. 

The first post-office was established in Snider & Co.'s store in the 
fall of 1857, and John H. Snider was the first postmaster. 

In 1859 the first school-house was built. It was a frame and was 
located in the western part of town, south of the track. Now it forms 
a part of the business house of Cox & Son. The first teacher was a 
man named Shaw, a Massachusetts Yankee and a graduate of Har- 
vard. 

The first preaching was done in this school-house, soon after its 
completion, by Rev. T. De Moss, a Methodist. Other early ministers 
were Rev. Hatch and Dr. Morton, Christians ; Rev. Bowles, Baptist ; 
and Rev. F. B. Sheetz, Episcopal. 

Probably the first child born in Hunnewell was Maggie Durbin, a 
daughter of the first family in the place. Joe Blackburn was born 
April 10, 1858, a son of W. F. Blackburn, and Lon Durbin, a brother 
of Maggie, was born the same spring. The first death — at least that 
of an adult person — was that of Mrs. Charlotte Blackburn, who died 
February 25, 1859. She was the wife of W. F. Blackburn. The first 
resident ph3^sician of the place. Dr. A. L. Yancey, of Kentucky, 
came in 1857 and is still a citizen and in the practice. 

The town would have grown much faster but for the ftict that for 
some years after its existence a perfect title could not be made to the 
lots. Persons were afraid to purchase lest they might be dispos- 
sessed. Some houses were built on lots by parties who had no title at 
all, but took their chances on ultimately securing a perfect one. 

49 



856 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



IN WAR TIMES. 



When the war broke out, in the spring of 1861, tlie population of 
Hunnewell was nearly 500. There were four stores, two blacksmith 
and wagon shops, a good hotel, etc. 

On June 13, 1861, the first Federal troops made their appearance. 
They belonged to the Second Iowa Infantry, Col. J. R. Curtis in com- 
mand. They came from Hannibal by rail and were on their 
way to St. Joseph. The train stopped and numbers of the soldiers 
2ot off and scattered themselves about the town. Bad as is the sin of 
intemperance, it is to be hoped that these men were drunk, as it is 
said they were. Quite a number of country people were in town that 
day, but no one vvas in arms against the Federal authority. 

The soldiers began an indiscriminate abuse of every body they met. 
Some of the farmers from the country got on their horses and started 
for home, alarmed at the behavior of the military. The soldiers 
called on them to halt and when they refused opened fire on them ; 
few of the troops ran as fast as they could for some distance and then 
dropping on their knees took deliberate aim with their muskets and 
fired at the fleeing farmers. 

A horse ridden by Ray Moss was badly wounded, but no person 
was hurt. Ray Moss himself went home and as soon as possible took 
up arms against the Federal authority and never laid them down again 
until he laid his life down at Corinth. The soldiers arrested W. F. 
Blackburn, the station agent, and Russell W. Moss, the old pioneer, 
and carried them away. Tidings of these proceedings spread rapidly 
throughout the country, and served to greatly incense the people 
against the Federal soldiery and to strengthen the secession cause. 
The Second Iowa may have proved itself a gallant regiment and after- 
ward contributed largely to the glory of the Federal arms, but it did 
a poor day's work for the Union cause that 13th of June, at Hunne- 
well. 

Afterward, July 10, came the Monroe City fight, and with it the 
secession troops under Dr. Foster on their way to burn the Salt River 
railroad bridge. Foster was bent on burning the depot at Hunnewell. 
He called up the merchants who had goods stored therein and ordered 
that they be removed instantly. But Russell Moss and others 
entreated him to withhold his torch for the time and he was content to 
burn five cars, which were pushed out on the main track and sent 
down towards Salt river all aflame. The bridge was burned on the 
eve of the fiorht. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 857 

Then about the 1st of September came Martin E. Green's troops 
on their way to the Shelbina fight. The night of the Shelbina fight 
the Salt river bridge was again burned. In a day or two Federal 
troops poured in by thousands, and Pope undertook to carry out 
Fremont's orders for the "annihilation " of Green. The Salt river 
bridge Avas repaired, and a strong guard placed over it. The garrison 
constructed quarters at the bridge, in addition to the strong block 
house, using lumber from the stores in town. 

During the Porter raid the Federal troops were stationed here at 
intervals and passed througli occasionally in the unrelenting pursuit 
of the Confederates by Col. McNeil. Then the local militia were 
stationed for some time at the bridge, under Capt. Bishop and others. 

In July, 1864, when Bill Anderson and his men burned the bridge 
and block house at Salt river, the people of Hunuewell were alarmed 
lest the guerillas should come up and clean out the town. They 
could see the smoke of the burning bridge plainly, and it was difficult 
to tell what would happen to them. Russell Moss volunteered to 
carry a white flag down to the bridge, and entreat the bushwhackers 
to remain away. Accordingly, bearing a large white cloth tied to a 
pole, he marched down the track to the bridge to interview Anderson, 
but the guerrillas had left, and it appeared they never intended harm 
to Hunnewell or its people. ^ 

TRAGEDIES. 

Some serious tragedies took place at and near Hunnewell during 
the war. In the spring of 1863 a Union man named Perkins, living 
west of town, near Salt river, was taken from his home one night by 
some bushwhackers and disposed of up in the northern part of 
Jackson township. Some months afterward his remains were found 
in a secluded place, and identified by his wife from some articles 
found with them. He was a house carpenter, and among other effects 
the key of his tool chest was found and recognized by Mrs. Perkins. 

In the spring of 1864 occurred a desperate fight at close quarters 
in Krigler's saloon, in Hunnewell. This affray came to be known as 
the Ezell-Maupin tragedy, and is vividly remembered by those who 
witnessed it. 

On the day in question three men, John Maupin, and two named 
Baker and Snider, came into town from the eastward and halted, 
apparently to rest themselves, in Krigler's saloon. All were armed 
with heavy revolvers. John Maupin lived in this county, south or 
south-west of Shelbina. Early in the war he enlisted under Gen. 



858 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Price and lost his arm by an accidental sliot from a comrade. Baker 
and Snider were strangers. 

Tiiat morning Capt. Foreman, of Paris, wlio had served in the 
Federal militia, came over to Hnnnevvell in search of some horses he had 
lost. Ben Ezell, an ex-Federal soldier, reported to Foreman the pres- 
ence of suspicions characters, and it was at once determined to capture 
them. A dozen or more citizens armed themselves and under the 
leadership of Capt. Foreman advanced on the saloon. 

Ben Ezell was the first to enter. Ho was armed witli a double- 
barreled shot-gun. Cocking both barrels he leveled the gun at 
Maupin and called out, "Surrender," and instantly fired. Wheeling 
half around he fired the other barrel at Baker, but missed, the charge 
tearing a fearful hole in the side of the building. Baker and Maupin 
drew their revolvers and began firing. Maupin, though fearfully and 
mortally wounded with a heavy load of buck and ball, shot as steadily 
and regularly as clockwork. 

A general melee resulted. Ezell ran out on the sidewalk. Maupin 
followed and shot him dead, then fell over dead himself, the battle- 
light of his eyes mingling with their death glaze — game to the last. 
But before he died Maupin mortally wounded Ben Durbin, who died 
12 days later. For a one-armed man this John Maupin fought a hard 
fight. Baker shot and -fearfully wounded Capt. Foreman nigh to 
death — wounding him in three or four places. Then Baker escaped. 
Snider ran over to the depot, unbuckled his revolvers and threw them 
on a flat car. Then he went into the depot, sat down, and when the 
posse came upon him surrendered and begged for his life. He was 
sent to Macon and then the Federal military authorities made short 
work of him — tried him by some sort of a court, and took him out 
and shot him. 

John Maupin' s sisters came after his body and took it away. Not 
much was known of Maupin's life, but it was reported he had been a 
bushwhacker, and one of the girls said, " If all the rebel soldiers had 
been like my brother here, there would be more dead Feds, than 
there are, and the war would be over." Maupin was evidently the 
leader of the party, who were probably all guerrillas, for when Ben 
Ezell fired the first shot he called out, " Now, boys, we're in for it — 
give 'em hell ! " 

Dr. E. C. Davis CKainined the wound Ezell gave Maupin and yet 
wonders why the man lived five seconds. He also examined Ezell's 
wound, and attended to the hurts of Durbin and Capt. Foreman. 
Ben Durbin was of the family of Durbins that settled the town. Dr. 
Davis tried hard to save him, but could not. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 859 

July 4, 1864, William Meade shot and killed Bob Bonner on the 
main street in Hunnewell, north side of the track. The two men 
had a quarrel over a o-ame of cards. An altercation resulted and 
Bonner choked Meade severely. Meade, goaded to frenzy, went 
home, procured a shot-gun, came back to town and, finding Bonner 

in a store, dared him out to fight. " Heel yourself, d n you," 

said Meade, "for I mean to blow hell out of you!" 

Bonner had been a drill-master in the Federal army. He was as 
brave as a lion, and no fear ever daunted him. Unarmed, he threw 
off his coat and ran out into the street where Mead© was. When 
within three feet of the muzzle of Meade's shot-gun, Meade fired. 
The charge entered Bonner's body and he fell dead. 

The body was taken charge of by the citizens, for it was not 
known where Bonner's relatives or friends were. It was buried in 
a field north of town. A year or two later a farmer, in plowing, 
broke into the shallow grave. The bones were dug up and taken 
charge of by Dr. E. C. Davis, in whose custody they still are. Meade 
straightway enlisted in the Federal army and was never arrested. He 
now resides in Kansas. 

Another tragedy of the war was the killing of a stranger in or 
near Hunnewell, who was found with a trace chain about his neck, 
but the particulars in this case have not been learned. 

SINCE THE WAR. 

From 1865 to the present the town has not made much advance 
in population and general improvement over what it was at the 
breaking out of the war. It has, however, done the best it could. 
Its location has been against it and in fovor of its rivals. 

The town is entirely out of debt and has money to its credit in 
the treasury. Its affairs ^seem to be well managed and it is quiet 
and orderly. Although not the scene of manv important events, 
life seems enjoyable to the citizens and their affairs are as prosperous 
as those of their neiorhbors. 

The fine brick block of Blackburn & Balliet was begun in the 
fall and finished December 1,^^1874. In the second story are two 
commodious and elegant halls, occupied by the Odd Fellows and 
Free Masons. 

SCHOOL INTERESTS. 

The present school house was completed in November, 1871, at a 
total cost of $4,500. S. J. Linthicum was the contractor and builder. 



860 HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 

There is still due for this building about $2,200, for which the eight 
per cent bonds of the district are out. The first school in this house 
was begun September 1, 1872, with the Johnson family as teachers — 
Prof. C. B. Johnson, Mrs. E. B. Johnson, and their son, C. N.John- 
son. Aggregate monthly wages, $140. 

The school district was organized in March, 1870. Six directors 
composed the board of education, of which C. H. Godfrey was presi- 
dent and J. T. Davis, secretary. The enumeration of the children of 
school age for 1S84 was 94 white males and 99 white females ; colored, 
9 males and 6 females. Total white and colored, 208. Formerly 
there was a school for colored children, but latterly there is none. 

INCORPORATIONS. 

Hunnewell was first incorporated as a town May 3, 1869, by the 
following order of the county court : — 

Now at this day comes William F. Blackburn and presents a peti- 
tion signed by William F. Blackburn and 6G others, being two-thirds 
of the inhabitants of the town of Hunnewell, in Shelby county and 
State of Missouri, praying the county court of said county, now sit- 
ting, to incorporate the said town of Hunnewell by the following metes 
and bounds, to wit : Beginning at the north-east corner of section 
twelve (12), township fifty-six (56), range nine (9), thence west to 
the north-west corner of the north-east quarter of section eleven (11), 
township fifty-six (56), range nine (9), thence south one mile, thence 
east one and one-half miles to the range line, thence north to the 
beginning; and, in the opinion of the court, the prayer of the peti- 
tioners is reasonable ; it is therefore ordered by the court that the said 
town of Hunnewell be and the same is hereby incorporated by the 
name and style of "The Inhabitants of the Town of Hunnewell;" 
and it is further ordered that William F. Blackburn, Daniel Bird, 
I. R. Jones, William Shorts and C. Hurd be appointed the first board 
of trustees within and for said incorporation, and the clerk is ordered 
to certify said board with a copy of this order. 

April 29, 1882, an election was held at the store-house of William 
Janes to determine whether or not the town should be incorporated 
as a city of the fourth class, with boundaries as before set forth. A 
majority voting in favor of reincorporation. President Blackburn, of 
the board of trustees, made proclamation that <' the said town of 
Hunnewell, Mo., has been, by virtue of such vote, reorganized as a 
city of the fourth class." 

The first election for city officers was held at Janes' store-room 
May 20, 1882, when the following officers were elected : Mayor, S. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 861 

J. McAtee ; aldermen from the East ward, Dr. E. C. Davis and Thomas 
Irons ; from the West ward, P. J. Thiehoff and William C. Blackburn. 
The town was divided into wards by Center street and designated 
as the E;ist and West ward. July 19, 1882, the town ordinances 
were adopted. 

The officers elected in 1884 were: Mayor, T. F. Hughes; clerk, 
Phil. J. Thiehoff; marshal, William Tompkins; street commissioner, 
William Armstrong; aldermen — East ward, A. C. Balliet and Dr. E. 
C. Davis ; West ward, W. B. Thiehoff and P. J. Thiehoff. 

BETHEL. / 

The first building on the present site of the town of Bethel was the 
dwelling-house of Peter Stice, who came to the locality in the fall of 
1835, having previously entered the land on l)oth sides of North river 
{east half sec. 33 — 59 — 10). In November Stice threw a dam 
across the river and erected a small water-mill, a " corn-cracker," 
which was afterward resorted to by the settlers for miles around. 

In the spring of 1844, Adam Shuele, David Wagner and Christian 
Presser came out from Pennsylvania or Ohio, and bought the land on 
and about the site from Chinn, Rookwood and Vandiver. In the fall 
Dr. William Keil (pronounced Kile), George Miller and three or 
four others came and laid the foundations of a colony, of which Dr, 
Keil was the acknowledged leader and head. 

Dr. William Keil was a native of Prussia, but came directly from 
Pittsburg, Pa. He was a physician, and though not thoroughly well 
educated in the schools, possessed many accomplishments and intel- 
lectual attainments. He was well versed in theology and a forcible, 
fluent and eloquent speaker, and not long after his arrival in America 
began preaching. His doctrine was somewhat new. He belonged to no 
church organization or denomination whatever, and never sought to 
found any. Claiming the Bil)le as the word of God and believing 
strongly in Christianity, his doctrines and sentiments were akin to 
those of certain of the primitive Christians. 

Traveling through western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, Dr. 
Keil preached to the German families in those localities in their own 
language, and announced that he was in favor of establishing in the 
far West a settlement whose members should have the faith and prac- 
tices of the early Christians, and should own all property in common. 
His sermons were so impressive and his arguments so convincing, 
that hundreds announced themselves ready to follow him wherever he 
led. Shuele, Wagner and Presser were sent to spy out the land. 



862 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Keil and his associates having made all due preparations, in the 
spring of 1845 about 500 colonists came in from Pennsylvania, Ohio 
and Iowa. At that time the buildings on the town site were the old 
corn-cracker water-mill, built by Peter Stice 10 years before, Vandi- 
ver's old brick house, and two cabins down on the banks of the river 
close by the mill. For some time there was serious discomfort on 
account of the lack of proper accommodations for the women and 
children, but all went to work at once to supply this deficiency and 
soon the numerous clay-walled houses, still to be seen, arose and life 
was fairly begun in the new colony. 

Communistic as were the doctrines and practices of the colony, all 
was harmony and satisfaction. Some of the members were quite 
wealthy, but they poured their substance into the common treasury 
with the same alacrity that the humblest contributed their slender 
capital. All were on an equality in social standing, in the sharing of 
benefits and in the bearing of burdens. The colonv was one strand 
happy family, whose code of morals and of ethics was the New Testa- 
ment, whose practice was the divine injunction of the Golden Rule, 
and whose motto and legend was " Gott mit Uhs.'^ 

Everybody worked. There were no drones in the hive. The 
affairs were managed by Dr. Keil generally, but under him there were 
trustees and division superintendents. In a short time about 4,000 
acres of land were purchased and numerous farms laid out. One 
superintendent managed the farm, another the mill, another the 
affairs in town, etc. There was a purchasing agent who bought what 
the colony needed, and there was a treasurer who took charge of the 
funds received ; but no man — not even Dr. Keil — owned more than 
another. 

Some of the colonists had been Rappists, or members of old Peter 
Rapp's colony, in Pennsylvania, and at New Harmony, Ind. ; but 
the majority were new in their experience of communism. 

Soon after the main colony was established at Bethel branches or 
off-shoots were formed. On the south side of North river, just oppo- 
site Bethel, the collection of houses was called Mamri. A mile north- 
west of Bethel, on the Chinn farm, was Hebron ; a mile east, on the 
Rookwood farm, was Elam. Dr. Keil directed affairs from Bethel. 

Upon the first settlement there was a great deal of sickness in the 
colony. The North river bottom was full of miasm, and toxic vapors 
swept over the country, poisoning the systems of the unacclimated 
people, and prostrating many a colonist upon a bed of fever. There 
were numerous deaths. A cemetery was laid out and established a 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 863^ 

mile above Hebron and it was fed fat with victims. There was much 
discontent and many drew out what they had put into the colony, 
abandoned it, and went elsewhere. But others came to take the places 
of those who left, and for a year or two it was almost like a bee-hive 
with workers departing and arriving constantly. 

At last the colonists rallied in force and tore out the many drifts 
that had accumulated in North river for two miles up and down the 
river, and were breeding pestilence and death, and it was not long 
until the colonists were as healthy as their neighbors. 

All kinds of industries were established. In the fall of 1845 work 
was begun on a large mill, on the site of old Peter Stice's, which was 
torn away, and its dam discarded. The new mill was run by steam. 
It was a two-and-a-half story building, with the basement and lower 
story of brick and stone, and the upper portion a frame. At first it 
was but a grist and saw mill, but afterwards a fulling and carding mill 
was added, and in time patent looms were put in and woolen cloth 
was manufactured. Also, a distillery was established, and a superior 
article of corn and rye whisky was manufactured in considerable quan- 
tities. The first miller was — Matthias. 

There were shoe shops and blacksmith shops, a hatter's shop, and 
there was a glove factory which took the premium for the best gloves 
at the World's Fair, in New York City, in 1858. The Bethel buck 
gloves were celebrated everywhere. The first store was managed by 
David Wagner. 

In 1848 the church building, a large brick structure, with formidable 
walls and a commanding tower, was erected. Here preaching was had 
every Sabbath, the leader of the colony officiating as minister. It 
must be borne in mind that there was no church organization ; the 
congregation was merely a voluntary association. There were no creeds, 
no records, no ordinances, no ceremonies, no discipline, or anything 
whatever to bind, obligate or restrain the freedom of the members, or 
impair their liberty of conscience and action. The ceremony of 
*' joining the church," the process of "experiencing religion " and the 
ordinary machinery of church government, all were unknown. People 
went to church when they pleased, and yet every Sabbath the church 
building, with all its vast capacity, was well tilled with attentive, 
devout listeners and worshipers. Only the sick and decrepit and those 
of tender years stayed at home. 

A school was taught in the church, and the children of the colonists 
universally attended. Moses Miller was the first teacher in the church 
and had 130 scholars of all ao^es and attainments and of both sexes 



864 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

under his care and instruction. Charles Riige succeeded him, and 
I)robably Esq. Harrison Baer and Charles Knight were the next 
teachers. After them were some ladies. The elementary English 
branches were taught, and English was the language used in the 
school room ; the scholars learned German at home. 

The colony was divided into families and the family relation 
observed. Provisions were drawn from the colony's store house on 
certain days, rations being issued to each family in proportion to the 
number of members. 

Early after the colony was fairly planted, the citizens of Shelby 
county began to form most favorable opinions regarding their new 
neighbors. At first they had regarded them with something of con- 
tempt and disgust for their ideas, manners and customs, then they 
contemplated them with curiosit}'^, and at last admired them 
for their strict rectitude, uncompromising honesty, fidelity to their 
word, and unvarying attention to their own business. The mill 
and the shops were patronized for many miles away to the exclusion 
of other institutions managed by their relatives and friends. 

The " long haired Missourians," bearded like Arab shieks, and 
somewhat as rough and wild, soon made friends with the mild-voiced 
colonists, their German manners and customs. Affiliations were 
readily entered into. The friendship and favor of the colonists were 
courted by the politicians. If the " Dutch vote " at Bethel could be 
secured it was a powerful factor in assuring the success of a candidate. 
After a time one of the leading colonists, Samuel Miller, was elected 
a justice of the county court. 

Life in the colony was enjoyejJ to the best possible advantage. 
There was no ill-feeling, no malice, no contention. There were no 
scandals, for the men were honorable and the women were pure. 
There was no gossip, neither tale-bearing or evil report. The cosy 
little village nestled down upon the placid little North river was the 
abode of contentment and happiness, 

And peace and quiet and loving words. 

At Elam there was a large hall, and this was used for dancing par- 
ties, which were frequent and well attended. Dr. Keil organized an 
instrumental music band, composed of 24 members, who were very 
proficient as performers. The colony was never without a musical 
organization of some sort. 

Three or four times a year there were great feasts in the church. 
Christmas was uniformly observed in this manner, and so sometimes 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 865 

were Easter and the Feast of Pentecost. The harvest home feast was 
a great occasion. At all of these assemblages were young and old, 
men, women and children, and all were happy and joyous. Although 
there was a great abundance of whisky in the colony after the distil- 
lery was established, and though it was accessible to every one, yet 
drunkenness was looked upon as disgraceful, and was very rare, so 
that the scenes of merry-making and rejoicing were not marred by 
certain practices which are the bane of assemblages to-da3\ 

The colony flourished under its unwritten constitution and laws, 
and grew so large as to become unwieldv. A division was regarded 
as best for general interests. *In 1851, or near that time, 160 acres of 
land were purchased in Adair county, on the Chariton river, 10 miles 
north-west of Kirksville. Afterwards 800 acres more were bougrht and 
a branch colony established and called Nineveh. A large steam mill, 
a tannery and several shops were built here, and many from the Bethel 
colony went up. 

In June, 1855, there was another division of the colony, and this 
the most important one. Dr. Keil, the founder and leader, at the 
head of 75 families — or at least that number of wagons — drew out 
and left for the Pacific coast to establish another colony. The emi- 
grants went at first to Washington Territory, which they reached in 
the fall in the midst of the rainy season. The continued wet weather 
disbanded the colonists for a time. Dr. Keil went to Portland, Ore., 
and engaged in the practice of medicine for two years. Then the 
colonists got together and formed a colony in Marion county. Ore., 
near Salem, which they called Aurora. Dr. Keil assumed the leader- 
ship. 

After Dr. Keil left the Bethel colony Dr. Christopher C. Wolf 
assumed the leadership. The colony continued to flourish under his 
management, and upon the breaking out of the war the population 
was nearly 500, and the treasury and store-house were full. The dis- 
tillery had 600 barrels of whisky in stock. 

Nearly all the voters in the colony voted for Lincoln and Hamlin, 
and all were anti-slavery men. No slaves were ever held by the colony 
or any of its members. The men had supported Benton, and always 
had shown a deep attachment to the Federal Union. When the war 
broke out, therefore, none of the colonists were secessionists. Neither 
were any of them in favor of war upon any pretext or for any reason. 
Their method of settling controversies was by arbitration, and one 
divine precept was ever before their minds. '* Whatsoever ye would 
that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." It would 



866 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

have been better for our country had its representative men been of 
the same mind and views as the Bethel colonists. 

Martin Green and Jo Porter's secession troops were here in August, 
1861, and made a demand on the people for provisions, through their 
quartermasters, Capt. Frisbie McCnlloughand Col. Robert Shacklett. 
It chanced to be ration day, and the people were quietly notified to 
hasten and draw the flour out of the mill and take other supplies to their 
homes before the Rebel commissary wagons arrived. Only 80 bushels of 
corn meal were obtained at that time from the mill. Some of the 
secession troops robbed the boot and shoe shops and the dry goods 
stores of some of their contents, but Cols. Green and Porter made 
them return the most of them. 

In a few days Green's men made another descent upon Bethel. 
This time they made no formal demand for provisions, but swooped 
down upon the mill suddenly and cleaned it out. It chanced, how- 
ever, that the mill was fnll of grists belonging to the people of the 
surrounding country, the most of whom were secessionists them- 
selves, so that Green and Porter foraged on their friends, at last, and 
the colony suffered but little loss. A considerable quantity of 
tobacco and some groceries were taken at this time. 

When Gen. Hurlbut's troops, from Kirksville, and Col. Moore's 
regiment, from Clark county, met here on their way in pursuit of 
Green, as narrated elsewhere, they stopped for some hours, remain- 
ing over night. Then said the Federal officers : — 

" Tell us, now, who are your rebel n^eighbors, and we will forage 
upon them. We must have feed for our horses and provisions for 
ourselves, and it is but right that the rebels should furnish us with 
what we want. The rebel troops plundered you, and we will retali- 
ate upon their friends." But the colonists answered : " We can not 
inform on the secession people, for they are our neighbors, with 
whom we are at peace. They are as honest in their opinions as 
we are in ours, and we can not do anything to distress or annoy 
them. If you want provisions and provender we have plenty, and 
will gladly furnish you. We are Union people and Republicans and 
you are our protectors. Everything we have is at your service. 
Here are hay and oats and corn in great plenty, and here are flour 
and meal and cured meats and fat cattle, sheep and hogs, and vegeta- 
bles in abundance ; help yourselves, and if necessary, our women shall 
cook your meals for you while you stay. Only do not distress our 
neighbors for their opinions' sake." 

After this the simple, peace-loving citizens of Bethel were not 



\ 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. . 867 

much molested. When, in the fall of 1862, McNeil's and Benjamin's 
troops rendezvoused here in their pursuit of Porter, some of Mer- 
rill's Horse took their meals from the citizens, but that was all. 
Thereafter Eebel bushwhacker and Federal jayhawker respected these 
people whose hands were not raised ao-ainst any man, and against 
whom no man's hand was raised. 

Only two or three members of the colony, and they were young 
men, entered the Federal service during the war. In 1862, when 
there was a general order for the enrollment of all able-bodied men, 
Dr. Wolf and others went to Gov. Gamble and procured the exemp- 
tion of the Bethel colonists. The same year Dr. Wolf and the most 
of the young men left the country, by permission of the State author- 
ities, and went out to Oregon, and joined the colony at Aurora. The 
draft did not run among the Bethel people. 

The colony lost $1,900 during the war, by the ignorance of Mr. 
George Schull, the distiller, who, in his anxiety to obey the law, went 
to Macon City and paid that amount of tax on whisky the colony had 
in stock, and which had been made before the law went into effect. 
The money thus erroneously paid was never refunded. Whisky 
advanced largely in price, but the colony failed to realize what it 
should have realized, on the sale of what of the fluid it had, as it 
hauled the stock off to Quincy and disposed of it before the prices 
had risen much. 

The colony sustained a most serious loss in the burning of its mill, 
distillery, carding machine and factory on the 10th of April, 1872. 
Everything was burned, even to the books of the establishment, and 
there was no insurance. The loss was about $20,000. Work was at 
once begun on a new building, which is the present mill, a large brick 
saw and grist mill, run by steam, and built at a cost of $17,000. 

After Dr. Wolf left Andrew Geisy became the leader ; he went to 
Oregon in 1876. After Geisy removed Jacob G. Miller became the 
leader — the last one the colony had. 

Dr. William Keil died in Oregon in 1879, and soon after his death 
there was a general dissolution of both the colonies he had founded. 
Representatives from the Oregon colony came on to arrange for a 
division of the property, and arrangements for an equitable separation 
were easily effected. The title deeds to all the realty were made out 
in the name and were in the possession of the leader of the colony, 
from the start, and were deeded by him in a general warranty to his 
successor. Thus Keil deeded to Wolf, and Wolf to Geisy, etc. 
Had either of the leaders been a rascal he might have transferred the 



868 ' HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

properly for a valuable consideration to an innocent purchaser, and 
the colonists would have been left without recourse. 

The Oregon colony appointed as its representatives Judge Samuel 
Miller, Cnpt. Will and Stephen Smith, who had a power of attorney 
for the settlement and conclusion of the business. The Bethel colony 
appointed Philip Miller, Philip Steinbach, John Shafer, Henry Will, 
Jr., and John G. Bauer. The commissioners, by the advice of Col. 
D. P. Dyer, of St. Louis, were able to make a division upon a plan 
that met the universal assent of both colonies. 

The entire Bethel colony property was to be appraised by disinter- 
ested parties and divided among the members pro rata, according to 
the length of time they had been such. Each male member who was 
a minor when he joined the colony was allowed to count his member- 
ship from the time he was 20 years of age, and each female from the 
time she was 18. Every member was to be first allowed the value of 
the property he had put in, without interest. 

Three appraisers were appointed — Hiram Pickett, George Lair and 
Frederick Haman. They made a fair valuation of all the property, 
which was satisfactory. Upon balancing accounts it appeared that the 
Bethel colony stood indebted to some of the Oregon colonists in the 
sum of about $17,000. They agreed to receive the mill for the debt. 
Then the value of the remainder of the property was aggregated, and 
divided by the whole number of years the colonists had served, when 
it was found that each male was entitled to a little more than $28 per 
year for every year he had been a member above the age of 20, and 
it was agreed that everyfemale should receive half that sum for every 
year of her membership after she was 18. 

Upon this basis calculations were readily made, and each one's 
share easily apportioned. It took some time to cut up the land and 
town property and give every one his due, but at last everything was 
done and settled, and everyone was satisfied. There was no lawsuit, 
no controversy, no bitterness, no murmuring. Each member seemed 
to fear, not that he had not received enough, but that he had gotten 
more than his share. The affairs were all wound up, and each member 
received a legal title to his property, and began life on his own 
account. 

The church building fell to the Keller sisters, Susan and Christina 
(Fink), Jacob Shriver, Jacob Hagler, J. G. Miller and Caspar Shafer, 
who still own it. All Christian denominations are allowed the use 
of it. 

The mill was purchased of the Oregon colonists by Moses Miller, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 86 9 

Philip Miller, George Bauer and Henry Ziegler, at the very reasonable 
price of $9,000. It was then a buhr mill, but in the fall of 1883 the 
proprietors put in a full set of rolls, and the mill now makes flour by 
what is known as the roller process. It has a large and increasing 
patronage. 

There are several general stores in the place, together with the usual 
mechanical and trades shops to be found in nearly every country town. 
Bethel still is and doubtless will always be a popular trading point for 
many people. 

The town was incorporated as a town November 6, 1883, and Fred. 
Stecher, Henry Will, W. C. Bower, Philip Steinbach and George 
Bauer constituted the first board of trustees. 




CHAPTEK XY. 

THE MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Township Boundaries — Jackson Townstiip — Salt River — Jefferson — Clay — Taylor 
— Betliel — Black Creek — Tiger Fork — Historical Sketclies, Description, Etc. 

The municipjil townships as at present constituted, had their metes 
and bounds fixed by the county court at the May term, 1868, as fol- 
lows : — 

JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 

Beginning at the south-east corner of Shelby county ; thence north 
on the county line to the section line dividing sections 24 and 25, 
township 58, range 9 ; thence west to the range line dividing ranges 
9 and 10 ; thence south to the township line dividing townships 57 
and 58, in range 10 ; thence west to the section line dividing sections 
2 and 3 in township 57, range 10; thence south to the county 
line, between the counties of Monroe and Shelby ; thence east to the 
south-east corner of Shelby county. 

At the November term of the county court, 1882, the boundaries 
of Jackson were changed so as to exclude all the territory lying west 
of range No. 9, which is also west of Salt river, and attaching the 
same to Salt River township. The western boundary therefore begins 
on the ranse line between ranges No. 9 and 10 at the south-western 
boundary of the county ; thence north on the line to Salt River ; thence 
up Salt River to the section line between sections 14 and 15, town- 
ship 57, range 10 ; thence north to Black Creek township. The range 
line between ranges nine and ten is half a mile west of Lakenan. 

TIGER FORK TOWNSHIP. 

Beo;inuing at the point on the county line between Marion and 
Shelby county on the section line dividing sections 24 and 25, town- 
ship 58, range 9 ; thence north to the north-east corner of Shelby 
county ; thence west on the count}^ line to the township line dividing 
township 59, range 10, and township 59, range 9 ; thence south to the 
section line dividing sections 19 and 30, township 58, range 9; thence 
east to the beginning. 
(870) '^ 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 871 



BLACK CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



Beginning at the south-east corner of section 36, township 58, 
range 10, on the line between township 58, range 10, and township 

57, range 10; thence north on the range line between ranges 9 
and 10 to the north-east corner of section 1, township 58, range 10, 
on the line between township 58, range 10, and township 59, range 
10 ; thence west on north line of township 58, range 10, and town- 
ship 58, range 11, to the north-west corner of section 6, township 58, 
range 11 ; thence south on the range line to the south-west corner of 
section 31, township 58, range 11; thence east on the township line 
to the place of beginning. 

SALT RIVER TOWNSHIP. 

Beginning on the county line on the line between sections 10 and 11, 
in township 56, range 10 ; thence north to the north-east corner of 
section 3, township 57, range 10, on the township line between 
townships 57 and 58, range 10 ; thence west on the north line of town- 
ship 57, range 10, and township 57, range 11, to the south-west cor- 
ner of section four, township 57, range 11 ; thence south to the county 
line between Shelby and Monroe counties, at the point dividing sec- 
tions 8 and 9, in township 56, range 11 ; thence east on said 
county line to the place of beginning. [The change in the boundary 
in November, 1882, is previously noted.] 

CLAY TOWNSHIP. 

Beginning at the south-east corner of section 17, township 57, 
range 11 ; thence north to the township line between townships 57 and 

58, in range 11, to the north-east corner section 5, township 57, 
range 11 ; thence west on the township line to the range line between 
ranges 11 and 12 ; thence north on the range line to north-east corner 
section 1, township 58, range 12 ; thence west on township line to 
the county line ; thence south to the south-west corner section 18, 
township 57, range 12 ; thence east to the place of beginning. 

TAYLOR TOWNSHIP. 

Beginning at the north-west corner of Shelby county ; thence south 
on the county line to the township line between townships 58 and 59, 
in range 12 ; thence east on township line to the south-east corner of 
section 33, township 59, range 11 ; thence north to the south-east 
corner of section 4, township 59, range 11, on the county line; 
thence west on the county line to the beginning. 

BETHEL TOWNSHIP. 

Beginning at the south-east corner of section 36, township 59, 
range 10 ; thence north on the range line to the county line ; thence 

50 



872 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

west on the comity line to the north-west corner of section 3, town- 
ship 59, range 11 ; thence south to the township line between town- 
ship 58, range 11, and township 59, range 11, at the point between 
sections 33 and 34, in township 59, range 11 ; thence east on the town- 
ship line to the place of beginning. 

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 

Beginning at the south-west corner of Shelby county ; thence east 
on the county line to the range line between ranges 11 and 12 ; thence 
north on the county line to the south-east corner of section 12, town- 
ship 56, range 12 ; thence east on the county line to the south-east 
corner of section 8, township 56, range 11 ; thence north to the north- 
east corner of section 20, township 57, range 11 ; thence west to the 
county line at the point between sections 18 and 19, township 57, range 
12 ; thence south on the county line to the place of beginning. 

JACKSON TOWNSHIP. 

The first settlements in Jackson township were made properly in the 
spring of 1833 by Russell W. Moss, Samuel Buckner, Henry Saun- 
ders and David Smallwood, in the southern part of the township, and 
by W. B. Broughton and others at and in the neighborhood of Oak 
Dale. These settlements are noted fully elsewhere. Jeremiah Rust 
was another pioneer who should be mentioned. He came from Fau- 
quier county, Va., in 1836, and settled near Oak Dale. 

In December, 1837, the township was organized out of Black Creek 
on the petition of Russell W. Moss and others. Its original boundaries 
were as follows : Beginning at the south-east corner of the county ; 
thence west nine miles to the middle of range 10 ; thence north " to 
the middle of the prairie between Black creek and North river ;" thence 
east to the Marion county line ; thence south to the beginning. The 
first township election was held at W. B. Broughton's, at Oak Dale, 
December 23, 1837, to elect two justices of the peace. The judges ot 
election were George Parker, Samuel S. Matson and W. B. Brough- 
ton. The officers elected were W. C. Mitchell and George Parker, 
justices, and Samuel B. Hardy, constable. 

Until the building of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, Jackson 
township had no towns, unless, indeed. Oak Dale can be considered a 
town, where was the first store, the first tavern and the first county 
seat in Shelby county. The town of Hunnewell is fully mentioned 
elsewhere. 

The village of Lakenau was laid out on the Hannibal and St. 
Joseph Railroad in June, 1858, by John Duff, the old contractor, who 
was the proprietor of the site. It was named for Hon. Robert F. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 873 

Lakenan, who owned a large farm north of the town, but who was 
then a prominent attorney of Hannibal, where he died in May, 1883. 
He married a daughter of Russell W. Moss. Mr. Lakenan was one of 
the prime movers in the building of the Hannibal and St, Joseph 
Railroad. 

There was a depot and some dwelling houses at Lakenan when the 
war broke out, but Bill Anderson and his band burned the depot in 
July, 1864, when they made their raid into this county. Since the war 
the village has grown to a very pleasant little rural situation. It has 
three or four stores, shops, etc., and receives the patronao-e of a con- 
siderable section of country, not only in Shelby, but in Monroe county, 
from which it is distant less than a mile. 

On Salt river, near the mouth of Black creek, is a coal bank, which 
furnishes a fair article of blacksmith coal, but the vein is not very thick, 
of course, and can never be worked very profitably. 

Jackson township saw something of the Civil War, and the vision 
was not delightful. The railroad bridge across Salt river was burned 
three times by those acting in the interests of the Confederates, and in 
the summer and early fall of 1861 the Federal regiments of Grant, 
Palmer, Tinkham and others, with Gens. Pope and Hurlbut to com- 
mand them. But these and other incidents of the war are so fully set 
forth on other pages that they need not be narrated here. 

One episode of the war may be mentioned. About the 10th of July, 
or near the time of the Monroe City fight, a party of secession troops, 
led by John Freeborn, who had been in the employ of R. W. Moss, 
visited the residence of Gabriel Davis, a Union man, living two miles 
north of Hunnewell, searched his house for arms and took out Mr. 
Davis and hung him up a few times, nearly taking his life. The visit 
occurred at about 2 o'clock in the mornino;. 

Two versions of this affair are given. Mr. Thomas Davis, a son of 
Gabriel Davis, states that the lynching tookplace in September, 1861, 
a few days after the Shelbina fight. He says his brother, William, 
had been a member of Capt. Jo Furman's company of Union Home 
Guards, and had shortly before returned home. Learning of the con- 
templated visit of the secessionists, he, his brother Wallace, and Jesse 
Hickman, were lying out in the woods to avoid capture and maltreat- 
ment ; that in the dead of night the l)and appeared led by Freeborn 
and George M. Harrison ; that after entering the house they made 
prisoners of him (Thomas Davis) and his father, took them out and 
lynched them, hanging up the old man to a cherry tree; that George 
Harrison was the leader of the party that hung him (Thomas), 



874 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

and told him to pray, for his time was short, and that he answered, 
" I prayed once to-night, when I went to bed." Mr. Davis fur- 
ther states that he was swung up two or three times, and each time 
he was let down he was asked where the arms were which had been 
secreted in the house, but which then were in the woods with his 
brothers and Jesse Hickman. Finally he promised that if he was 
given until the next day he would see that the arms were returned 
to the house and delivered up to the secession troops, and then, after 
taking an oath not to take up arms against the Confederacy, he and his 
father were released. 

Mr. George M. Harrison, now a prominent attorney of Halmibal 
and a leading Republican politician, tells an entirely different story 
concerning this affair. He says : — 

* * * It was in July, 1861, that I formed one of a squad of 
men, some 25 or 30, under Capt. John Freeborn, that were engaged 
in securing all the arms of the Union men in Shelby county we could. 
On that night we went to Gabe Davis' house, as we were informed 
he had filled his house with rifles and double-barreled shot-guns and 
was ready for us. As we approached his house from the front gate, 
he or some one else in the house fired on us. It was then concluded 
to burn him out, as he could not be forced out in any other way. 
While we, under our Captain's orders, were proceeding to do this, 
he surrendered and we took possession. I was put in the house with 
half a dozen men to search for the arms, etc., and while I was in the 
house word came to me that they were hanging Davis. I at once 
went out to the front gate and protested against it, and with my 
knife cut the rope and said to Capt. Freeborn that that was murder, 
for when Davis surrendered he was entitled to protection ; in this the 
majority of the men coincided, and the result was Davis was taken 
back to the house and not even asked to take an oath. Tom Davis 
was not present when the hanging was done, for he and the balance 
of the family were detained in the house. * * * Dj-, ^^ l^ 
Yancey, of Hunnewell, is the only one I know of who knows these 
facts. What became of Freeborn I do not know. Of the men who 
were with me on that night, three-fourths of them went to South- 
west Missouri, joined Gen, Price's army and nearly all lost their lives 
in the struggle ; but few ever returned. 

The reader must believe which ever version of this story he pleases, 
and can. 

SALT RIVER TOWNSHIP. 

This township, occupying the south-central portion of the county, 
is one of the most important in Shelby and deserves fuller mention 
than can be made here. It is now composed of about 75 sections of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 875 

land, lying on both sides of Salt river, and running southward to the 
Monroe county line. It contains prairie, timbered, bottom and bluff 
land, and plenty of stone, timber and water. Near Walkersville 
there are some exposures of coal, and banks have been opened, but 
the coal is of inferior quality and the vein shallow. 

Salt river enters the township at the north-west corner and flows 
diagonally through the northern part of the township. Along its 
banks is naturally a heavy growth of timber, and in its bed a sup- 
erabundance of stone, sand and gravel. Its bottom lands are veri- 
table muck-beds, rich as those of the Nile, and the stream itself is of 
great importance to the township and the county. 

The first settler in Salt River township was also the first permanent 
one in the county — Maj. Obadiah Dickerson, who located on the 
north bank of Salt river, on the main road from Shelbina to Shelby- 
ville, on section 17 — 57 — 10, in 1831. A year or two later, he was 
joined by Peter Roff and George Rofl", who located on section 7, north 
of Walkersville. 

The first settlers iu the north-western part of this township, alonf 
or in the neighborhood of Salt river, in township 57, range 11, were 
Perry B. Moore, Isaac Moore, and their sister, Mrs. Mary Wailes, ou 
section 10 ; James Barr and ,Tohn Barr, on section 15 ; James Carroll, 
on section 9 ; and John S. Duncan, on the north-west quarter of sec- 
tion 16. The Moore brothers, the Barrs and Mrs. Wailes were from 
Delaware, James Carroll from Indiana, and John S. Duncan from 
Kentucky. 

The Moores came in about 1837, the Barrs a year later, and John 
S. Duncan in 1840. The latter was first through the country in 1836. 
When he settled here permanently he brought with him four large, 
magnificent horses, heavily harnessed, a capacious " schooner" wa^on, 
and several hundreds of dollars in money. He was a valuable acqui- 
sition to the settlement. His horses were in demand to break the 
tough, stubborn sod of the prairie, his wagon to go to mill, and his 
dollars for general purposes. 

The first school was taught by John B. Lewis, in 1838, in a small 
school-house that stood on the present site of Bacon's Chapel. This 
house was built of round logs, had a puncheon floor, a clap-board 
roof, roughs benches, and the windows were composed of greased 
paper. Some of Mr. Lewis's pupils were Isaac, John, and Mary A. 
Wailes, Anderton, Cornelia and Mary Tobin, George and Mary Lewis. 
He had about 20 in all. 

The physician that located in the western part of this township 



876 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

was Dr. John Mills, who came in 1838 from Ohio, and lived near 
the north line in section 9, township 57, range 11. He practiced 
through a large extent of country, riding sometimes 20 miles to visit 
his patients. He went to California finally. 

In the western part of the township the first church building was 
Bacon's Chapel, built by the Methodists, on the south-west quarter 
of the south-east quarter of section 9, township 57, range 11, in 
1845. It was built of logs, and the outside was covered, sides and 
all, with clap-boards. The first services were held before the floor was 
laid, and were conducted by old Father Eads. The building stood 
for 20 years, and was. succeeded by the present imposing and com- 
modious building. George Bacon deeded the site to the church. 

Adam and Michael Heckart were early settlers in the north-western 
part of this township, and built a mill on Salt river, in section 4 — 
57—11, in 1838. David O. Walker built the mill on section 18— 
57 — 10, which bore his name so long, and which was the foundation 
for the little hamlet of Walkersville. 

Other early settlers in the north-western part of this township were 
Nicholas Watkins, James Carothers and Prettyman Blizzard, in the 
vicinity of Bacon Chapel ; Dr. James Racklifie, on the north-east 
quarter of section 12—57 — 11 ; W. T. Coard, on section 1 — 57 — 10. 

Salt river township was first organized as a municipal township in 
about 1839, but extended then to the western boundary of the county. 
Its present limits are defined on a previous page. 

During the war, in the spring of 1862, occurred the bushwhacking 
near Walkersville, by Tom Stacy's Confederate band, when two soldiers, 
Long and Herbst, and the citizen, Lilburn Hale, were killed, and the 
soldiers, Ring, Deener and Henning, were wounded. All the soldiers 
belonged to the Eleventh Missouri State Militia. 

The bushwhacking of the Third Iowa soldiers in the road near Maj. 
Dickerson's old house — now called the Bush Foley place — is detailed 
elsewhere. Mr. Connelly lived on the farm at the time, and saw John 
Jacobs and others of the bushwhackers who did the shooting. Jacobs 
was in the door-yard and had called for some water, when the negro 
came up with the information that the straggling soldiers were com- 
ing. When the main body of Hurlbut's men came up they were furi- 
ous, and would, perhaps, have made short and bad work of the house, 
had not the negro assured them that none of its inmates were con- 
nected with the affiiir in any way. 

The Shelbina fight in 1861, and Bill Anderson's raid in 1864, are 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 877 

noted elsewhere. Both of these events, of course, happened in this 
township. 

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 

Jefferson township comprises the south-western portion of Shelby 
county, including all of township 56, range 12, which forms the " jog '' 
or pan-handle, so prominent a feature on the map of the county. The 
greater portion of the township is prairie, the soil of which is rich and 
fertile, and capable of transformation into beautiful and valuable 

farms. . , 

This township was not settled as early as the other portions ot the 
county, perhaps because of the great abundance of prairie, which was 
more difficult to subdue than timbered land in early days, when wooden 
mold-boards and cast-iron points were all the kind used on breaking 
plows. Not until after 1840 did settlers come in. The first locations 
were made along Otter creek and Crooked creek, with a few on Mad 

creek. 

In 1845-46 there were living along Otter creek John Kyle, J. M. 
Donaldson, Elijah Bishop, Thomas Dawson, Joseph Reynolds, Madi- 
son Reynolds, Henry Smock, Henry Spires, Esquire Barton, John 
Hendricks and Joel Million. 

On Crooked creek there were William Stalcup, Sr. ; William Stal- 
cup, Jr. ; Samuel Stalcup, H. Shoemaker, Daniel Thrasher, Henry 
Kidwell, V. Godfrey, John Dungan, Ed. Tansil, William Bush, Enoch 

K. Miller. 

Shelton Lowry lived on Mad creek, in the extreme south-western . 

portion of the township. 

The buildincr of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad brought more 
settlers in ; but not until after the war did the township begin its real 
improvements. It is now quite thickly settled and well improved. 

Durino- the war Jefferson township was over-run by the troops of 
both armies, and its citizens. Union and Confederate, were maltreated 
and murdered. Early in the war some Confederate partisans took out 
the old pioneer, Henry Spires, and put him to death, leaving his body 
to rot by a log, where it was found. Another Union man, named 
Fifer, was murdered about the same time. Then came the cruel Put- 
nam county militia and murdered some men of Confederate sym- 
pathies—Phillips, Butler and Wilson — living in the border of 
Monroe. Mr. Fifer, the Unionist, was a son-in-law of Phillips, the 
Secessionist, and both were murdered. With which side Mrs. Fifer 
sympathized it would be hard to say. One party murdered her father, 
the other her husband. 



^^^ HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

In the spring of 1862 the Black Hawk cavalry came nut from Macon 
and had a slight skirmish with a company of Confederates that were 
encamped down on Mad creek. One Confederate was killed. 

CLAY TOWNSHIP. 

The first settler in what is now Clay township was Major Taylor 
Who built a cabin on section 6 — 57—11, in the south-eastern part of 
the township, as early as 1835. This cabin stood at the point of a 
hill, at the southern edge of the Salt river bottom, with the stream 
Itself a mile away. Mr. Taylor was a Kentuckian. He was not, as 
his name would perhaps indicate, a military character, but his given 
or Christian name was Major. 

James Parker was on section 8-57-11, a mile or more below 
laylor in 1839, and Isaac Tobin was near him. John B. Lewis was 
on the north-west quarter of the same section in 1836. West of this 
three or four miles, was Capt. Melson in 1839. Of these, Parker wal 
from Delaware, Tobin was a Virginian and Melson a Kentuckian. 
J^arther up on Salt river but few settlements were made until late in 
the decade beginning with 1840. 

The first class of the Methodist Church in Shelby county was formed 
at the residence of John B. Lewis, on the north-west quarter of sec 
tion 8 _ 57 - 11, in the fall of 1837. Mr. Lewis was the leader, and 
the other members were his wife, Stanford Drain and wife, Mrs. Mar- 
garet Moore, the widow Parker, Mrs. Wailes and Mrs. Jane Parker 
wife of James Parker. The same year Eev. James Pryor came out 
from Ohio, and held services at the house of Mr. Lewis, and it is 
claimed that he was the first Methodist preacher in Shelby county. 
This class was the origin of the congregation at Bacon's Chapel. 

The township was organized about 1845, when the county was Whio- 
aiid named for Henry Clay, whom his partisans knew as - callanl 
Harry of the West." A few years later Taylor township was oro-an- 
ized and named for President Taylor. Very much of the land in 
the southern part of the township was improved and first cultivated 
smce the Civil War, having long been held by speculators. 

The town of Clarence is fully mentioned on the other pages. 
The other village in Clay township is Hager's Grove, on section 
15—58—12, on Salt river. 

The site of Hager's Grove was purchased by John Hager of William 
P. Norton, of Ralls county. A blacksmith shop was run here for 
some time and the locality was known as Hager's Grove In the 
spring of 1857 William P. Casey, Dr. Pile and Joseph and William 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 879 

Walker, from Iowa, bought a steam saw-mill and put it in operation 
at Hager's Grove. A man named Spaulding ran a blacksmith shop 
here at the same time. Some time afterward Thomas J. Blackburn 
established a small grocery store, whose stock in trade, as reported, 
consisted of a barrel of whisky, some crackers and cheese and some 
staples. The store was in a log house. 

In a year or so Dr. Pile and William Walker both died, and in 
August, 1859, G. L. & B. F. Smith bought Blackburn's stock, and 
making considerable additions, opened a store in Dr. Piles' former 
house, a two-story frame. The Smith Bros, had Ed. Gray, then the 
county surveyor, to come and lay out the village into lots. In 
1859 a post-office was established, and B. F. Smith appointed post- 
master. 

The Smith Bros, ran the store until in 1861, when Morris Osborn came 
in and he and B. F. Smith ran it until 1863, when, owing to the 
troublous times incident to the Civil War, the store was closed and 
the o^oods sold at auction. In 1866 L. E. Irwin and John Patton 
opened another store, and since then the place has always been a 
trading point. It now has a dozen houses, two general stores, a 
drug store, a blacksmith shop and the mill ; also a post-office. 

The old saw-mill has been burned two or three times, but some 
of the original machinery is said to be still in use. Not long before 
the war broke out Georo-e Janes bought an interest in the saw-mill 
and added thereto a grist mill and a distillery. These additions were 
managed by the Janes brothers and their father, John Janes, until 
some time during the war. While the distillery existed it is said that 
frequent drunks and free fights were the rule at Hager's Grove. The 
mill has changed hands quite often. 

There is an excellent frame church building at Hager's Grove, under 
the control of the Christians, or " Campbellites," as they are mis- 
named. The building was erected in 1873. 

Lentner^s Station is situated on the north-east corner of section 
29 — 57 — 11, in this township, but immediately on the line between 
Clay and Salt River, and on the Hannibal and St, Joseph Railroad. 
The road divides the townships, all west being in Clay, and east 
in Salt River. The depot building is in Clay. The station was at 
first called Crooked Creek, then after a time John L. Lathrop, of Chi- 
cago, a large land owner in this township, named it Lentner. 



880 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



TAYLOR TOWNSHIP. 

This township composes the north-western portion of the county^ 
and comprises all of congressional township 59, range 12, and the 
west half of township 59, range 11. The land in this township is 
mostly fine and valuable. The central portion, being excellent prai- 
rie, is especially so. The eastern portion is chiefly timber land. Salt 
river runs almost due north and south through the western part of the 
township, and along it, for a mile in width, the land is rough and 
broken. 

The Gillaspys, — Lewis, Alexander and Robert — were among the 
very first settlers in what is now Taylor township, locating on Black 
creek, in the south-eastern portion of the township, in about 1837. 
At about the same time two men named Steed and Buckalew came in. 
Steed located on section 29 — 59 — 11, nearly two miles east of Leon- 
ard, and Buckalew over in the western part of the township, a mile or 
more east of Salt river, on section 21 — 59 — 12. George Gray built 
his cabin on the west half of section 28 — 59 — 11, about 1839. Am- 
brose Perry was another early settler in this quarter. 

Li October, 1839, Thomas G. Poage moved up from Paris, Monroe 
county, to section 18 — 59 — 12, west of Salt river, in the north-western 
portion of the township, near the Macon line. In a few years he 
moved across into Macon. At that time there were in that quarter 
Samuel Vandiver, in section 8, on Salt river; Griffith D. Shelton, 
who lived on the bluflf, at the edge of the Salt river bottom, in section 
29, and Phil. Upton, the slayer of Daniel Thomas, a mile east of 
Shelton, in section 28 ; Robert Nickell, a Virginian, was on the west 
side of Salt river, on section 18, near the Nickell ford, in 1840. 
Henry Sheetz and Thomas Garrison were included in the settlement 
in 1840. 

Griffith D. Shelton was a cooper, and worked at his trade for the 
benefit of his neighbors, making for them buckets, tubs, churns, etc. 
Some of his buckets and churns were made out of cedar brought up 
from Ralls county, out of the Salt river hills, and were very pretty 
and durable. Shelton was also a great hunter, and killed scores of 
deer. Robert Nickell did not remain long here. One of his children 
swallowed a piece of saucer and choked to death. To this child Mr. 
Nickell was much attached, and not long after its death he sold out 
and went back to Virginia. 

Benj. F. Forman came up from Ralls county in the spring of 1842,. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



881 



and bought Mr. Buckalew's farm, on the south-west quarter of section 

21 59 12. In addition to those already mentioned there were in 

the township then Edwin Brensley, an Englishman, on the north-east 
quarter of section 20, and near him was Cyrus Saunders. Daniel 
Michaels lived near the center of section 28. William Mills lived in 
the north-west corner of the county ; he killed a man named Watson, 
by striking him over the head with a double-barreled shot-gun. The 
aflfair took place at Mills' house; he was acquitted on the ground of 
self-defense. Mills died in the Federal army, a member of Glover's 
Third Missouri Cavalry. 

Upon the first settlement of Taylor township the pioneers went 
often to Florida, in Monroe county, to mill, as the local mills in this 
county were not always in order or running. In 1846 Benjamin For- 
man bought a horse mill — a sweep mill — from a man named Hargis, 
in the southern part of the county, and moved it up on his farm and 
ran it for a number of years. The settlers resorted to it for miles 
around. Each customer furnished his own team to turn the mill, and 
when it had two good teams hitched to it its capacity averaged five 
bushels per hour. When, however, a small yoke of steers furnished 
the motive power the average was much less. 

Forman's mill ground both corn and wheat. The flour was bolted 
by hand — a slow process but an effectual one. It made as good 
bread as that now produced by the roller process. The toll was one- 
eighth of the grist. Sometimes this little mill was so thronged that 
the customers stayed and ground all night, each in his turn. 

There was an abundance of game along Salt river and elsewhere in 
this township at an early day — bear, wolves, deer, etc. Bear creek 
was named by some hunters from Howard county, who killed a large 
black bear at its mouth when they were here hunting on one occasion. 
Judge Samuel Huston taught a school just over the line, in Macon 
county, in 1841, which was resorted to by a majority of the children 
in the north-western portion of this township. Jack Griffin taught 
another school near him. Religious services were held at Thomas 
Poage's, in 1840, and in that section, and at that day, nearly all the 
preachers were Old School Baptists. Two of these were James Rat- 
lifi"e and Ben Davis. Near the same time old Dr. Shultz, of the 
Christian Church, preached. 

The first physicians who practiced in the township were Dr. Long, 
of Shelby ville. Dr. Mills, from the neighborhood of Bacon Chapel, 
and Dr. Edmunds. For many years Shelby ville was the nearest post- 
office. Up in the north-western part of the township Thomas G. 



882 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Poage was the only subscriber to a newspaper up to about 1845. He 
took the St. Louis Republican and the Boone's Lick Democrat ^ and 
although the papers were usually about tvvo weeks old when they 
were received, yet his house was headquarters for general intelligence 
and a resort for people who wanted to learn the news. 

In the spring of 1849, Benjamin Forraan built the first bridge over 
Salt river in this quarter at the Ray ford. The lumber for the floor 
was whip-sawed. The same year, while John Swinney was building 
the Rollins bridge, over Salt river, he let a chisel fall on his knee and 
the wound crippled him. 

The hamlet now called Leonard, on the north-west quarter of sec- 
tion 30 — 59 — 11, on Black creek, was formerly called Millersburg, 
from Adolphus Miller, who built the mill there after the war. Isaac 
Watson is the present owner. There are two or three stores and a 
post-office. The latter gives the name to the hamlet. 

Cherry Box is the name of a post-office in the north-western part or 
the township, which has for some time past been " on wheels," as it 
were, being first at one house and then at another, as a man could be 
found willing to assume the duties of the office. 

BETHEL TOWNSHIP. 

Bethel township comprises all of congressional township 59, range 
10, and half of township 59, range 11, and is the center of the three 
municipal townships comprising the northern part of Shelby county. 
There are some very excellent bodies of land iii the township and some 
fine farms, but there is yet much room for improvement in this par- 
ticular. The northern portion of the township, through which North 
river and the Tiger fork run, is somewhat broken and unproductive. 
The southern portion has many a fine tract of prairie. 

In the southern portion the Pennsylvania-German members of the 
old colony of Bethel have made some good farms. In the south-east- 
ern part of the township a colored man named Magruder, who was a 
slave when the war broke out, and who began life empty handed when 
it was over, now has one of the best 160 acre farms in the township. 
He lives in a fine two-story house, has nearly all of the modern con- 
veniences of life about him, buys and ships live stock, works hard and 
takes care of what he makes, and is universally respected and encour- 
aged by his white neighbors. Instances of such industry, good sense 
and thrift are rare among colored people, and this one deserves to be 
noticed. 

As to the first settlers in this township, perhaps the distinction 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 883 

helonsfs to Abraham Vandiver and Peter Stice, who settled on North 
river at or near Bethel in 1834. According to the statements of 
Joshua M. Ennis and others, there were living in this township in 1837 
or 1838 the following: Peter Stice, at Bethel ; Barton W. Hall, on 
North river, just below Bethel ; Jesse Gentry, east of Hall ; Hiram 
Rookwood, east of Gentry, on North river; William Chinn was north 
of town ; William Ralls, who had 11 children, also lived north, and 
William Montgomery was near him ; John B. Sikes and John Short 
lived two miles west of Bethel ; Peter C. Rust was another early set-, 
tier on North river. 

Beginning at the head waters of Tiger fork and proceeding down 
the stream, the following settlers were in this township in 1840 : Sara 
Matkins, Wash Matkins, Judge Brown, William Todd, William Van- 
skike, John Neal, John White and James Lear. 

One who knew him says of James Lear that he was a large-hearted, 
whole-souled, enterprising and liberal member of the community — 
one of nature's noblemen and a man of true worth. He was one of 
the pillars of the Old School Baptist Church, but in all matters of 
public interest, whether in the building of churches, schools or roads, 
he was a worthy leader and was respected and honored by all his fel- 
low-citizens. As he lived near what is now the Tiger Fork line, he 
had a large acquaintance in that township. 

The influx of the Bethel colonists was of great advantage in the 
improvement of this township, and after 1846^ it was created into a 
separate municipal township. It grew apace with the remaining por- 
tions of the county until it reached its present conditions and propor- 
tions. 

BLACK CREEK TOWNSHIP. 

Black Creek township comprises all of congressional township 58, 
ranges 10 and 11, and is the central township of Shelby county. It 
was one of the original townships of the county, and, indeed, was 
created when the territory belonged to Marion county. Gradually, 
with the various changes that have been made, it has been reduced to 
its present limits. It took its name from the stream of that designa- 
tion. 

The first settlements in what is now this township, were made along 
Black creek, on North river, and in the neighborhood of Shelbyville. 
Lewis H. Gillaspy settled a little south-west of Shelbyville, in 1835, 



1 Bethel was regularly laid out by Samuel Miller October 9 and 10, 1846. 



884 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

and was probably the first settler. Peter Looney, a son of Mrs. Car- 
olina Looney, settled on what came to be known as the Laws place, 
in the north-eastern part of the township in 1835, and it is claimed 
that he built the first house that high up on North river. He married 
a Miss Rice. Mr. James G. Glenn states that he came in the fall of 

1833 to section 3 — 58 — 10, on North river. John Ralls lived south- 
east of him then. It is possible, however, that Mr. Glenn is mistaken 
one year in the date of his settlement, and that it was in the fall of 

1834 when he came. 

In addition to the few houses in Shelbyville, there were, in 1837, the 
following settlers in what is now Black Creek township : James Foley 
lived in the north-eastern part of the township, on the north-west 
quarter of section 2 — 58 — 10, across North river. Stephen Lay lived 
north of Shelbyville, and J. B. Marmaduke south of town and across 
Black creek, and south also of the fair ground. In Mr. Marmaduke's 
neighborhood, south of Black creek, and south-east of Shelbyville, in 
township 58, range 10, were James Graham, on the south-east quarter 
of section 34 ; James Swartz and Albert D. Smith, on section 35, east 
of Graham, and Elijah Pepper, on section 36, east of Swartz and 
Smith. All of these were along Black creek. 

West of Shelbyville, in township 58, range 11, two miles or more, 
Joe "West lived in 1837, on the Chinn branch, on section 25 — 58 — 11. 
Nearly eight miles west, on Sink branch, section 30, old Phil. Upton, 
the homicide, lived or had lived. .John Dunn settled on the north-west 
quarter of section 33, on German branch, five miles west, in 1836. 
William McMurry came to section 16, five miles north-west of Shel- 
byville in 1842. Thomas S. Priest and M. J. Priest came in about 
1836 to sections 21 and 28. Elijah Pollard was another settler who 
located in the western part of the township in about 1838 ; he gave 
his name to the well known Pollard's branch. 

After the settlers secured plows and teams strong enough to break 
the tough, stubborn sod of the prairies, those portions of this county 
became very popular for the purposes of settlement, and many of the 
farms in Black Creek township were then opened. The greater por- 
tion of the land in the township being prairie accounts for the many 
fine farms therein. The first settlers sought to use the prairies for 
pastures, but could not do so very successfully because of the preva- 
lence of flies. 

Flies were an intolerable pest for many years — up to 1848 or 
1850. The prairies were full of them, and it was as much as a 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



885 



horse's life was worth to venture through a stretch of prairie in 
daylight in the summer. The great green-head flies would rise up 
from the grass and settle on the poor horse in such vast swarms, and 
attack him so ravenously, that the animal would be in real danger of 
being bitten to death, and often was driven quite frantic. For this 
reason, frequently, travel on horseback or with a team was performed 
after night. 

TIGER FORK TOWNSHIP. 

Tiger Fork township was one of the first settled and one of the 
first organized townships in Shelby county. Its first settlement was 
in 1832, and its original organization in about 1840. The date of the 
latter is uncertain as, singularly enough, the record is silent on the 

subject. 

Topographically the township is rough and unbroken, generally 
speaking, but some of the roughest tracks are regarded as the best. 
The numerous streams which pass through account for the broken 
character of the countr}^ in part. 

In the southern part of the township, near Miller's mill, there is 
some coal, but it is of an inferior quality and not very abundant or 
accessible. The bank has been worked in time past, but was never 
very profitable. 

The northern and north-eastern portions of the township are very 
broken, and for the most part composed of tracts of timber primeval 
and virgin. There is some very fine timber along the streams in this 
quarter. 

But in different portions of the township, in nearly every part, 
excellent farms are to be met with, and much good land is encountered. 
Occasionally also there are tracts of prairie, some of which have been 
improved but a few years. 

In township 58, range 9, were the first settlements in the township, 
and as the municipal township is composed of the greater part of 
this congressional township and all of township 59, range 9, it is 
proper to describe the early history by congressional. 

The following is a list of the first settlers in 58-9, or in the lower 
part of the township, information concerning which has been kindly 
furnished by Mr. Addison Lair and others. 



886 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



FIRST SETTLERS IN TOWNSHIP 58, RANGE 9. 



Names. 



Addison Lair 

Kobert Lair 

Robert Joiner .... 
Mrs. Caroline Looney . 
Oliver Latimore . . . . 
Alexander Buford . . . 
Mesiiack Vanlandingliam 
Stepiien Gupton . . . , 

Kindred Feltz 

Mrs. Temperance Gupton 
Cooper Kincaid . . . . 
Henry Louthan . . . . 
Jonathan Parsons . . . 



Date 



Jan., 1834 

<( 

March, 1883 
(I 

' (( 

(( 

1832 
i( 

1831 (?) 
1832 
183- 
1837 
1837 



Originally 
From. 



Kentucky 
(( 

Tennessee 
<( 

<< 

Kentucky 
(( 

N.Carolina 
Kentucky 

N. Carolina 
Kentucky 



Directly From 



Marion Co. 



Ralls Co. 
Marion Co. 



Where Settled, 



N. W. i sec. 6 

Section 6 
" 6 

" 6 

u 7 

" 7 

" 4 

" 9 
sec. 4, N. river 
Section 4 

" 9 

" 4 



Among the very first settlers of this township was James Turner, 
who built his cabin at the mouth of Tiger fork in the southern part 
of the township in 1833. He was a hunter and lived chiefly by 
his gun. 

In the neighborhood of Miller's mill, on Clear creek, in the south- 
western part of the township, the first settlers were Elisha Baldwin, 
Solomon Miller and George Gentry, all of whom came in an early 
day. Upon the death of Gentry's wife he removed from the countv. 
Two men named Howell and Carter located on section 12 — 58 — 9 
in 1840 ; both were Virginians. Soon after their location both died 
and their deaths were among the first of adults in the township. 

John Moss settled on section 11 — 58 — 9, in about 1837. The 
place is now known as the Nesbit farm. Joshua Hope came to section 
4, at an early day, and built a horse mill, which was in operation 
in 1840. 

William Moffitt built a cabin 200 yards east of the present site of 
Mt. Zion Church (section 6) in about 1837, and there lived until his 
death. Mr. Moffitt was a school-teacher and a very useful citizen in 
the community; he had all the acquirements of Goldsmith's villao-e 
schoolmaster, for he acted as a sort of. clerk, drew up deeds and 
other legal papers, kept a pretty good stock of medicine and pre- 
scribed for the sick, taught school, and exhorted in religious meetings. 

Probably the first child born in this township was George Lair, a 
son of Robert Lair, who was born in 1834. He was one of the first 
children born in Shelby county. 

The first minister was Rev. William Fuqua, a Baptist, who came 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



887 



in about 1834, and first held services at Mrs. Caroline Looney's. 
Kev. M. Hurley was another pioneer preacher. 

The first church building erected was the Looney's Creek Church, 
a small log building put up by the citizens about the year 1837, and 
standing on the stream whose name it bore, upon the divisien of the 
Baptist^Church. The New School denomination held the church, and 
the Old School denomination, under the leadership of Rev. Henry 
Louthan, built the brick church building, which is still called Looney's 
Creek Church. The New School denomination afterward erected a 
building known as Mt. Zion Church. (See Chnrch History.) 

A hotse built by William Payne, Jr., on Alexander Buford's farm 
(section 7), was used for a school-house — probably the first in the 

township. 

The northern part of township 58 — 9 was organized into a school 
township in 1845 ; the first school was taught by Miss Sarah Strode. 

Probal)ly the first physicians who practiced in this section were Dr. 
Rio-o-s and Dr. Anthony Minter. The latter purchased the farm of 
Co'oper Kincaid, in section 4, in the year 1840. Dr. M. was originally 
from Virginia, but had lived a year at Oak Dale before coming to this 

township. 

The first mills resorted to were those at Palmyra and Hannibal, 
Peter Stice's mill at Bethel and Joshua Hope's horse mill on section 
4; the latter was built in 1840. Trading points were Palmyra, 
Hannibal, Shelbyville and Oak Dale. Money was very scarce, and 
the settlers traded beeswax, venison, hams, etc., for such merchandise 

as they needed. 

The early settlers say that upon the first settlement ot iiger 
Fork township timber was much , scarcer than it now is, not- 
withstanding the numerous improvements and clearings that have 
been made. Good timber land was very desirable and many settlers 
entered tracts at an early day which they could not now sell tor half 
of what the taxes have cost them. When the pioneers did not them- 
- selves own good timber, and wanted any, it was not considered very 
wrono- to cut what was wanted on the land owned by " Uncle Johnny 
CongTess," as the Government or Congress land was called. Many a 
fence was composed of rails made on " Uncle Johnny's " land. 

IN TOWNSHIP 59, RANGE 9. 

The first settlers in the upper part of Tiger Fork township, or in 
township 59, range 9, were Kemp Glasscock, who came from Virginia 
in 1837, to the north-east quarter of section 2(> ; Col. Elias Winchell, 

51 



888 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

who came from Massachusetts in 1838 to section 15 ; Chambers Rut- 
ter, who came from Kentucky, to the south line of section 17, in 1841 ; 
Sylvanus I. Bragg, who came from Kentucky, to the east half of sec- 
tion 23, in March, 1840; Thomas P. Lear, from Marion county to 
section 12, on the south bank of the Fabius, in 1838 ; Thomas Chiggett, 
from Kentucky to the south-west quarter of section 11, on the south 
bank of the Fabius, in 1838, where he built a dam and erected the 
mill which afterward bore his name. 

Other early settlers were Thomas Turner, Abel Turner, Edmond 
Eutter, John Stone and Elisha Moore, all of whom were here in 1840. 

William Hollyman settled on section 32 in about 1837 and died five 
years later. 

As to the settlement of Col. Elias Winchell, his son, Homer H. 
Winchell, Esq., of Palmyra, Mo., says : — 

My father settled on section 15, township 57, range 9, in Shelby 
county, Mo., and in March, A. D. 1838, entered 560 acres of land, 
and built a double, two-story, unhewn log dwelling, unchinked and 
without floors, doors or windows. The next month, April, the fam- 
ily moved in and occupied the dwelling. The nearest neighbors 
were Kemp Glasscock and Kindred Glasscock, two and three miles 
distant south-east. On the south there were no dwellings, I believe, 
north of Tiger, and on the west was Mr. Edmond Rutter, two-and-a- 
half miles oif on Tiger. On the north the only dwelling south of the 
Fabius was that of Mr. Thomas Claggett, who lived in a small log 
cabin on the hill, near the present bridge, and there were no other 
nearer neighbors. 

The same season a post-office was established at our house, and the 
name was called Greenfield, with father as postmaster. Afterwards, 
Greenfield, the county seat of Dade county, Mo,, was established, 
and the name of the Shelby county office changed to West Spring- 
field. 

The first school in the Winchell neighborhood was taught in the 
summer of 1838, at Mr. James Lear's on Tiger, five miles west of 
Greenfield, by Fannie M. Winchell, then 16 years of age, and now the 
wife of Col. Thomas L. Anderson, of Palmyra. Afterward the same 
school was taught by Miss Sarah M. Winchell, who became the wife 
of Judge John D. L. Dryden, and who died at Greenfield, April 21, 
A. D. 1845. Rensselaer Winchell, now of Boston, Mass., and his 
brother, Elisha B. Winchell, of Fresno, California, also taught the 
same school. 

At that time there was no underbrush in all that country. All was 
clear, clean, open prairie, or open woodland, through which the vision 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



889 



was unobstructed except by the trunks of tbe trees ; and from hill-top 
to hill-top could be seen an abundance of game at almost any time and 
in any direction. Deer and wild turkeys were killed in the yard, and 
it was not uncommon to see a herd of 30 deer gaily bounding on 
the hills or qnietly feeding in the valleys, unaccustomed to the pres- 
ence of men, and unsuspecting danger of any kind. Wolves were very 
abundant and were heard in lively chorus night after night, making 
splendid music, and occasionally charging upon the dogs and driving 
them up to the very door-steps. 

Probably the first minister in this township was Rev. Monroe, a 
Methodist, who held religious services at Mrs. Mary Glasscock's, in 
1839. Rev. Green preached the first sermon in the Bragg school after 
it was built in 1841. Other early preachers were Revs. Turner, Creath 
and Hatchett. The first regular church building attended by the people 
of the northern portion of Tiger Fork township was Asbury Chapel, 
just over the Lewis county line, which was built in 1853. A Baptist 
Church was built near by in 1855. 

The first school-house was built in 1841. It stood on section 23 
and was known as Bragg's school-house because of its nearness to the 
residence of S. I. Bragg. It was built by the citizens, of hewed logs, 
and was a good, substantial building. The first teacher in this school- 
house was R. B. Settle, in 1841. He had 25 or 30 pupils : the chil- 
dren of S. I. Bragg, Thomas Claggett, Hugh Anderson, Thomas Lear, 
William White and Harry White. Martin's school-house was built in 
Lewis county, in section 36, township 60, range 9, near the county 
line and near the Baptist and Methodist Churches mentioned above. 
This school-house was resorted to by many children living in the 
northern part of the township. 

The first physicians were Dr. A. G. Anderson and Dr. Anthony 
Minter. Dr. Anderson died in California in 1849. 

Tiger Fork township abounded in game at an early day, and in wild 
animals, too. The stream from which it took its name was called after 
the panthers killed by John Winnegan, as related on another page. 
The citizens termed them tigers. Bears were very numerous, especi- 
ally on Tiger. A large bear was killed on Looney's creek, near Mrs. 
Looney's in 1836. Addison Lair encountered one over on Tiger fork, 
but Bruin, after looking at him intently for a minute, turned contempt- 
uously away. New comers were often puzzled to see huge logs turned 
over in the woods, as if men had rolled them over with hand-spikes, 
until they ascertained that the bears did it to get at the bugs and 



890 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

larvae there to be found. Occasionally, but not often, the bears 
caught up a pig or two. 

At first wolves were very plenty and very savage. Quite often they 
chased the settlers' pigs into the dooryards, even in daylight. But 
after awhile the " hazel splitters " grew stout, strong, and almost as 
savage and dangerous as the wolves, and quite able to care for them- 
selves. When wolves attacked them the pigs and weaker hogs formed 
in the center of a ring, on the outside of which the boars, with their 
huge, sharp tusks, presented themselves in a wall almost as impreg- 
nable as a cordon of soldiers with bayonets. In a fair fight a boar 
would do up a huge gray wolf in a few seconds. 

Deer were of course plenty. An old hunter named Freeman once 
found the skeletons of two large bucks, whose antlers had become so 
tightly locked in a fight that they could not separate themselves, and 
they had starved to death. Freeman showed this sight to Addison 
Lair, who yet lives to tell of it. 

From 1837 to 1840 immigrants came in rather rapidly, and what 
were considered the most desirable locations were taken up. Then 
the hard times set in and but few came until in about 1848. Then for 
ten years the country gradually settled up to something near its 
present condition. During the war of course there was no improve- 
ment. The immigrants that came in for the most part did not bring 
their families with them, but rode on horseback, wore either blue or 
gray clothing and carried muskets, carbines and shot-guns. The 
leading incidents of the war in this township are recorded elsewhere. 

After the war there was a boom, and from 1866 to 1873. After- 
wards, whether from the effect of the panic or not can not well be 
stated, emigration ceased, and there has not been much since. 

Addison Lair built the first brick house in the township, in 1849. 
Rev. Henry Louthan built one about the same time. 




BIOGRAPHICAL. 



BLACK CREEK TOWNSHIP. 



tAeodore bethards 

( (Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Bethards, a brother-in-law to R. W. Douglass, Jr., whose 
sketch appears on a subsequent page of this work, was a son of 
Josiah Bethards, therein mentioned, who came to Shelby county 
from Maryland away back in 1832, among the first settlers of the 
county. His father entered a large body of land here and improved 
a good farm, where he lived a successful and respected life as a 
farmer and citizen, and died at a orood old aoe in 1875. His wife, 
who was a Miss Matilda Moore, also born and reared in Maryland, 
died the year before. Theodore was born on the farm in this county 
in the year of 1858, and was brought up to a farm life. 
He received a good common school education in the schools of the 
district, and in 1880 was married to Miss Nettie Fletcher, a daughter 
of A. F. Fletcher, an old resident of the county from Virginia. Mr. 
Bethards has a farm of 240 acres of fine second-bottom land, all 
fenced and otherwise well improved or in grass for stock purposes. 
He gives some attention to raising stock, and is one of the energetic 
young farmers of the township. 

CHRISTIAN F. BOETTCHER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

One of the old and wealthy citizens of Shelby county is the subject 
of the present sketch. Mr. Bcettcher has a farm of 1,000 acres, all 
improved and well stocked with cattle and other farm animals — and 
all the fruit of his own industry and intelligent management. He 
commenced for himself in life without a dollar, and made his start 
working at the gunsmith's trade. He was born in Clodra, Saxton 
Weimar, Germany, on the 20th day of March, 1817, and came to 
America in 1840. He first settled in Ohio, where he resided until 
1844, when he came to Missouri, and made his permanent 
home in Shelby county. He commenced working at Bethel for a 
"Religious Company," the leader of whom was a W. Cile, and after 
18 months' labor without compensation, he moved to Shelbvville and 

(891) 



892 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

resumed his trade of gunsmithing, then being $11 in debt. In 1873 
he located upon his farm. At Newport, Ohio, Mr. Boettcher was 
married to Miss Christina Wilckins. They have had six children, 
three of whom are living, namely : Frederick, John and Mar3^ Mr. 
Boettcher fattens for the market annually from 150 to 200 head of 
cattle and considerable other stock. He is one of the worthy and 
well respected old citizens of the county. 

SAMUEL F. BOWER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Bethel) . 

Mr. Bower is a brother to Theodore, August, and David Bower, 
whose sketches appears on another page of Mi is work, and was born 
in Pennsylvania on the 15th day of June, 1837. Nine years of age 
when the family came to Shelby county, he was reared in this county 
and learned the wheelwrig^ht's trade under his father. He worked in 
the shop with his father for about eight years. In his twenty- 
fourth year, in 1860, he was married to Miss Louisa Krous, formerly 
of Pennsylvania. Some four years prior to this, however, he had 
engaged in farming, and he continued farming in the vicinity of 
Bethel until 1861, when he went to California and from there on to 
Oregon. On the journey out he drove a mule team, making the trip 
overland, across the plains and through the mountains. Mr. Bower 
was on the Pacific coast about three years, and then returned in 1864. 
The home trip he made by way of Panama and New York. On his 
return he resumed farming in this vicinity. He has a good farm of 
250 acres and is in comfortable circumstances. Mr. and Mrs. Bower 
have 10 children: Elizabeth, Samuel, Rachel, Edward, August A., 
Christina, Lawrence, Louise, Liddy and Theodore. 

DONALD A. BRANT 

(Farmer, stock-raiser and Stock-breeder, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Brant, who has a good farm about one-half mile east of Shelby- 
ville, is making a specialty of breeding and raising for sale fine 
Norman horses, the line of industry in which he has been engaged for 
the past seven years. In common with a few other of the more intel- 
ligent and progressive farmers, he believes that the breeding of draft 
horses is becoming and is destined to be one of the most profitable 
branches of farm life to which one can give his attention. His experi- 
ence thus far has been such as to fully justify this opinion and he 
expects to enlarge his business in this line as rapidly as his circum- 
stances, without inconvenience, will allow. He is also raising a 
good grade of cattle and runs his farm in grass for stock purposes. 
Mr. Brant comes of an old North Missouri family. His parents, 
Mathias and Lf)uisa (Gillespie) Brant, settled in Marion county, from 
Kentucky at an early day. Donald A. was born in that county, four 
miles north of Palmyra, April 30, 1834. The father died when Donald 
A. was quite young, and in 1837 the mother came to Shelby county 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 893 

and entered a tract of 200 acres of land, about three-quarters of a 
mile from Shelbyville, where she had a house built and improved a 
farm, the same place on which Donald A. now resides. She subse- 
quently married George Macafee, but he survived his marriage only a 
few months. She resided on the farm until her death, Donald A. 
and Archibald M. conducting the farm after they grew up. The 
mother died in 1867. Archil)ald M. afterwards went to St. Louis and 
engaged in business, where he died after a residence there of about 
two years. In 1863 Donald A. went to Montana and engaged in 
mining at Virginia City, where he spent about three years. That was in 
the days of the vigilants of Montana, and he relates many interesting 
and thrilling anecdotes of his observations in the far North-west. 
Returning in 1866, Mr. Brant was married February 21, of the follow- 
ing February (1867), to Miss Sallie Baker, a daughter of George 
Baker, formerly of Boone county, Ky. After his return Mr. Brant 
resumed farming in this county, locating on the old homestead, where 
he has since continued to reside. In 1870 he erected a o^ood residence 
on a different site from the one occupied by the old homestead, which 
was burned, however, in the fall of 1883. Mr. Brant's place con- 
tains 200 acres and is one of the choice farms of the township. 

HENRY C. CARLISLE 

(Farmer aad Uuited States Claim Agent, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Carlisle was born in Frederick county, Va., December 8, 1839. 
His mother, Ellen Cresap, was from Maryland, while his father, 
Alexander Carlisle, was from Winchester, Frederick county, Va. 
John Carlisle, elder brother to Alexander, moved early to Kentucky, 
and his son is the present Speaker of the House. In 1842, Alexander 
Carlisle and his family came to Missouri and settled in the north-east 
corner of Shelby county, where he improved 640 acres of land, and 
was a successful farmer until his death, in July, 1869, aged 76. He 
was by trade a machinist and worked at it until he came to Missouri. 
He grew tobacco and raised stock. In politics Mr. Carlisle was form- 
erly a Whig ; when the war came on he sided with the South. He 
left a ftimily of three sons and one daughter: Daniel D., on the old 
homestead ; John L., at Shelbina ; Cornelia L., widow of Dr. Amos 
H. Baldwin and Henry C, the subject of this sketch. The latter was 
reared on the farm and taught the carpenter's trade. He worked at 
this until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted in the Union 
army, enlisting in the Thirteenth Missouri, afterwards consolidated 
with the Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantrj^ and First Missouri Engineers 
under Col, Smith. He went in as a private, but rapidly rose to the 
rank of lieutenant, which he held at the time of his discharge. He 
was a faithful and efficient soldier until the close of the war, seeing 
hard service and receiving three wounds. At Pittsburg Landing he 
was shot through the body by a musket ball and being taken prisoner 
at the same time, was treated by Confederate surgeons. He was dis- 
abled for four months. At Vicksburg Mr. Carlisle was slightly 



^^^ HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



wounded in he eft arm, and at the same place his right leg was so 
shattered below the knee that he barely escaped its loss. As'it is he 
w,ll feel the effects probably to his dying day. Soon after his dis! 
charge and return July 24, 1864, Mr. Cadisle married Miss Mary A. 
McMurtry, of fehelby county, daughter of Alexander and EmUy 
(McPherson) McMurtry. Mrs. C's father died in October, 1882, on^ 
ot the old and most honored citizens of the county. Mr. Ca^lis e 
set led on a farm of 320 acres, situated three miles west of tovvn but 
in 1877, being appomted United States Claim Agent, he established an 
office in town, where the greater part of his ti^ne is devoted to the 
u .es devolving on hini, though he carries on his farm at the same 
t^me. He IS also notary public. He has a family of eight childre^ • 
George, who is in his eighteenth year, Mary, Laura, Amos, En me t' 
Cornelia, Emma and Myrtle. Mr. Carlisle ^is a member of the G A 

Republic^':' '""'""'"^^ '' "^^"^'^^^•^- ''' P«^^^- ^^ - ^ ^traighi 

GEORGE F. CARMICHAEL 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

the'^Tu'bif ct^'f Thf^'''''''^ ^r?f ^'''''''' '^ ^^^'^ Creek township, 
the subject of the present sketch occupies a worthy position He 
like not a few of our better class of citizens, is a native of West ^rl 

femb'ei T850" ^vT^"^"," '""^'^^' ""^^^^ ^^^^ °" ^^^ ^^^^ d'y^f Jep_ 
tembei, 1850. When he was a youth about 16 years of" a-e his 
parents, Robert and Lucy A. (Louthan) Carmichaei: both of oTd'and 

1172 HeS^cL'^^'^F^^' ""r^"i t ^^^^^""^'^ --^ -^^^-^ -'^ Shelby 
county. He e George F. completed his adolescence, and after attain- 
mg his majority he engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own ace ou^ 
Wing been brought up a farmer. In 1882 he was marri d toZss 
Millie G. Zingle, a daughter of Thomas Zino-le, of this countv hnf 
formerly of Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Carmi?ha;i hay oi e cWM n 
infont Anna May. Mr. Carmichaei has continued fan^i J with 
industry and energy and has a good homestead of 164 acres mo t of 
which IS either in cultivation or pasturage. His improvemers ire 

M. E. Church South, and he is one of the directors in the church. 

JOSEPH CHICK 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Shelbyville). 
This highly esteemed old citizen of Shelby county came to Missouri 
when quite a young man, away back in the pioneer days of the fountry 
He has been a resident of Shelby county for nearly half rcen iry* 
and has been a w.tness of and an active, useful i^articipant n ^^ 
bmlding up of the county from the condition of a wilderness to that 
ttrof tl'mirSt f-«P---'/"^'gl^tened and progressivr^ommun ! 
ties ot the fifth State in the Union. He is rich in reminiscences of 
the past, which it is a delight to hear him relate. He very weU 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 895 

remembers when it was a common thing to pay the officiating clergy- 
man in coon and deer skins for marriage ceremonies, and as he him- 
self was young at that time and was married, here he is certainly a 
good witness in such cases. Years and years ago when he settled 
first in Callaway connty, but came to Shell)y county in 1849, moving 
on his present place, he introduced a wooden pin in a tree in his yard 
on which to hang a deer for convenience in dressing it, and the pin is 
still to be seen in the tree, but is about three feet higher up than it 
was when he put it there, showing that even a wooden pin has some 
idea of a home toward the skies. Mr. Chick is a native of Kentucky, 
born in Christian connty, in 1813. His father, Hardin Chick, was 
one of the first settlers of Kentucky, casting his fortune in that then 
wilderness of the savage away back in 1777, during the progress of 
the Revolutionary War. Mr. Chick's mother was a Miss Nancy Scates 
before her marriage to Hardin Chick. He was the youngest of their 
family of 14 children, two of whom came to Missouri. Mr. Chick 
came in 1830 and first located in Callaway county, where he entered 
land and improved a farm. January 7, 1847, he was married there 
to Miss Minerva Miller, a daughter of Abraham Miller, an early set- 
tler from Pennsylvania. Two years later Mr. Chick came to Shelby 
county, and has resided here ever since. He has a good farm of 220 
acres, and is comfortably situated. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Chick 
had the misfortune to lose his good wife by death. She had borne 
him four children: William B., who died in 1848, in infancy ; Joseph 
Warren, Worcester C. and Mary F. All those living are married, 
and Worcester C. resides on the farm with his father. Mr. Chick 
served a number of years as justice of the peace. 

JOHN S. CHINN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Married in 1858, Miss Mary Pickett, a daughter of James Pickett, 
deceased, one of the early settlers of this county, then became the 
wife of the subject of this sketch. The summers and winters and 
springs and autumns of near 26 years have come and gone since their 
happy union was consummated, and still each is spared to accompany 
the other down the stream of life. Mr. Chinn, himself, is a native of 
Kentucky, as is also his wife, and each was of an early family in this 
county. He was the second in the family of his parents, William S. 
and Lucy S. Chinn. His father died here in 1855 and had served as 
a member of the county court, being one of the highly respected and 
influential citizens and substantial, successful farmers of the county. 
The mother died in 1877. John S., the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Kentucky in 1830, to which State his father had come from 
Virginia when quite young and married. John S. was reared in 
Shelby county, and still makes this his home. He has a good place 
of 130 acres. Mr. and Mrs. C. have one child, namely, Charles. Mr. 
C, himself, was the eighth in a ftimily of ten children. He is a 



896 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

member of t 
tian Church. 



member of the A. F. and A. M. and he and wife belong to the Chris- 



WILLIAM T. COARD 

(Farmer, Stock-i'aiser, and Stock-dealer, Post-offlce, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Coard was a lad but six years of age when in 1835 his parents, 
William and Fannie (Gray) Coard, removed to Missouri with their 
family and settled in Shelby county. The father was a carpenter and 
ship builder by trade, but after his removal West did but little car- 
pentering, devoting himself mainly to farming. He entered land in 
this county and improved a good farm, where he lived in comparatively 
comfortable circumstances until his death. William T. Coard, born 
in Worcester county, Md., June 23, 1829, was principally reared in 
Shelby county, Mo., and was brought up to a farm life. In early 
manhood he engaged in farming on his own account, and later along 
began to raise stock, finally becoming a dealer in stock, and quite an 
extensive one. For years he handled cattle and mules in large 
numbers and on the whole with excellent results. Mr. Coard 
started out with but little or no means, but by industry and perse- 
verance, became and for years has held the position of one of the 
substantial property holders of this part of the county. His farm 
contains 600 acres, or rather 510, for 90 acres of his tract are not 
improved. It is a stock farm, well improved and mainly devoted to 
grass. His blue grass pasturage is not surpassed in the county. 
When he came on his place it was raw land, and he himself has made 
it what it is, one of the best stock farms in the township. Mr. Coard 
has been married twice. His first wife, formerly Miss Mary Shoe- 
maker, a daughter of Charles Shoemaker, originally of Virginia, died 
in 1856, leaving him one child, Charles W., now a married man. His 
second wife was a sister to his first wife, Miss Sarah Shoemaker. 
They have one child, Elizabeth, now the wife of J. W. Thompson. 
Mr. and Mrs. Coard and children are members of the M. E. Church 
South. 

CAPT. J. M. COLLIER 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, Shelbyville). 

One of the most influential and stanch men of the county is Capt. 
J. M. Collier. He was born in Jessamine county, Ky., on the 8th of 
November, 1823. His parents, William and Susan (Higbee) Collier, 
both natives of Kentucky, came to Missouri in 1827, and settled first 
at Fayette, in Howard county, and afterwards at Trenton, Grundy 
county, where he had contracted to build a court-house. Mr. Collier 
was a skilled brick mason and builder, and continued this trade until 
his death, about eight years since. His wife is still living at Trenton. 
J. M. Collier was one of a family of 13 children, of whom nine are 
living. He devoted his time during his boyhood between the home 
place, in Fayette, and his sister's, in Knox county, and acquired quite 
a reputation as a hunter. He married, February 15, 1841, when he 
was but 18 years of age. Miss Catherine, daughter of James and 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 897 

Deziah (Blackford) Gooch, and went at once to Trenton to assist his 
father with the court-house. When it was completed he, after doing 
some work at LaGrange, in Lewis county, settled at Shelbyville, and 
worked at his trade until 1849. The next few years were occupied in 
making three trips to California. The second proved very profitable, 
and he went once more, but the last visit was cut short by the break- 
ing out of the war between the North and the South. He came home 
at once and joined Co. A, Eleventh Missouri State Militia and was elected 
captain. Resigning, he raised a new company and was mustered into the 
Eleventh Regiment Missouri Cavalry Volunteers, June, 1883. He was 
a gallant and eflScient soldier and held the rank of captain until the war 
closed. He was then made deputy sherift' and in 1866 was elected 
sheriff, holding the office two terms. In 1871 Capt. Collier started 
his present business, putting it in charge of his son. The following 
year he joined him and now carries on as fine a stock of goods as any 
in the county. He does a large and flourishing trade and is one of 
the first business men in the township. He owns a large amount of 
real estate in the town and has also a farm in the county. He is a 
Mason, a member of the G. A. R. and was first commander of Shel- 
byville Post No. 102. Mr. Collier takes no special interest in politics, 
but his preference is for the Republican party. He has been of late 
years almost an invalid. His lower limbs were partially paralyzed 
and he is compelled to use two canes in walking, even at times a 
crutch. Mr. C. has held many offices, testifying to the esteem of his 
fellow-citizens. He has been mayor, etc., etc. He has a family of 
five children: Richard, Edward, Mary Susan, wife of H. G. Miller; 
Sarah Catherine, wife of O. P. Robinson ; and Laura, wife of M. E. 
McMasters. They are members of the Christian Church. 

J. T. COOPER 

(Of Cooper & Dimmitt, Bankers, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Cooper, one of the most highly respected and influential citi- 
zens of Shelb}^ county, and one of its leading property holdei-s and 
business men, a man whose name all over the county stands for solidity, 
high character and personal worth, has risen to his present envia!)le 
position in life, a position he has long and honorably filled, solely by 
his own exertions and native good sense and honesty. He had no bet- 
ter opportunities than the least favored of boys and young men when 
he started out. He was without a dollar, without backing of any sort, 
and, like most of the young men of those days, was far from having 
a fancy, polished education. In fact, he learned the saddle and 
harness-maker's trade and had just twenty-five cents in his pocket, 
no more and no less, as the sum total of his worldly wealth, when he 
arrived at Paris, in Monroe county, in 1842, to lay the foundation of 
his fortune. He worked at his trade at that place for four years and 
then came to Shelbyville, where he established his first shop. From 
that time to this he has run a shop at this place. But while his sad- 
dle and harness business has grown greatly in importance during this 



898 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

time, he has also devoted himself to other pursuits, and by his industry^ 
enterprise and clear-headed, vigorous management, has prospered 
abundantly in all of them. Going to work at Shelby ville on his 
arrival here in 1846 with a determination to succeed, he soon built up 
a large business, and vigorously pushed it for all it was worth. It is 
needless to say that he made money. During 1850 and 1860 he is said 
to have had one of the largest and most profitable saddlery and har- 
ness establishments at any interior town in North Missouri. He also 
bought a tine body of 1,000 acres of land seven miles west of Shelby- 
ville, where he improved a handsome farm. There he engaged quite 
extensively in raising stock, particularly mules, his annual fold aver- 
aging from 75 to 100 head. This farm and the stock business, after 
his three sons became old enough to take charge of it, he turned over 
to them, building each of them a commodious residence which he 
furnished neatly, and establishing them comfortably in life. Mean- 
while, he turned his attention to his saddle and harness business, 
dealing, however, at the same time in real estate to some extent. In 
1858 he established a branch saddle and harness house at Shelbina, 
which he had carried on with success for about 10 years, when, his build- 
ing there being destroyed by lire, he discontinued the business. From 
time to time he has built numerous dwellings and liusiness houses at 
Shelbyville, and bought and sold town property. He still owns con- 
siderable of this class of property. In 1874 he was largely instru- 
mental in establishing the Shelby County Savings Bank, a joint stock 
institution, of which he was made president, and which had a pros- 
perous career of several years. He and his present partner, Mr. 
Dimmitt, then bought up the stock and converted the Savings Bank 
into the present private banking institution of Cooper & Dimmitt. 
Since he engaged in the banking business Mr. Cooper has given the 
interests of the bank his personal attention, and has had a manager, 
Mr. Zulies Ritter, in charge of his saddlery and harness business, his 
establishment still being the leading one in this line in the county. 
Mr. Cooper is also a member of the firm of Dimmitt (W. A.) & 
Cooper, dealers in carriages, etc., at this place. The banking house 
with which he is connected is well known throughout Shelby and in 
neighboring counties, as well as in banking circles all over the State, 
as one of the safest, soundest banking houses in North Missouri. 
There are many whose capitals are larger and which do a larger busi- 
ness, but for careful, conservative management and prompt, efficient 
discharge of business, it enjoys an unusually enviable reputation. 
Thoroughly sound and solid financially, a greater guarantee, still, than 
this for stability, is the high character of the men it represents, men 
whose records for a lifetime stand out a pledge for all that is honorable, 
high minded and upright in the affairs of life. Mr. Cooper was l^orn in 
Scott county, Ky., September 1, 1817, and was a son of Samuel and Jane 
(Tarlton) Cooper, both also natives of that State. The former died 
when his son was 12 months old. Reared in Fayette county, where 
his parents removed when he was quite young, he served an appren- 
ticeship of six years at the saddle and harness-maker's trade and came 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 899 

to Paris, in Monroe county, in 1842, as stated above. September 6, 
1848, he was married to Miss Frances Shambough, formerly of Caro- 
line county, Va. She survived her marriage but nine years, dying in 
the fall of 1857. She lett three sons: Alonzo, John H. and David 
L. These are all married and are residing on their respective farms 
already referred to. 

JOHN D. COPENHAUER 

(Farmer and Blacksmith, Shelby ville). 

Mr. Copenhauer has a good farm of 180 a<3res a half mile from 
town, and has his blacksmith shop in town, both of which he is run- 
ing and with excellent success. An old citizen of the community, he 
is well and favorably known by the people both as a mechanic and 
neighbor, and is respected and esteemed by all. He was born in Vir- 
ginia in 1845, and was a son of George W. and Rebecca (Piper) 
Copeidiauer, the former of whom died in 1883 and the latter in 1871. 
John D. was reared in Virginia, and when quite a young man learned 
the blacksmith's trade. In 1868 he was married to Miss Virginia 
Cooper, and three years afterwards removed to Missouri, locating at 
Shelby ville, where he has since resided and run a shop. A resident 
of this place for the last 13 j'^ears, his success in business has been 
more than ordinarily gratifying. He is now one of the substantial 
men of the place. His first wife died in 1884, and the following year 
he was married to Miss Melissie H. Powell. Mr. Copanhauer has a 
good home and is already comfortably situated in life. 

JOHN D. DALE 

(Circuit Clerk and Eecorder, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. Dale was born and reared in Shel})y countj^, and his record is 
therefore well known to the people who have entrusted him wnth the 
duties and responsibilities of one of the most important offices in the 
county. In any worthy, respectable community, two primary essen- 
tial qualifications are required of an official in a pul>lic position — 
capacity and honesty, the qualifications which Jefferson always 
inquired into. That one has these qualifications for a responsible 
office is a matter of not a little credit. But that, in addition to these, 
that he should have those qualities which make one admired and 
popular, and distinguish him from among others by the good opin- 
ions of the community, is commendatory in no ordinary degree, 
both personally and as a citizen, in the business and other affairs of life. 
Mr. Dale's opportunities have been no better than those of the general 
run of boys and young men in the county. But by improving such 
opportunities as he had to the best advantage, and by observing at all 
times an irreproachable line of conduct, as well as by showing an 
accommodating disposition and making himself agreeable and pleasant 
to those around him, he has succeeded not only in fitting himself well 
for the business duties and responsibilities of life, but in winning the 



900 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

respect and esteem of all who know him. Such men make efficient 
and popular public officials and invariably rise to prominence and 
success. Mr. Dale was born near Shelbyville,in this county, Septem- 
ber 5, 1858, and was a son of Isaac Dale and wife, a Miss Margaret 
Dennis before her marriage, both natives of Maryland. They came 
to Missouri in 1854 and settled on a farm in Shelby county, near 
Shelbyville. In 1861 they removed to Clarence, where the father 
engaged in merchandising, a business he followed at that place until 
his death. He died August 36, 1878. The mother died September 1, 
two years before. They left a family of sev^en children : Hiram, 
William, Jesse, Rufus-, John D., Charlotte, now Mrs. Charles Court- 
ney ; Rebecca, now Mrs. John Hainline, of Vernon county ; and Caro- 
line, now Mrs. James Stacy. John D. Dale was educated at Clarence 
and in the Methodist Academy at Shelbj'ville. The practical business 
of m -rchandising he learned in his father's store, and he and his 
brother Rufus were, for nearly a year before his father's death, partners 
with him in business under the tirm name of Dale & Sons. After 
the father's death they closed up their business, and John D. and his 
brother Rufus went to Las Vegas, N. M. John D., however, soon 
returned and engaged in the grocery business at Clarence. He had 
previously been in this business for two years. After his return he 
continued to trade in the grocery line until 1880, when he was elected 
constable of the township. He then closed out his grocery store, and 
after serving two years as constable, such was his popularity and 
acquaintance over the county that he was nominated and elected cir- 
cuit clerk and recorder, the position he now holds. Mr. Dale has the 
reputation of being a capable, efficient officer, and is personally very 
popular throughout the county. He is frequently commended by the 
court and the bar for the expedition and correctness with which he dis- 
patches business, and the neatness and system of his manner of keep- 
ing the records of his office. By the public at large his official record 
is warmly endorsed. May 15, 1883, he was married to Miss Mary E. 
Priest, a daughter of Dr. A. G. Priest, of this county, a most estima- 
ble lady. They have just lost their only child, an infant, born March 
26, 1884. Mr. Dale is a member of the Masonic order and of the I. 
O. O. F. 

PHILIP DIMMITT, M. D. 

(Of Cooper & Diminitt, Bankers, Shelbyville). 

Dr. Dimmitt, who was for a number of years the leading physician 
of Shelby county, doing a large and lucrative practice for many years 
before he retired, and who has long been prominently identified with 
agricultural affiiirs of the county, is a native of the Blue Grass State, 
and was born in Washington county, Deceml)er 11, 1824. His father. 
Judge Walter B. Dimmitt, was one of the pioneer settlers of Marion 
county, Mo. He came to that county in about 1829, before the 
Government survej^s had been made, and pre-empted a large body of 
land. He became a leading farmer of the county. He was judge of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 901 

the county court and otherwise quite prominent in the affairs of the 
county. He died in 1849 in the fiftieth year of his age. He had been 
reared in Harrodsburof, Ky., and besides receiving a good practical 
education, had a number of years' experience as assistant in the county 
clerk's office. Aiterwards he acted as sheriff of his native county, 
Washington, of which Springfield is the county seat. The Dimmitts 
came to this country from England, l)ut they were originally from 
France. The family first settled in Maryland and then came to Ken- 
tuck3^ Judsfe Dimmitt was married in Kentuck}' in 1824 to Miss 
Louisa Houghes, a young lady of Irish descent, though her family 
had been settled in Kentucky for several generations. She survived 
the death of her husband until about 1872. There are four of their 
family of children living: Philip (the Doctor), John J., a wealthy 
citizen of Georgetown, Texas, William S., of Clarence, and Mary H., 
now the widow of George B. Moore, residing on the old homestead. 
Dr. Dimmitt was educated at Marion College, and at the age of 21 
began the study of medicine under Dr. J. H. Kibby of Palmyra. Sub- 
sequently he took a course at the Missouri Medical College, two 
terms, where he graduated in 1849. He also took a supplemental 
course in the St. Louis Medical College, and graduated there in 1852, 
after having practiced in the interims between his terms at college for 
about two years. He then resumed the practice at Monticello, in 
Lewis county, where he had commenced practicing in 1849, and con- 
tinued there until 1856, when he located at Boonville, in Cooper 
county. He practiced at Boonville for four years and then removed 
to Shelby county, locating on a farm about four miles north-east of 
Shelbyville, where he continued the practice for 14 years. Having 
a number of slaves whom he wished to have employed and not desir- 
ing to sell them or hire them out, he for that reason located on a 
farm. He followed farming and stock-raising, in connection with his 
practice, quite extensively, and was very successful in these lines also. 
He raised and sold large numbers of cattle. He still has two large 
farms, one of 800 acres and the other of 600 acres, devoted to grain 
growing and stock-raising, he superintending the former and his son, 
Prince, the latter. Dr. Dimmitt soon took a leading position in the 
practice of medicine in this county, and, until he voluntarily retired 
from the active work of the profession, stood at the head of the phy- 
sicians of the county. It had been his purpose to retire from the 
practice as soon as he was 50 years of age. Indeed, that was a 
pledge made to his wife, and this he faithfully kept, promptly retiring 
from the practice in 1874. On the 31st of January, 1850, Dv. Dim- 
mitt was married to Mrs. C F. Henderson, who had been left a widow 
by the death of her first husband, Adderson J. Henderson, whilst she 
was yet hardly more than a young girl. She was but 22 years of age 
when she became the wife of Dr. Dimmitt. They have been blessed 
with six children : Walter A., Frank, Prince, Marvin, Pope and Lee. 
In 1874 Dr. Dimmitt organized the Shelby County Savings Bank, of 
which he became cashier. Several years after this was converted into 
the banking house of Cooper & Dimmitt, which it has since continued. 



902 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

The business and standing of this bank have been fully spoken of in a 
sketch of Mr. Cooper, so that it would be only repeating to add any- 
thino- in regard to it here. Dr. Dinimitt is one of the leading and 
pul)lic-8pirited citizens of Shelby county, and is universally respected 
iind esteemed. Mrs. Dimmitt is a member of the M. E. Church 
South. 

W. A. DIMMITT 

(Merchant, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. Dimmitt, a large and influential dealer in general merchandise, 
has been in the business for about 11 years, and has us fine a 
trade as any man in the county. He was first in partnership with Mr. 
Dussair, but is now alone. He carries a $10,000 stock, his annual 
sales amounting to about $20,000. He also has a branch stock at 
Shelbina, in charge of Pope Dimmitt, his brother. This was started 
with a $2,000 stock in 1883. Mr. Dimmitt is a member of the firm 
of Dimmitt & Cooper, dealers in buggies, carriages, etc. They do an 
extensive business, buying by the car-load from Cincinnati and St. 
Louis. Mr. Dimmitt was born in Lewis county, Mo., at Monticello, 
November 22, 1850. He was the eldest of six sons, was educated at 
the public and high schools at Shelbyville, and at 17 began teaching 
school, farming in his leisure moments, continuing until he went into 
business. Mr. D. now lives on a farm of 500 acres, beautifully situated 
one and a half miles south of Shelbyville. He is paying much atten- 
tion to the breeding of short-horn cattle, having for sale a herd of 21 
breeders, the head of the herd being the celebrated bull. Marquis of 
Airdrie. He has also Poland-China and Jersey red hogs, and the im- 
ported Norman horse, Moridovi, valued at $2,000.00. Mr. Dimmitt 
owns a large store which he erected in addition to the three adjoining 
buildings in 1876. Mr. D. \Yas married June 4, 1872, to Miss Lizzie 
Vaughn, daughter of Wilson Vaughn, and has four sonis: Philip, aged 
10 years ; Walter, aged seven years ; Roy, aged five years ; and Joseph 
Bowles, aged two years. Mr. Dimmitt is not a member of any soci- 
ety, norhas he as yet connected himself with any church. 

PRINCE DIMMITT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Dimmitt is a son of Dr. Philip Dimmitt, of the banking firm of 
Cooper & Dimmitt, at Shelbyville, and was born while his parents were 
residents of Boonville, in Cooper county, his natal day being the 30th 
of Jul}^ 1860. The same year of his birth his parents removed to 
Shelby county and located on a farm in this county. He was there- 
fore reared in Shelby county. His education in the higher branches 
was acquitted in the High School of Shelbyville. Having a natural 
inclination for farm life, he chose the pursuits of agriculture, farming 
and handling stock, as the field of his activity, and since reaching his 
majority he has been engaged in farming and raising and dealing in 
stock in this county. Mr. Dimmitt, besides attending to the ordinary 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 903 

duties of his farm, handles about 140 head of cattle annually, and 
some mules in addition. A good judge of stock and full of energy 
and entei-pnse, he is rapidly coming to the front as a prominent stock 
man of the county, and has already achieved substantial success in 
this line of business. On the 17th of March, 1881, Mr. Dimmitt 
was married to Miss Cora E. Schofield, a daughter of Ellis Schofield, 
Esq., late of Palmyra, but now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. D. haye 
two children, Nora Lee and Edith Belle. A sketch of his father's 
famil}' has been given in the biography of Dr. Dimmitt, which appears 
elsewhere in this work. 

HENRY B. DINES 

(Editor and Proprietor of the Shelby Coimty Herald, Shelby ville). 

Mr. Dines, of the Herald, one of the leading newspapers of the 
county in circulation and influence, as well as in business prosperity 
and success, is justly entitled to no inconsiderable measure of credit 
for the enviable position his paper occupies among the better class of 
country journals in North-east Missouri. The paper was originally 
established by Willard & Childs in 1871, and had a precarious existence 
for several years, but was finally placed on a paying business basis. Up 
to 1876 it was Republican in politics, but after Hayes' election Mr. W. 
L. Willard, the editor, espoused the cause of the National Greenback 
party and succeeded in attracting a large following in this county. In 
1881, Mr. Willard haying become the proprietor of the office, Mr. 
Dines bought him out and has since been editor and sole proprietor. 
All who know anything of the newspapers of the county, and, indeed, 
of the country papers of this section of the State, will readily admit 
that the Herald is one of the best in the list both in a business point 
of view and in ability, editorially. Mr. Dines has continued the 
Greenback policy of the paper, and the cause it represents has 
suffered nothing, so ffir as the Herald is concerned, from any fault of 
his. Conducted with ability and superior business management before 
he took charge of it, the same characteristics haye distinguished its 
career not less since that time. In a word it is a paper, in every 
essential feature, in which he and his party, as well as the community 
at large, may justly feel no ordinary degree of pride. Mr. Dines him- 
self, is well known to the people of the county as one of its represen- 
tative and worthy citizens. He has been a resident of the county 
almost continuously from boyhood, and during all this time his life 
has been one of active and useful industry, and without a reproach. 
Mr. Dines is a native Missourian, born in Knox county, September 
24, 1844. His parents were John W. and Nancy (Murphy) Dines, 
worthy and respected residents of Shelby county. The Dines family 
is an old Maryland family, and is of English descent. Mr. Dines' 
mother was of Irish parentage. His parents were married in Clarke 
county, Mo., in 1843, and afterwards resided for some years in 
Knox county. In 1845, however, they located in Clarke county, 
where they made their home until 1857, when they came to 

52 



904 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Shelljy county. Mr. Dines, the father, is still living, one of the old 
und highly respected citizens of the county. He was for many years 
a local preacher in the M. E. Church, and has always taken an earn- 
est and active interest in church work and the cause of religion. 
Fanning has been his regular occupation, and in this he has had 
good success, having now, as old age begins to cast its shadows 
from the Eastern horizon of life, a comfortable competency for 
his remaining years. Henry Bascom Dines, the subject of this 
sketch, was the first in his parents' family of 10 children, and, 
like the others of the family, his early youth was spent on his 
father's farm, assisting at such work as he could do and attending 
the neighborhood schools. Later along he attended the Shelby 
High School, where he completed a curriculum of the higher branches. 
In 18G2 he enlisted in Co. B, under Capt. L. F. Carothers, of Maj. 
Johnson's battalion of the Second Enrolled Missouri Militia, and was 
in the service for about 12 months. After returning home from the 
army he engaged in teaching school until 1866, when he embarked 
in the retail dry goods business, which he followed for over 10 years. 
In the year 1879 he was admitted to the Shelbyville bar as a lawyer, 
since which time he has been quite successful in that profession. He 
has been a member of the lodge of Odd Fellows at this place since 
1871, and has represented the district in the Grand Lodge. On the 
15th of June, 1867, he was married to Miss Mattie L. Duncan, a 
daughter of John S. and Matilda (Lyne) Duncan, of this city. Mrs. 
Dines' father has been postmaster at this place for the last 18 years. 
Mr. and Mrs. D. have a family of six children, namely : Clara Etta, 
Nellie, John Benjamin, Flora May, Homer Duncan and Walter Wil- 
lard. Mr. and Mrs. Dines are both members of the M. E. Church, 
and active workers in the church. Mr. Dines has been superintendent 
of the Berean M. E. Sunday-school for the last 13 years. He 
has also always taken a public spirited interest in the affairs of the 
community and county. Though having little or no taste for official 
life or political advancement, he has nevertheless been prevailed on 
from time to time to accept one or two local offices. He has served 
as justice of the peace for about eight years, and was the first Mayor 
of Shelbyville after the reorganization under the city of the fourth- 
class law. During the present year he was a delegate to the National 
Greenback Convention at Indianapolis which nominated Gov. B. F, 
Butler for the presidency, and he is now supporting the redoubtable 
Benjamin for the first office in the nation, both by his personal advo- 
cacy and influence, and through the columns of his paper. The Herald 
also supports the Prohibition cause, and is recognized as one of the 
able organs of the Greenback party and the cause of Prohibition in 
this section of the State. 

LEONAED DOBBIN 

CEx-Circuit Clerk and Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Dobbin was of Irish-American parentage, and was born in New 
York on the 17th day of December, 1819. His father, Leonard Dob- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 905 

bin, Sr., came to America in about 1799, and being a machinist by 
trade, settled at New York City. He was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Hart, also originally from Ireland, afterwards continuing in New York 
for a number of years. Leonard, Jr., was reared in that State to the 
age of 16, when he came West as far as Indiana, spending al)ont five 
3^ears in the latter State. He with his then oldest brother came to 
Missouri in 1840 and entered land in Shelb}^ county. He was married 
here two 3^ears afterwards to Miss Mary J. Blackford, a daughter of 
Anthou}^ Blackford, formerly of Kentuck3^ Mr. Dobbin followed 
farming and bridge building up to the outbreak of the war, when he 
•enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantr}'^, Union army, under 
Gen. Prentiss. During the war he received severe injuries l)y a rail- 
road accident, and was accordingly honorably discharged on account 
of physical disability thus incurred. Eeturning home after his dis- 
charge, he was shortly elected county assessor, and two vears after- 
wards was re-elected to the same office. He was then elected circuit 
clerk, and afterwards re-elected to that office also. After the expira- 
tion of his second term as circuit clerk he retired to his farm, on which 
he has since resided, one mile south-west of Shelbyville, and has been 
engaged in farming and stock-raising. Mr. and Mrs. Dobbin have had 
10 children: Mary E., the wife of L. A. HajMvood ; Emma, the wife 
of W. W. Turpen, of Iowa ; John M., William H. and Laura V. being 
the only ones living. Mr. Dobbin's farm is one mile from Shelby- 
ville, contains 480 acres and is well improved, practically all of it 
being either in cultivation or pasturage. He is comfortably situated, 
and is living a quiet, retired life, respected and esteemed by all who 
know him. 

ROBERT W. DOUGLASS, JR. 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Early in life Mr. Douglass left Virginia, where he was reared, and 
for a time made his home in Indiana. After that, in 1859, he came to 
Missouri and located in Shelby county. Here he has since continued 
to reside, and during all this time, for a period of 25 years, has been 
engaged in farming. He started in life for himself with little or noth- 
ing and notwithstanding he has had some reverses, he has been fairly 
successful as a farmer. He has a good farm of 160 acres, one of the 
comfortable and valuable homesteads of the township. Mr. Douglass 
was married in this county in 1862 to Miss Adeline Beathards, a 
daughter of Josiah Beathards, an early settler of the county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Douglass have been blessed with 10 children, namely: Vir- 
ginia F., Walter, Robert, Charley, Thomas, Olive, William, Albert, 
Maggie and Melvin. Mr. Douglass, himself, was the youngest in a 
family of nine children, seven of whom are living, of Thomas D. and 
Jane (Pullins) Douglass, of Harrison county, Va., and was born in 
that county on the 15th day of January, 1834. He was raised in High- 
land county, Va., where his father removed at an early day. His 
father, a farmer of the county, died in 1874. Mr. Douglass has been 
a member of the Masonic Order since 1861. 



906 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

J. A. DOYLE 

(Dealer in Agricultural Implements of All Kinds, Shelbyville Mo.). 

Mr. Doyle was born September 1, 1853, in Saline county, Mo., 
near Marshall. Mr. B. G. Doyle, his father, was married to Miss 
Sarah Adkinson and continued to live in Saline county engaged in 
farming until his son was nearly grown, when he removed to Shelby- 
ville for the purpose of educating the rest of his large family of chil- 
dren. He remained here for some years when he went to Montana on 
a prospective tour. Mr. J. A. Doyle lived on his father's farm until 
he was 16, when he went to Shelbyville. He remained here for two 
years attending the high school of which his uncle, John W. Adkin- 
son, was the principal. He then returned to his father's farm for a 
year after which he spent two years more at school in Shelbyville, 
studying this time under Prof. Todd. Upon finishing his studies he 
entered into business in Shelbyville as a clerk. He was employed by 
several diti'erent firms at various times in Shelbyville, Mo., also in 
1877, clerking in Lusburg, Monroe county. Mo. In 1880 he vvent into 
business for himself in Shelbyville. He purchased the business of J. 
W. Ennis and dealt in hardware and agricultural implements until 
1882, when, transferring his stock of hardware to N. C. Miller, and 
purchasing the hitter's agricultural implements, he confined himself to 
the business he is at present engaged in, that of agricultural imple- 
ments of all kinds, alone. His stock is worth from $2,000 to $4,000, 
and embraces tools and implements of every description needed on a 
farm. He keeps on hand the favorite Buckeye reapers and mowers, 
and John Dunn plows. Mr. Doyle's popularity is great in Shelby- 
ville and the surrounding country, and as a consequence he has an 
extensive trade, doing business of over $10,000 annually. He has 
$1,200 invested in two town lots, upon one of which is erected the 
City Hotel. He has at times been city clerk and clerk of the school 
district. Mr. Doyle was married December 23, 1879, to Miss Ella 
Mitchell, daughter of the county clerk of Shelby county. They have 
two children, the eldest a daughter, named Ola, three years old, and 
the other an infant. Mr. Doyle's social status in his community is 
also fine. He is a member of the Masonic lodge No. 96, and has 
risen in the order to Master Mason. Politically Mr. Doyle is a Demo- 
crat, but has never held a political oflace. He is a member of the 
Methodist Church, but his wife continues a member of the Christian 
Church. 

LEVIN DUNCAN 

CFarmer, Post-ofBce, Shelbyville). 

At the age of 18 Mr. Duncan started out for himself, and learned 
the blacksmith's trade, at which he worked for about seven years. 
However, in the meantime, in 1836, he came to Shelby county, and 
entered land within a short distance from where he now resides. Here 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 907 



he carried on his trade for a time and also gave some attention to 
firmincr. Between his first settlement in Shelby county and the year 
1842, he made two trips to the South, but made this his permanent 
home For over 40 years past he has been engaged in farming and 
raisino- stock in a general way. By industry and close attention to 
his fanning interests, he has been satisfactorily successful, and has 
lono- since been in comfortable circumstances. He has a good tarm ot 
276'acres, which he improved by his own labor, and which is a good 
home On the 2d of March, 1842, he was married to Miss Irene 
Coard, a dauohter of AVilliam Coard, formerly of Maryland, mention 
of whom is made in a sketch of his son, William T., which precedes 
this Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have been blessed with a family of nine 
children, namely: William H., Sarah F., James G. (deceased), John 
M. (deceased), Alice V. (deceased), Harriet E., Martha E.( deceased , 
Dora I. and Levin L. Mr. Duncan himself is a native of Maryland 
born in Worcester county, July 31, 1814, and was a son of Milby and 
Sarah (White) Duncan. His father was a farmer by occupation and 
the son remained on the farm until he was 18 years ot age, when he 
started out for himself, as stated above. 

JOHN SANFORD DUNCAN 

(Postmaster, Sbelbyville) . 
For 17 years continuously Mr. Duncan has had charge of the post- 
office at Shelbyville, and for 43 years he has been one ot the respected 
and worthy citizens of the county. Now in the atternoon of life and 
soon to enter the ark of the evening horizon, he can look back over 
the past with the consoling reflection that if he has not made a high- 
sounding name in the world or accumulated a great fortune, he at least 
has mucli less to regret than most of those who have accomplished 
those objects of ambition, and for less to fear when the sun shall have 
forever set upon his earthly career. Mr. Duncan has not only made 
a o-ood postmaster, one whose record is approved both by the govern- 
ment authorities and the people, but he has made a good citizen, one 
whose life has been without reproach and of value to those ai;ound 
him Mr. Duncan was born in Nelson county, Ky., February i, i» ld. 
His parents were George and Nancy (Connelly) Demean both ongi- 
nallv from Viroinia. Reared in Kentucky, November 14, 1837 he 
was married to Miss Matilda Lyne, a daughter of Thomas and IVIary 
(Connelly) Lyne, of Woodford county. In 1840 he came to Mis- 
souri and settled in Shelby county in the spring of the followiug year. 
He improved a farm near Bacon Chapel and lived there for lb years 
in which time he served one year as county court justice. In 1857 ne 
came to Shelbyville and opened a boarding-house for the non-resident 
students attending the lustitute at this place. L-ater along he engaged 
in merchandising. In 1861 Mr. Duncan enlisted m the Missouri State 
Militia and held the office of commissary, serving for 18 "loiiths. 
About the close of the war he was appointed circuit clerk of Shelby 
county bv the Governor, and held that office for nearly two years. 1 ol- 



908 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

lowing this he was appointed postmaster by President Johnston, and 
has since continnously had charge of this office. Mr. and Mrs. Dnn- 
can have had 10 children: Thomas H., who died at 21, in 1857; 
Mary F., who died at the age of 20; Nancy C, who is now the 
wife of James Vanskike ; GeoVge S., Mattie L., now the wife of Mr. 
H. B. Dines ; Sallie M., now th"e wife of M. C. Miller ; John B., who 
died at the age of two years; Charles B., a jeweler now in Shelby- 
ville ; Lillie M., a music teacher in Shelby ville ; and Nora. Ella died 
when six months old. 

WILLIAM H. DUNCAN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

Sketches of both Mr. Duncan's father, Levin Duncan, and father- 
in-law, William O. Lowman, appear elsewhere in this volume, so 
that in the present biography of his family it is not necessary to go 
further back than his own birth and the births of the members of his 
own family. Mr. Duncan was born after his parents removed to this 
county, on the 9th day of December, 1842, Reared in thecounty, his 
educational advantages were limited to the common schools, where, 
however, he succeeded in obtaining a suificient knowledge of books 
for all the practical purposes of farm life. As elsewhere stated, his 
father is a farmer by occupation, a man of industry and energy, and 
William H. was therefore brought up on a farm and made familiar by 
daily labor with the duties of farm life. He thus, when he reached 
his majority, had formed those habits of industry and obtained that 
knowledge of farming which have since enabled him to place himself 
among the worthy, substantial farmers of the township. Li consonance 
with one of the first great laws of our nature, soon after reaching his 
majority, like the falling of ripened fruit, he was married on the 13th of 
March, 1864, to Miss Mary J. Lowman, a daughter of William O. 
Lowman, mentioned below. Mrs. Duncan is a lady of culture and 
refinement and was educated at Wesleyan Female Institute, in 
Angusta county, Va. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have been blessed with 
six children: William L., Virginia B., Charles B., Mattie W., Sallie 
I. and Mary M. Mr. and Mrs^, D. are members of the M. E. Church 
South. Mr. Duncan has a fine fiirm of 200 acres. 

SAMUEL F. DUNN 

(Farmer and Public Administrator, Shelbyville) . 

Samuel F. Dunn, a son of John and Elizabeth (Doak) Dunn, was 
born in Jessamine county, Ky., June 19, 1824, and the same year was 
brouo-ht by his parents to this State, who removed to Missouri in 1824 
and located near Roanoke, in wdiat was then Howard, but is now 
Randolph county. In 1832 they removed to Marion county and lived 
near Marion College for four years. They then settled six miles west 
of Shelbyville, where the father improved a farm. Subsequently he 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 909 

settled on a farm on Black Creek, and in 1866 removed to Shelbyville, 
where he resided until his death, the same year, in July. He was an 
enterprisins:, thorouirh-going stock-raiser, and a good business man, 
and was quite successful in life, accumulating a handsome fortune. 
He owned a large amount of real estate, and before the War had a 
number of slaves. He was one of the leading stock men of the 
county. He was a man of fine intelligence and wide general infor- 
mation, and was a thoroughly public spirited citizen. He took quite 
an interest in politics and served as a member of the county court for 
some years. Before the war he was a Whig, and during the war a 
Union man, but never an Abolitionist. After the war he was a Eepub- 
lican until his death. He had a large family of children. Samuel F. 
Dunn was reared on the farm, and June 1, 1848, was married to Miss 
Julia A. Pollard, formerly of Jessamine county, Ky. After his mar- 
riage he settled on a part of the old Black Creek homestead tract of 
land, where he resided and engaged in farming and raising stock until 
1871. In 1870 he was elected sheritf of the county, which office he 
filled for two years, moving to Shelbyville in 1871. In 1874 he 
en2:a2:ed in merchandisino;. In 1880 Mr. Dunn was elected public ad- 
ministrator of the county, and still holds that office, this being a four 
years' term. Prior to being elected sheriff he had filled the office of 
justice of the peace for 12 years. Mr. and Mrs. D. have had seven 
children, but three of whom are living: Ella I., Julia A., now Mrs. 
A. B. Erwin, of Clarence, and Edgar P. William F., the eldest, died 
at the age of 35 in 1884; Frances E, F., the third child, died at the 
age of 17 ; Jessie died at the age of 21, and George S. was accidently 
drowned in the Salt river at the age of 16. Mr. and Mrs. Dunn are 
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, his father being an 
earnest member of the Old School Presbyterian Church for years, 
and he himself has been an elder in the church for the last 17 years. 

JAMES L. DUNN 

(Liveryman, Ex-Assessor and Next Sheriff of Slielbj' County, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Dunn, one of the well-known and popular citizens of Shelby 
county, is a native Missourian, born in Howard county on the 26th 
day of August, 1826. His parents, James and Martha (Morrison) 
Dunn, were early settlers of that county, removing there from Ken- 
tucky away back in 1820. His father died there in 1862, and his 
mother in 1857. They were highly respected residents of the county and 
his father was an energetic and well-to-do farmer. James L. was reared 
in Howard county, and subsequently resided in different counties in 
this State and in the State of Louisiana. He returned from Louisiana 
in 1866, and after six years' residence in Ralls county came to Shelby 
county, where he has since made his home. Here he has been 
engaged in different lines of business, but principally in the stock busi- 
ness. He and his son are now in partnership in both the stock and 
livery business and have an excellent stable at Shelbyville, well sup- 
plied with handsome and serviceable vehicles of ditferent kinds and 



910 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

with first-class riding and driving stock. Their stable is justly popu- 
lar with the public, both local and transient. In 1879 Mr. Dunn was 
elected to the office of assessor of the county, and two years later he 
was re-elected to the same office. It is a fact recognized by all quali- 
fied to judge who know anything about it, that he made one of the 
best assessors the county ever had. He became a candidate for the 
office of sheriff, and was accordingly nominated at the primary elec- 
tion in June by a handsome majority. His nomination is equivalent 
to an election, for he is a Democrat and the Lord is always on the side 
of the Democratic nominees in Missouri. Mr. Dunn has been married 
twice. To his first wife, formerly Miss Charlotte Muldrow, a daughter 
of Andrew Muldrow, he was married in 1851. She died November 
15, 1869, and had borne him seven children, three of whom are living ; 
James A, Margaret L. and Lizzie. To his present wife Mr. Dunn 
was married in 1873. She was a Miss Lessie McAfee, a daughter of 
Samuel McAfee who resided in Texas. They have three children: 
Mary, John W. and an infant. Mr. D. is a prominent member of the 
A. F. and A. M. For a numl^er of years he has been quite extensively 
engaged in buying and shipping stock, in which he has had good 
success. 

P. B. DUNN 

(Attorney at Law and Notary Public, Shelby ville) . 

Mr. Dunn was born in the county, August 9, 1843, on a farm six 
miles west of town. He was educated at the public and high schools 
and was at Westminster College three years, graduating in 1864, after 
which he taught school for a year, meanwhile pursuing his law studies 
alone. In 1866 Mr. Dunn went to Louisville and entered the law 
school there, at which he graduated in a year's time. He then returned 
to Shelbyville, hung out his shingle and has ever since devoted his 
attention exclusively to his profession. He has acquired a liirge prac- 
tice in Shelby county, and his position at the bar is a most enviable 
one. Mr. Dunn has been notary public since 1871, and has also been 
engaged since 1877 in preparing a set of abstracts which are not yet 
complete. Mr. Dunn has a fine farm of 500 acres adjoining the town, 
which he cultivates, making his home meanwhile in the town, 
where he owns a beautiful residence. He is a married man, having 
led to the altar, January 9, 1873, Miss Clara H., daughter of Alexan- 
der McMurtry. She was born in this county June 8, 1849. There 
are by this marriage two children : Alexander McMurtry, born Octo- 
ber 18, 1873, and Preston B., born July 23, 1878. Mr. Dunn is not 
a member of any society, but has been for 10 years an elder in the 
Presbyterian Church, to which denomination his wife also belongs. 

J. C. DUSSAIR 

(Of Dussair & Leven, Dealers in Dry Goods and Groceries, Shelbyville). 

Among the representative business men of Shelbyville, the subject 
of the present sketch occupies an enviable position. A merchant at 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 911 

this place of long and successful experience, he has become wiclelj' and 
favorably known in the county as a substantial citizen and man of 
standing and influence. Mr. Dussair is a native of Germany, born at 
Berghofen, Prussia, January 10, 1845. His father was Jean Dussair, 
a Frenchman, on his father's side. In 1853, when John C. was a lad 
eight years of age, the family immigrated to the United States, dis- 
embarking at New Orleans. After stopping there a few months they 
went north and located at Quinc}^ 111., where they resided about two 
years. From Quincy, in 1856, they removed to Canton, Mo. The 
father was a cabinet-maker by trade, which he had followed continu- 
ously until settling at Canton. There he opened a furniture-house 
and cabinet-shop, carrying on both lines of the business until his 
death. He died in 1872. John C. Dussair, the subject of this sketch, 
was brought up to the cabinet-maker's trade and worked at it until 
the outbreak of the war. He then enlisted in the Twenty-first Mis- 
souri Infantry, Union service, under Col. Dave Moore, becoming a 
member of Co. K. Mr. Dussair served for three years and seven 
months in the array and was in 21 engagements, the first being the 
battle of Shiloh. He was in the Army of the Tennessee and on Bank's 
Red River campaign, being in the active service and at the front all the 
time. After the close of his service he returned to Canton and became 
his father's partner in business. On the 21st of February, 1867, 
Mr. Dussair was married to Miss Lettie A. Gunby, a daughter of 
James W. Gunby, a prominent merchant of Shclbyville. She was on 
a visit to Canton when Mr. Dussair met her, and their acquaintance 
soon ripened into ardent attachment, the consummation of which was 
their marriage. After his marriage Mr. Dussair sold his interest in 
business at Canton to his father and removed to Shelby ville. How- 
ever, he did not come to this place until the summer of 1868, being 
engaged at work in the carpenter's trade, in the meantime. After his 
removal to Shelbj ville he engaged as a clerk in the store of William 
E. Gunby & Co., and the following year bonght the interest of his 
father-in-law in the store. Since that time he lias been almost con- 
tinuously engaged in business at this place. The firm has undergone 
several chano;es durino- this time, but Mr. Dussair has been constantly 
selling goods, except for about a year when he was out of busmess, that 
being the only time he has been out since he came to this place. In 
1881 the firm of Dussair, Leven & Co., was organized, which was 
continued until 1884, when Mr. Willard, the third partner in the com- 
pany, retired, the firm becoming Dussair & Leven, as it at present 
stands. They occupy two large rooms, in one of which they carry 
their dry goods stock and in the other, groceries. They have one of 
the leading houses in these lines in the county and do an extensive 
business. Mr. Dussair is also director in the Staple company, and 
has been a member of the city council and is now city treasurer. He 
and Mr. C. B. Duncan also own a telegraph line to Shelbina, which 
Mr. Duncan operates. On the 12th of May, 1882, Mr. Dussair had 
the misfortune to lose his first wife. She left him three children : 
Lizzie, Paul and Artie. To his present wife Mr. Dussair was married 



912 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

March 17, 1883. She was the widow of S. C. Lewis, and a sister ta 
his first wife, her maiden name having been Miss Mary M. Gunby. 
She had a son nine years old when married to Mr. Dussair, whose 
name is Gny M. Lewis. Since their marriage a daughter, Anna K., 
has been born to them. 

JAMES EDELEN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. Edelen's father, George Edelen, originally from Kentucky, was 
afterwards a prominent merchant of Hannibal, and died therein 1843. 
James was only about four years of age at the time of his father's 
death, having been born in Warren, Marion county, in 1839. His 
mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Anna McElroy. There were 
but two children, the other being a sister, who is now the wife of John 
Terrill. James Edelen was reared in Marion county, but completed 
his education at Shelbyville, where he attended the high school. He 
subsequently engaged in farming, but later along began merchan- 
dising at Shelbyville in the dry goods line, being a partner in the firm 
of Sheetz & Edelen. He continued mer('handising at that place for 
about seven years, with good success. Disposing of his interest in 
the store, he resumed farming, and has since followed it in this county. 
Mr. Edelen has a handsome farm of 160 acres, more than ordinarily 
well improved. He has a good two-story frame dwelling and sub- 
stantial, neatly constructed out-buildings. All in all, his place is one 
of the neatest and most presentable farms in the township, as well as 
one of the best ones. On the 1st day of September, 1864, Mr. Ede- 
len was married to Miss Susan Sheetz, a daughter of Henry Sheetz. 
They have no children. Mr. E. is a Presbyterian and Mrs. Edelen is 
a member of the M. E. Church South. 

JOSHUA M. ENNIS 

(Sheriff and Collector, Shelbyville). 

Among the old and respected citizens of Shelby county, no one is 
better or more favorably known than the subject of the present sketch. 
For nearly half a century a resident of the county, Mr. Ennis has 
been one of its active and useful citizens from the beginning, and has 
been long and prominently identified with its public affairs. He has 
held the office of sheriff longer, perhaps, than any other man in the 
State, and has also served the people of the county as treasurer. Mr. 
Ennis is a worthy representative of one of the early families of Shelby 
county. His parents, Joseph and Mary Ennis, came here from 
Worcester county, Md., in 1837. His father was one of the first 
merchants of Shelbyville, there being but two other stores when he 
engaged in business at that place, namely: those of Holliday & 
Broughton and Hawkins & Bro. In 1839 his father built the brick 
house now known as the City Hotel, where he ran a hotel for a term of 
years. During this time he held the office of county treasurer for 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 913 

four years. Later along he settled on a farm adjoining Shelbyville, 
where he resided until near his death, one of the honored and esteemed 
citizens of the county. Joshua M. Ennis was born in Maryland August 
10, 1818, and received a good business education as he grew up in Wor- 
cester county. The year before his parents came to Missouri he 
started out in the world to seek his own fortune, although but 18 years 
of age. He went to New Orleans, clerking in a mercantile house, and, 
later along, to Arkansas, but learning that his parents had removed 
to Missouri, he came to this State and joined them in Shelby county. 
He clerked in the store for his father for several years and then 
assisted him in the county treasury. A young man of fine business 
qualifications, active, and unusually popular with all with whom he 
came in contact, in 1846 he made the race for sheriff against the old 
sheriff, Gilbert H. Edmonds, and was triumphantly elected. And 
again, in 1848, Mr. Ennis was a candidate for re-election for the 
office of sheriff and collector, his opponent being J. H. Forman, 
and was elected. In 1856, he was also a candidate, his opponent 
being E. L. Holliday, and was elected to the office of sherift' and 
collector. Mr. Ennis Avas again a candidate for re-election, without 
opposition, in 1858. In 1874, he was a candidate for county treas- 
urer, his opponent being A. B. Irwin, and was elected, and in 1876, 
he was a candidate for re-election, without opposition. In 1878, Mr. 
Ennis ran for sheriff and collector against F. M, Harrison on his 
second term, and was defeated by 139 votes, — the Tilden vote was 
made ruling and the ruling was not respected. In 1880, he was once 
more a candidate, his opponent being W. O. Huston, and was elected. 
Likewise in 1882, he was a candidate for re-election, his opponents 
being William Hope for the office of sheriff and Mr. F. Keith for 
the office of collector, beating them by about 750 votes each. In 
the year 1852 J. M. Ennis entered into partnership with A. McMur- 
try, selling goods, and continued until 1855. In 1865 he engaged 
in the stock business, buying and shipping to St. Louis, which he 
followed for about three years. In 1869 he opened a grocery store, 
which he conducted five years, and in 1875 he opened a hardware 
and agricultural house, which, in 1880, after his election, he sold 
out. On the 1st of March, 1883, he commenced the agricultural 
implement business under the firm name of J. M. Ennis & Son. 
This he is still carrying on, or, rather, his son has charge of it, and 
has made it a success. They have a good trade in their line and are 
doing an excellent business. Mr. Ennis has a good farm near Shel- 
byville, which he superintends, but he himself resides in town and 
has lived here since 1837. In July, 1847, Mr. Ennis was married to 
Miss Elizabeth J. Agee. They have six children: Mary, now Mrs. 
Dr. A. R. Noland, of Monroe City ; Charles, now in partnership with 
his father, and deputy sheriff of the county ; Lorena, at home, as are 
also Joseph, Ella and Grace. Another, William, the eldest, died at 
the age of 26, in 1874. Two others are deceased, Samuel and Eliza- 



914 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

beth, both at tender ages. Mr. Eiinis is a member of the Masonic 
order, and was 66 years old the 10th day of last August. 

JOHN N. EVANS 

("Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

One of the substantial farmers and well respected citizens of Black 
Creek township is the sul)ject of the present sketch. Mr. Evans is a 
representative of one of the early families of the county. His father, 
originally of Maryland, was a seafaring man and came from that 
State to Missouri in 1838. He settled in Shelby county, where he 
still resides, at an honored old age. His wife is still living, also, 
to accompany him on down the journey of life. She was a Miss 
Catherine Lingle before her marriage, also of Maryland, and they 
were married a number of years before removing to this State. 
John N. Evans, the third in their family of children, was born in 
Maryland, in 1833. Still a mere child when his parents came 
to Shelby county. Mo., he was reared on his father's farm in this 
county and, following the example of the latter, became a farmer him- 
self on reaching manhood. He followed farming with success here 
until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted in the Southern army 
and served for about a year. He then went to the West and was in 
the trans-, super- and cismontaue territories for some six years. 
Returning in 1868 he resumed farming in Shelby county, and two 
years later, in 1870, was married to Miss Mary E Moore, a daughter 
of William B. and Mary L. Moore, early settlers of this county 
Three children are the fruits of this union: Mary L., Catherine E. 
and Bessie F. Mr. Evans has a fine farm of 400 acres, mainly run in 
blue grass for stock purposes. Mrs. Evans* father was foreman of the 
first grand jury of Shelby county and died here in 1869. Her mother, 
however, is still living, at the age of 78. She was originally from 
Virginia, and was a daughter of Judge Foley, an intimate friend of 
Gen. Washington. She has in her possession an apothecary's scales, 
presented to her father by Washington. She also has a chair, inher- 
ited from her father, which belonged to his father in Ireland, and is 
nearly 200 years old. 

W. L. FLACK 

(Of the firm of Flack & Laws, Dealers in Boots, Shoes, Clothing, Hats, Caps, Furnish- 
ing Goods, Etc.). 

Mr. Flack was born in the City of Hereford, Herefordshire, En- 
gland, November 1, 1832, of William L. and Mary E. Fluck, which 
was the original name of the family. Mr. Flack was reared and 
learned the shoemakers' trade in his own country and worked at it 
for many years, or until the age of 21 years. He came to America 
in 1854 and lived for more than ten years in Cleveland and Willing- 
ton, Ohio. At the latter place he was married, September 14, 1855, 
to Miss Elizabeth Gwynne, a native of Wales, and soon after went to 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



915 



Michio-an, where he was for five years employed in the pineries. It 
was clurins this time that he changed his name to Flack. He also lost 
hfs rio-htlejj while in Michigan, "the result of an accident by which a 
heavy'^loo- rolled on it. Heathen returned to Ohio and resumed his 
shoeniiikmg and farming near Willington. In 1865 he moved to 
Missouri and bought a farm, but resides in the town of Shelby ville, 
where he has a lar^e stock of goods and runs a shop. Four years 
ao-o he went into partnership with Mr. J. L. Laws, under the firm 
name of Flack & Laws. His son, Lewis Flack, shortly after returned 
from Texas and connected himself Avith the firm, and the style of the 
firm is now Flacks & Laws. , They have a $4,000 stock and an exten- 
sive and growing trade. Mr. Flack is an enterprising and intelligent 
man and has the°entire respect of all who know him. He has a fam- 
ily of three children: Lewis G., Carrie A. and Blanche. Carrie is 
the wife of the partner in the firm, Mr. J. L. Laws. The latter was 
born June 8, 1857, in Shelby county. His father, John C. Laws, 
was formerly from Virginia, and came to this county in 1835. He 
was always a farmer. He died October 8, 1878, leaving two children, 
John L. and Laura, who keeps a millinery store at Shelbyville. John 
lived on his father's farm until his marriage, September 11, 1879, 
when he went into business with his wife's father. Mr. and Mrs. Laws 
have one child, Bessie J. Mr. Flack and wife are members of the 
Christian Church. He belongs to no secret order. 

JOSEPH H. FORMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Over 72 years ago Mr. Forman, then in infancy, was brought to 
Missouri by his parents, Thomas Forman and wife, whose maiden 
name was Sarah Hawkins, both originally from Virginia, and came 
thence to Kentucky in 1781, crossing over later along into Indiana, 
and from the latter State to Missouri, in 1812. Remaining in Mis- 
souri until 1818, the father sent the family back to Kentucky and 
went to Texas in 1811, while Texas was yet a State of Mexico, and, 
indeed, four years before the Cactus Republic had established its inde- 
pendence, being one of the first Americans to enter its territory, going 
there nearly 20 years before Sam Houston ever set foot Avithin its 
borders. Joseph H. Forman, the subject of this sketch, was born 
while his parents resided in Indiana, away back in 1811. He- was, 
therefore, only a year old when his parents came to New Madrid 
county. Mo. They subsequently went to Kentucky in 1818 and he 
was reared in that State from the age of seven. He became a farmer 
in Kentucky and followed that occupation there for a number of years. 
In 1838, however, he removed to Missouri, and finally settled in 
Shelby county. A man of great energy and more than ordinary 
intelligence and business ability, Mr. Forman soon became a success- 
ful aiid prominent citizen of this county. He became an extensive 
fiirmer and stock-raiser, as well as a large land holder, owning near 
three miles square of land, or about 1,800 acres. He was also sheriff 



916 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

of the county for a number of years, between 1861 and 1866. His 
land is mainly divided among his children, l)ut he still has a fine home- 
stead of 640 acres, which is v;ell and comfortably improved. Mr. 
Forman has been twice married. To his first wife, formerly Miss 
Irene West, he was married in 1837. She died in 1856, leaving him 
six children, four of whom are living: Charles B., Mary E., Samuel 
and Agnes U. The two deceased are Sarah and May. To his present 
wife he was married in 1857. She was a Miss Martha Lear, a daugh- 
ter of James Lear, one of the early settlers of Missouri from Kentucky. 
The}^ have had eight children : James, Adella, Ida, Beatrice, Josie, 
Kate, Ulysses and Emma J. Kate and Ulysses are twins. Mrs. 
Forman is a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

JAMES M. FREEMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Among the substantial farmers and self-made, energetic men of 
Black Creek township, the subject of the present sketch must be given 
a worthy place in the present volume. He is one of those sterling, 
resolute men who would succeed almost anywhere, but who, in a 
country fiivored like Shelby county, with rich soil, favorable seasons 
and good markets, never fail to achieve to abundant success. Mr. 
Freeman started out for himself at farm labor, at the rate of $12.00 
per month. From this, what would not be considered a hopeless be- 
ginning, he has steadily accumulated and prospered until he now has 
a fine farm of 700 acres, most of which is substantially improved, one 
of the choice farms of the township. Mr. Freeman was born in Mer- 
cer county, Ky., in 1825, and was a son of Bayless and Mary Free- 
man. They came to Missouri in 1839 and settled in Marion county, 
where the father improved a farm, and died eight years afterward. 
The mother died in 1863. James M., the eldest in a family of seven 
children, was reared in Marion county, and in 1850 went to California, 
crossing the plains, but returned three years afterwards by way of 
Panama and New Orleans. He then resumed farming in Marion 
county, to which he had been brought up, and in 1855 was married to 
Miss Nannie Blackford, a daughter of Harden Blackford, of Shelby 
county, and who settled in this county from Kentucky, in 1839. 
Subsequently Mr. Freeman removed to Shelby county, in 1855, 
where he has since resided. He is looked upon as one of the worthy 
farmers and respected citizens of this township. Mr. and Mrs. Free- 
man have had ten children, but six of whom are living, namely ; John 
W., Katie, James, Frank, Thomas and Cora. 

JAMES M. GENTRY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Among the old citizens'and leading agriculturalists of Shelby county, 
the subject of the present sketch occupies a justly enviable position. 
He was reared in the county, and by his high character and sterling 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 917 

worth has come to be regarded as one of the most highly esteemed 
and vahied citizens of the county. By industry and good manage- 
ment he has at the same time placed himself in easy circumstances, 
and is now a leading, substantial property holder. He has nearly 
1,000 acres of tine land, and_ in his homestead alone there are 720 
acres, it being one of the best improved places and most valuable stock 
farms in the county. All his improvements are of a suljstantial 
character and are well and neatly made. Mr. Gentry has long been 
engaged in raising stock and in dealing in it to a considerable extent. 
He handles about 130 head of cattle annuallj', besides several hundred 
sheep, a large number of hogs, and quite a lot of horses and other 
stock. Mr. Gentry's father, Jesse Gentry, a contractor and builder 
by occupation in early life, was a pioneer into Missouri, and built the 
first really respectable dwelling erected in St. Louis. It was the 
residence of Gov. Bates. Subsequently he came to Palmyra and 
there he built the first frame house put up in the town. In 1835, 
having married in the meantime, he entered land in Shelby county, 
to which he removed, where he improved a farm, and resided until 
his death. He died in 1862. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Miss Nancy Payne, died in 1839. She was related to the earl}'^ family 
of Paynes, for whom Paynesville, in Pike county, was named. James 
M. Gentry was but four years of age when his mother died, having 
been born on the 23d day of October, 1835, in Marion county. A 
year old when his parents removed to Shelby, he was brought up on a 
farm in this county. His education was received in the log school 
house of the period, and to obtain it he had the pedestrian exercise 
of walking five miles to school, or only ten miles a day, generally 
through the snow in the winter time and when the days were so short 
that they were nearly consumed in going and coming, and with play 
times and recesses. But still he obtained a good knowledge of books, 
quite sufficient for all practical purposes, for he has succeeded much 
better than the generality of the soft-fingered collegiates. Mr. Gen- 
try was married on the 8th day of November, 1860, to Mrs. Anna 
Thomas, formerly Miss Anna McDaniel, a daughter of Gideon Mc- 
Daniel, originally of Amherst county, Va. They have had seven 
children: Sophia L. (deceased), Thomas J., Jesse, Anna, William, 
Mattie and Hugh. Mr. Gentry, now comparatively a wealthy man 
among the farmers of the county, has made every dollar he is worth 
by his own exertions. 

JOHN W. GILLIS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

When Mr. Gillis' father, John Gillis, came to Shelby county, back 
in 1833, there were only about 15 families in the county, so that 
he may justly be said to have been one of its first settlers. His wife 
was a Miss Margaret Holliday, a daughter of Kichard Holliday, who 
came from Ireland to Virginia. His widow, Mrs. Nancy Holliday, 
subsequently came to this county. His mother is a sister to Judge 



918 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

W. J. Hollicliiy. Mr. Gillis' father died here in about 1834, but his 
mother is 8till living, at the advanced age of seventv-eight. John 
W. Gillis M'as yet in infancy when his parents removed to Shelby 
county, and was therefore reared in this county. In 1859 he was 
married to Miss Mary Buchanan, a daughter of George Buchanan, 
originally of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. G. have had three children, 
namel3^ : Sudie C, Georgia B., deceased, and David E. Mr. Gillis 
has a neat farm of 90 acres and gives some attention to raising stock. 
He himself was one of three children, but two of whom are living, 
the other being Anna M., now a widow. Mr. and Mrs. G. are mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church. 

CHRISTIAN P. GLAHN 

(Farmer, Post-ofRce, Leonard); 

Mr. Glahn is a native of the Fatherland beyond the Rhine, born in 
Prussia in 1839, and was a son of Christian Glahn, Sr., and wife, 
Mary Wand. His parents and family of children came to America 
in 1843 and settled in Marion county, where they made their perma- 
nent home. Christian P. was the third one of 12 children, eight of 
whom are living, and was reared-in Marion county. In 1862 he was 
married to Miss Susana Swigert, and two years later removed to 
Shelby county, wherp he engaged in farming, which he had previously 
followed. His first wife died a year after his removal to this county, 
and live years later he was married to Miss Mary W. Arnett. Seven 
children have followed this happy union, viz.: Benjamin F., Fannie, 
Christian P., Jr., Charles E., James O., Ernest and Mary F. Mr. 
Glahn, for 22 years, has been one of the hard-working, economical, 
intelligent farmers of Black Creek township, and the rich soil of his 
farm, favored with good seasons, has prospered him abundantly in 
the accumulation of the substantial comforts of life. He has a fine 
farm of 560 acres, all well improved, provided with every convenience 
and comfort for prosperous and contented farm life. He is a man of 
sterling character and generous, homelike hospitality, and is highly 
esteemed as a neighbor and citizen. He is a member of the Catholic 
Church, but his wife belongs to the Christian denomination. Mr. G. is 
a most successful raiser of corn and below are two extracts taken from 
the Herald: — 

SHELBY'S PRODUCTIONS. 

[ From the Herald, October 13, 1875.] 

Messrs. Wm. Kidge, I. N. Bouta and C. P. Glahn, were the only competitors for the 
$20 premium offered by the Fair Association for the best five acres of corn grown in 
Shelby county. The entries were made on or before the first day of September, and 
committees were appointed to examine and measure the corn designated. The com- 
mittees were instructed to make a careful measurement of the land, then to select a 
certain number of rows of average fruitfulness from which to gather the corn, which, 
when shucked and measured — counting three heaped half bushels to the bushel — 
should be considered the basis upon which to compute the yield of the entire piece. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 919 

The committees performed their duties and on Monday reported to the following 
effect : 

C. P. Glahn's piece averaged 129^ bushels per acre. 

I. N. Bonta's piece averaged 101 ^ bushels per acre. 

Wm. Ridge's piece averaged 82^ bushels per acre. 

Of course Mr. Glahn received the award ; and in this connection we will state that 
the committee appointed on Mr. G.'s entry, consisting of Messrs. Chenoweth, Perry 
and Noble, are regarded by all who know them as men of strict integrity, whose 
statements are fully reliable. 

[From the Herald, June 18, 1884.] 

We are informed that Mr. C. P. Glahn has the finest field of corn to be found in the 
county. It will be remembered that Mr. Glahn carried off the prize eight years ago, 
having raised on one acre 129i bushels of corn. From what we learn he will likely 
be entitled to the premium again this year. 

AUGUSTUS T. GLAHN 

(Farmer and Nurseryman, Post-offlce, Hager's Grove"). 

Born after his parents came to the United States from Prussia, Mr. 
Glahn is a native of Marion county, Mo., a brother to Christian P., 
whose sketch precedes this, and his birth was on the 17th day of No- 
vember, 1846. His father is still living in Marion county, where 
Augustus T. was reared and remained until 1866. He then came to 
Shelby county, but had previously begun life for himself. He became 
a farmer and nurseryman, more particularly a nurseryman, however, 
and has achieved good success in the raising of fruit trees and shrub- 
bery. Mr. Glahn has a place of 80 acres devoted partly to the nur- 
sery business, and has as tine an assortment of young trees, apples, 
peaches, pears, cherries, apricots, small fruits, etc., as are to be 
found in this entire section of country. He has a large nursery and 
an extensive trade in Shelby and adjoining counties. He also has a 
fine variety of flowers, evergreen and other shrubs. On February 19, 
1874, Mr. Glahn was married to Miss Sarah E. Patton, a daughter of 
John Patton, of this county. Mr. and Mrs. G. have three children : 
Ida May, Robert Rodney and Pearly Roy. Mr. and Mrs. G. are 
members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN GRAHAM 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Graham, one of the energetic, substantial farmers of Black 
Creek township, was born in Tyrone, Ireland, in the year 1836, and 
while still in infancy was brought to America by his parents, Robert 
and Mary (Simpson) Graham, who immigrated to the United States 
in 1839, and settled in Shelby county. Mo. John Graham was the 
sixth in his father's family of seven children, five of whom are living, 
and was reared in this county. In 1877 he was married to Miss Mar- 
tha Bond, a widow lady, and a daughter of Adam Nelson, formerly of 
Indiana. Meanwhile Mr. Graham had long before engaged in farm- 
ing for himself and had accumulated a comfortable property. He 
has since continued farming and also handles stock with success. He 

53 



920 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

has a good farm of nearly 300 acres, which he improved mainly by 
his own hard work. He is looked upon as one of the thorough-going, 
reliable and upright citizens of the township. Mrs. Graham is a 
member of the Baptist Church. 

WILLIAM GRAHAM 

i (Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelby ville). 

Mr. Graham's father's family mention has already been made in the 
sketch of John Graham, his brother. William, born in Tyrone county, 
Ireland, in 1831 , was eight years of age when his parents came to 
America and settled in Shelby county. That was an early day of Shelby 
county, and the country then was little more than a wilderness, the 
population was exceedingly sparse and school-houses by no means 
numerous. Young Graham, in common with the other youth of the 
county, had to go several miles to school and when they arrived there 
they found an old log stock-chimney, puncheon-floor rattle-trap of a 
building that would hardly be used now for a sheep house. The 
teachers, moreover, were nothing to brag of either, good, honest sort 
of pedagogues, they were certainly as honest as learned, which is not 
saying a volume for their qualities as contradistinguished from their 
qualifications. Indeed in sheer justice to them it must be said that 
their goodness as men far exceeded their learning as scholars. But 
nevertheless the youth of the county succeeded in getting education 
enough at these schools for all practical purposes, and judging by 
results, they have gotten along quite as well or better than the soft- 
fingered coUegiates of later times have done. After young Graham 
grew up he engaged in farming for himself and has become one of the 
successful agriculturists of the county. He has several good farms, 
aggregating more than a section of fine land in all and is in well-to-do 
circumstances. He handles considerable stock every year and finds 
this a profitable line of industry. In 1850 he crossed the plains and 
went to California, driving an ox team to the Pacific coast, and being 
on the road about four months. He was out there for six years, three 
years engaged in mining and the balance of the time in farming in the 
Sacramento Valley. He returned by the Panama route in 1856. 
Three years after his return, on the 5th of May, 1859, Mr. Graham 
was married to Miss Mary McCrosky, a daughter of Addison 
McCrosky, formerly of Virginia. He was killed in 1876 by a runaway 
team. Mr. and Mrs. Graham have had six children, viz. : William, who 
died in infancy; Robert A., Thomas S., John J., William T. and 
Mary B., the last dying also in infancy. Mrs. Graham is a member of 
the M. E. Church South. 

DAVID W. GRAHAM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 'E3 

With a o-ood place of 420 acres, most of which is under fence and 
either in active cultivation or pasturage, Mr. Graham, by his energy 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 921 

and success as a farmer and stock-raiser, has placed himself among the 
well-to-do agriculturists of Black Creek township. Mr. G. is a son 
of James Graham, who came from Ireland in about 1811, and located 
first at Philadelphia. Thence he removed to Virginia, and from there 
to Kentucky, where he was married in about 1820. Four children 
were born of this union, of whom David W. was the eldest, born in 
1821. In 1831 the family removed to Missouri, and after a residence 
of three years in Monroe county, settled in Shell)y county, where the 
father entered land and improved a good farm. He died here in 1876 
at a ripe and venerated old age. His wife had preceded him to the 
grave some 12 or 13 years. David W. was reared in this county and 
to hard work on the farm. Brought up in the country, he learued those 
habits of industry, sobriety and frugality which have proved his suc- 
cess in after life. He has a fine farm and is in comfortable circum- 
stances. Mr. Graham has never married, but it is as true of matrimony 
as of the remission of sins that, 

" That while the lamp holds out to burn, 
The vilest sinner may returu." 

JAMES GWYNN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Kirby). 

From the time of the Revolution the brave sons of England have 
been one of the most important factors in the progress of American 
civilization, first in settling the wildernesses of the Colonies, then 
fio-htino' gallantly the battles for Independence ; and afterwards in 
developing the material resources of the country, and, finally, in fight- 
ing like heroes for the preservation and the perpetuity of the Union. 
AU honor then to Englishmen, both in their own Imperial Isle of the 
Sea and on the boundless and liberty-consecrated shores of America. 
Among our truest and bravest and best citizens, Columbia ever extends 
the haiid of welcome to them in the land of Freedom and Independ- 
ence. Mr. Gwynn was born in 1838. When a lad seven years of age 
he was brought to this country by his parents, Benjamin and Minerva 
(James) Gwynn, who immigrated to the United States in 1845. 
Youno- Gwynn's youth from this on was spent in Ohio, and at the age 
of 2lTiii 1859, he came to Missouri, locating in Shelby county. He 
had been here less than two years when the cloud of death and destruc- 
tion, sano:uinary and lurid, burst upon the country raining fire and 
sword in its terrible course, and sweeping the land with all the sorrow 
and destruction of Civil War. The life of the Union was imperilled, 
the o-overnment, whose protecting segis had been the hope and refuge 
of the oppressed of all lands for generations, was endangered. Young 
Gwynn, as a faithful son of his' adopted country, heard but one call 
and knew but one duty — to rally to the defense of the flag of the 
Eepublic. Early in 1861 he enlistened in the Union army under Gen. 
Hulbert, and for nearly three years gallantly did his duty as a soldier 
of his adopted country. After his honorable return from the service, 



922 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

he eno^aged in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture, which he has since 
followed. In consonance with the great axiom of life that the brave 
always deserve the fair, he had provided himself with a wife, even 
while yet the war-cloud was the darkest and the cataclysm of death 
and destruction was still sweeping over the country. He was married 
in 1862 to Miss Jane E. Moses, who lived to guide him in the way of 
domestic life for some 11 years, but was at last stricken down by the 
fatal hand of death in the fall of 1873, She left him five children. 
He has since been twice married, having had the misfortune to lose 
also his second wife, whose maiden name was Miss Mary Hass. She 
died in 1881, leaving him two children. To his present wife, formerly 
Miss Alcinda Fletcher, he was married in 1883. Mr. Gwynn has a 
good farm of 160 acres, and is comfortably situated on his place. 

LEWIS GWYNN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelby ville). 

Mr. Gwynn, one of the sterling farmers and worthy citizens of Black 
Creek township, is a brother to James Gwynn, whose sketch precedes 
this, and was born in England in 1842. His father dying in 1846, his 
mother was afterwards married to Isaac Cobb, and in 1853 the family 
came to America, settling in Ohio. Lewis' early youth was spent on 
a farm in Ohio, and when in his twenty-third year, in 1865, he was 
married to Miss Lydia C. Perkins, a daughter of John Perkins, of that 
State. He continued farming in Ohio for some four years after his 
ma'rriage and then came to Missouri, locating on the farm where he 
now resides. Here he has a good place of 165 acres, comfortably 
improved and mainly devoted to grass for stock purposes. For the 
raising of colts and mules, Mr. Gwynn keeps a good horse of the 
Lucky breed, and also a fine jack. He has a good grade of cattle, 
and, in fact, is one of the enterprising farmers of the township. Mrs. 
Gwynn is a member of the church. 

JAIVIES C. HALE 

(Attorney at Law, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. Hale's father's family came to this county from Tennessee nearly 
40 years ago. They settled in the north-western part of the county, about 
15 miles from Shelbyville. The father, Lilburn Hale, was a farmer by 
occupation, and one of the substantial, highly respected citizens of the 
county. He lost his life during the war, being accidently shot by bush- 
whackers, April 2, 1862. He was on his way home from Shelbina, and 
had fallen into the company of a body of Federal soldiers, traveling 
the same road. He was riding by the side of Col. Lipscomb, the com- 
mander of the soldiers, when unexpectedly they were fired upon by 
bushwhackers, who were lying in ambush for the soldiers, which resulted 
in Mr. Hale's father and two of the soldiers being instantly killed, and 
three other soldiers being wounded, one of whom died soon afterwards. 
Although a Union man in principle, he had taken no part in the war, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 923 

and his death, therefore, was purely accidental. His widow is still 
living on the farm south of Shelbyville, where the family had settled 
previous to her husband's death. She is now in the seventy-first year 
of her age. Her youngest son, Lilburn S., has charge of the place. 
James C. Hale was born in Sullivan county, in Eastern Tennessee, 
August 7, 1838, and was therefore seven years of age when his parents 
came to Missouri. Reared on the farm in this county, he attended the 
county schools during the winter months until 1857, when he entered 
the Collegiate Institute of Shelbyville, where he took a course of 
instruction in the higher branches. He was preparing for the profes- 
sion of law, and in 1859 he began teaching, which he continued for 
about two years, reading law at the same time under John McAfee, 
Esq. Indeed, he began the study of law in 1859, and in 1861 he was 
admitted to the bar, while Judge Gilcrist Porter was circuit judge. 
December 17, of the same year, Mr. Hale was married to Miss Daisy T. 
Smith, a daughter of Chamues Smith, Esq., of Pike county. Mo. The 
following summer he resided at Louisiana, but came to Shelby county 
and engaged in business with Judge Foster at Shelbina. They were 
successfully engaged in merchandising at that place until the spring of 
1865, when Mr. Hale came to Shelbyville and began the practice of 
law at this place. He has since been continuously occupied with his 
practice, and has long held the position of one of the safe and suc- 
cessful attorneys at the Shelby county bar. However, it should be 
stated that he was out of the practice during a part of each of the 
years 1881 and 1882. During this time he was in Colorado occupied 
with mining interests. He still has valuable mining property out here, 
partially developed, which gives promise of profitable yields. Mr. Hale 
takes a public spirited interest in political and general aflfairs, and 
occupies a position of prominence in public matters. He is at present 
secretary of the County Democratic Central Committee. In 1872 he 
ran for prosecuting attorney of the county, but was defeated. He 
also ran for sheriff, in 1876, but was again unsuccessful. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hale have three children : Charley, Terrie and Harry. They 
have lost two. Mr. Hale is a prominent member of the Masonic 
order. 

LEW HAY WARD 

, (Deputy Circuit Clerk of Shelby CouQty, Shelbyville), 

Mr. Hay ward, a brave and faithful soldier of the Union during the 
late war, from its opening until its close, for the last 14 years has 
been equally as faithful as an assistant in the office of the circuit clerk, 
during all the changes through which that office has passed, as he was 
true as a soldier, and, withal, is conceded to be one of the most capable 
and popular deputy circuit clerks, if not the most capable and popular 
one, the county ever had. He was reared in Livingston county, and 
was a young man about 26 years of age when the war broke out. A 
Northerner by birth and an earnest adherent of the Union cause by 
conviction and sympathy, he promptly enlisted in the army under the 



924 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

old Flag, and became a member of the Eighth Iowa Infantry, under 
Gen. Curtiss. He served until the close of the war in the spring of 
1865, and, among other important battles, was in those of Shiloh, 
Corinth, Eureka, Vicksburg and Spanish Fort. After the war he 
returned to Livingston county, but four years later came t® Shelby- 
ville, where he has since resided. In 1870, August 1, he was married 
to Miss Mary E. Dobbin, a daughter of Leonard Dobbin, an old and 
respected citizen of the county. Mr. and Mrs. H. have five children : 
Lulu, Pearl, Emma, Charley and Cora. Mr. Hay ward has been sec- 
retary of the Fair Association for several years, and, as has been 
stated, has been deputy circuit clerk for the last 14 years. His father, 
William Hayward, was originally from Tennessee, l)ut afterwards 
lived in Indiana and came thence to Livingston county, Mo., in 1857. 
He died there in 1884, in his seventy-second year. Mr. Hayward's 
mother was a Miss Anna Shelton, before her marriage, a native of 
Ohio, born in 1810. She died in Livingston county in 1876. Mr. H. 
was the twelfth in a family of 15 children, all but one of whom (him- 
self) are now deceased. His brother, Rev. Henry Hayward, was a 
well known public man in Indiana, a member of the Legislature and 
State Senate, and held other positions of prominence, besides being a 
leading and eloquent minister of the Christian Church. Mr. Hay- 
ward, the subject of this sketch, learned the carpenter's trade in early 
life and followed that up to the outbreak of the war, having come to 
Livingston county in the meantime with his parents in 1857. 

JOHN J. HEWITT 

(Dru2;?ist and Dealer iu Clothing and Furnishing Goods, Shelbyville), 

Mr. Hewitt was born in the northern part of Shelby county, Feb- 
ruary 24, 1848. His parents, Samuel M. aiid Caroline (Morgan) 
Hewitt, were natives of Union county, Ky. They came to Missouri 
in 1835, and settled first in Marion county, but afterwards moved to 
Shelby county, entering a tract of 200 acres on Tiger creek, where 
Mr. H. farmed until his death in 1871. His wife still lives on the 
farm, her daughter, Missouri, wife of eJacob Curry, living with her. 
She has six other children: Russell J., resident of Utica Springs, 
Ark.; Samuel, living in Shelby county; Martin Luther, John J., 
Isabel, now Mrs. Frank Magruder, and Virginia, wife of John Howe, 
and living at Oakdale. There are deceased Elizabeth, Fannie and 
Hettie. John J. was reared on the farm and educated at the Shelby 
high school, under Prof. Adkinson. For the first eight years of his 
manhood he taught school in different places, and in 1876 entered the 
drug business, which he has continued up to the present time, carry- 
ing on in addition a large clothing and furnishing trade. Mr. Hewitt 
has always been deeply interested in the schools of the county, and 
was for one term school commissioner. He is still on the school 
board. Mr. Hewitt, though quite a young man, has won for himself 
a high place in the regard and esteem of his fellow-citizens, as a proof 
of which they elected him, a few months ago, to the honorable office 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



925 



of mayor of the town, a position he fills with n^^^^^/^'^gj^^y ^""5? 
ability. Mr. H. is a married man, having espoused. May dl, 1880, 
Miss Lillian Turner, the tair daughter of Holman Turner. Mrs. 
Hewitt was born in the county, August 15, 1860. They have two 
children, a lovely little daughter, called Esta, and an infant son 
unnamed. Mr. Hewitt is a member of the M. E. Church South. 
He belongs to no secret order. 

LUTHER G. HEWITT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelby ville). 
It was way back in 1836 that Mr. Hewitt's parents, Samuel and 
Caroline (Morgan) Hewitt, came from Kentucky to Missouri, ihey 
were married in 1829, and came to this new country to establish 
themselves in life. They first stopped in Marion county, but the 
father being a man of clear, keen intelligence, soon saw that Shelby 
was a much better county, as every one now understands and admits. 
In 1836 he therefore came over into this county, and made a perma- 
nent settlement here. A good farmer, he was at the same time a 
man of a marked literary turn of mind and was much given to read- 
ino- the better class of books. He therefore became a man of more 
th?n ordinary information and culture. He died here in 1871. iiis 
wife is still living, and is now in her seventy-fifth year Luther ^. 
inherited a fondness for books, and although his school advantages 
were no better than the average youth of the county, he succeeded 
in trettino- more than an average general English education. As 
schSol teaching afforded him better advantages than any other call- 
ino- to continue his studies, he became a teacher, and contmued teach- 
inS about 12 years. It is needless to say that he is a man of marked 
intellio-ence and more than ordinary information and culture. V\ eary- 
ino-, however, after awhile of school teaching, he turned his attention 
to^'farming, and has since been engaged in that occupation. He tias a 
o-ood farni of 160 acres, a pleasant, comfortable home, and is well 
situated in life. In 1873 Mr. Hewitt was married to Miss Laura V. 
McLeod, a daughter of John McLeod, formerly of Ohio. They have 
four children : Daisy B., Florence J., John M. and Libbie P. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hewitt are members of the Baptist Church. 

WILLIAM A. HUGHES 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 
Mr Huo-hes, one of the well-to-do farmers of Black Creek toNvn- 
ship, and Sue of its most highly respected citizens is V'P'^f ^'^^t?. 
of ak old family of pioneerl His grandfiither, Joseph Hughes, was 
one 0f the first pioneers of Kentucky, entering ^^e trackless savage. 
• haunted wilds of that region more than 20 years before ^t became a 
State, in about 1766, and several years before Daniel Bomie ever 
made a track in its wilderness. Mr. Hughes' father, John Hughes 
was born there, in what is now known as Jessamine county, as tai 



926 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

back as 1777, at a time when Boone was winning his fame in the same 
regions as a pioneer and Indian fighter. John Hughes grew up in the 
wilds of Kentucky and bore a brave part in clearing away its forests, 
no less than in driving out the treacherous, lurking and murderous 
red men who infested the country and made life by day and by night 
perilous to the early settlers. In the War of 1812 he became a gal- 
lant soldier of his country in the campaign of the North-west. He 
was married in Kentucky to Miss Elizabeth Perry, of another pioneer 
family of that State. In 1822 they became early settlers in Missouri, 
while yet the Indians were in this State, and all was still a forbidding 
wilderness. They settled in Boone county, where they lived until 
her death. She, however, preceded him to the grave by many years, 
and he was afterwards twice married, his second wife having been a 
Mrs. Jane E. West, a daughter of Joseph Miller, of Bourbon county, 
Ky., an old and wealthy family, and after her death his third wife 
was Mrs. Isabella Shambaugh, a daughter of Jacob Vannut, of Vir- 
ginia. In 1838 the father removed to Shelby county. Here the 
father died, in 1865, at the advanced age of 88, reaching to within 
two years the age of Daniel Boone. William A. Hughes was born 
in Boone county, Mo., on the 18th day of February, 1830. 
He was ei^ht years of age when his parents moved to Shelby county ; 
he was reared in this county and has since made it his permanent 
home. In 1860 he was married to Miss Mary E. Bowling, a 
daughter of Alexander Bowling, of Virginia. Farming has been Mr. 
Hughes' pursuit, combined with raising and handling stock, from 
early life, and he has been quite successful. He has a fine farm of 
320 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Hughes have but one child, a daughter, 
Miss Nellie E., now a young lady about 17 years of age and edu- 
cated at the High School of Shelbina. 

WILLIAM O. LOWMAN. 

(■Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

This old and respected citizen, whose life has l)een one of untiring 
industry and without reproach, not unrewarded by the substantial 
fruits of honest toil and economical, intelligent management, is by 
nativity a worthy son of the Old Dominion, where he first looked 
upon the light of day away back in 1815. He is now, therefore, in 
his seventieth year, but so correct and temperate has been his life 
and so well spent that he is still comparatively vigorous in health and 
his mind undimmed by the descending shadows of old age. His 
father, Bernard Lowman, was a Pennsylvanian, born 11 years before 
Liberty Bell at Philadelphia pealed forth the glad tidings of Inde- 
pendence. He early went to Virginia, after his marriage, however, to 
Miss Margaret Bell, a daughter of Peter Bell, of Maryland. He 
became a man of some consideration in Virginia and held the office 
of postmaster at Middlebrook for 40 years. He was the last post- 
master at that place appointed under Washington, and died in 1847. 
There was a family of eight children, six daughters and two sons, all 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 927 

of whom became heads of families, except one ; but all are now 
deceased except the subject of this sketch and a sister who never 
married. William O. Lowman, after he grew up, was married in 1835 
to Miss Sallie Eagon , a daughter of Samson Eagon . She lived to accom- 
pany him down the journey of life for 34 years, but at last was taken 
away by death in 1869. She had borne him four children, Samson B,, 
John B., who died in 1869, at the age of 27 ; Mary J., the wife of W. H. 
Duncan, and Elizabeth L., deceased. To his second wife, Mrs. Martha 
E. Gray, widow of E. L.Gray, deceased, and a daughter of Mark Gra- 
ham, he was married in 1872. She had eight children by her first 
husband, namely: M. J., W. K., M. L., D. G., James R., James 
A., Martha B., and Anna J., the last three preceding Anna J., and 
the first one, M. J., being deceased. Mr, and Mrs. Lowman are 
members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Lowman has a farm of 
130 acres, comfortably improved, and Mrs. L. has 616 acres of good 
land, apart of which is also improved. One of her sons, Marcus J., 
is a prominent minister of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Lowman 
raises some stock, and is one of the worthy farmers and respected 
citizens of the township. 

SAMSON B. LOWMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser and County Assessor, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. Lowman, a well known citizen of Shelby county, and as uni- 
versally respected as he is well known, is the son of William O. 
Lowman, whose sketch precedes this, and in which an outline of the 
family history has been given. Mr. Lowman's father carried on the 
tanning business for many years and Samson B., after he became old 
enough to work, was principally employed in the tan yard until he 
was about 17 years of age. Meanwhile, he of course attended such 
schools as were convenient and at these and by study at home succeeded 
in getting a very good general education. Indeed, especially apt in 
mathematics, he attained to a pretty thorough knowledge of the higher 
branches of that science, including surveying. From the age of 17 
afterwards his whole life has been occupied with farming pursuits, 
raising and growing and handling stock, except while employed with 
official duties. In 1856 he accompanied his father to Lewis county, 
from Virginia, and afterwards to Shelby county. He remained on 
the farm with his father until he was married in the fall of 1860, when 
Miss Mary E. Wilson became his wife. She was a daughter of Mat- 
thew Wilson, formerly of Virginia. He then settled on a farm with 
his own family and was successfully engaged in farming without inter- 
ruption until 1876. A man of good business qualifications and haying 
become a practical surveyor, as well as being a man of those qualities 
which enable one to form acquaintances rapidly and make warm friend- 
ships, he was nominated for the office of surveyor of the county, and 
was elected by a handsome majority. He then removed to Shelby- 
ville, not disposing of his farm, however, and resided there for four 
years. Meanwhile he had the misfortune to lose his wife, who died 



928 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

in 1877. In 1880 he was re-elected to the office of surveyor, but not- 
withstanding returned to his farm the same year. He has now been 
filling his present office for eight years, and from what we gather 
from the people generally he will continue to fill it for eight more if 
he desires to. Mr. Lowman has a fine farm of 300 acres, all well 
improved. In the spring of 1879 he was married to Miss Angie 
Bryan, a daughter of T. K. Bryan, Esq., of Chillicothe, an early 
settler and prominent citizen of Lewis connty. He was for over 20 
years county and circuit clerk of that county, and when a young man 
was an intimate friend and associate of Gen. Slack, the distinguished 
Union officer. Indeed, they were young bachelors together, and kept 
bachelor's hall with each other for several years. By his first wife 
Mr. Lowman has three children : Sallie, William and John. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lowman are members of the church. 

WILLIAM A. McCREADY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Kirby). 

The McCready family, of which the subject of the present sketch is 
a representative, came originally from Virginia. Mr. McCready's 
father, William McCready, was born in Loudoun county, of that State, 
in 1805. At the age of 19 he went to Kentucky and was there mar- 
ried, in 1831, to Miss Rebecca Dugan. Two years later, in 1833, 
they removed to Illinois, and settled in Hancock county, 40 miles 
east of Quincy, locating in Adams county in 1840. There were but 
three houses then in the present city of Quincy, the McCreadys being 
among the pioneer settlers of the country. They lived there for about 
33 years and came thence to Shelby county, Mo., in 1866. Here the 
mother died in 1880, at the age of 72, having been a member of 
the M. E. Church for 60 years. The father is still living. He was a 
man of marked intelligence and much general information, having 
always been a man fond of books and of an inquiring mind. He has 
always been something of a leader where he has resided, and is highly 
esteemed wherever known. William A. McCready, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Hancock county. 111., in 1836. In 1862 he and 
his brother, J. J. McCready, enlisted in the Union army and served 
under Gen. A. J. Smith, until September, 1865. He was in the army 
for three years, and took part in all the battles in which his command 
was enofao-ed. Prior to the war he was married to Miss Lettie J. 
Springsteen, of Illinois, but formerly of New York, their marriage 
beinff on the 6th of December, 1855. He came to Missouri with his 
father's family in 1866, or, rather, both families came at the same 
time, and has since been engaged in farming in this county. He has 
a good farm of 140 acres, one of the best small farms in the township. 
Mr. and Mrs. McCready have had a family of 10 children, namely : 
Katie, John, Charley (deceased), Wilbur F., Lulie, Jennie, Dickie, 
Jessie and Clide. Mr. McCready is a prominent member of the G. 
A. R., and he and wife are members of the M. E. Church. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 929 

JOHN Mcelroy 

(■Farmer, Post-office, Shelby ville} . 

Mr. McElroy's father, born in Kentucky in 1802, and one of the 
early settlers of Marion county, in this State, is still living, and is, 
perhaps, one of the best preserved old men in the State. He is still 
apparently as active and as vigorous in mind as he was 25 years ago, 
and now, in his eighty-thu"d year, thinks nothing of mounting a horse 
and riding a day's journey, 20 or 30 miles. His life, too, has been 
one of indefatigable industry, not to say extremely hard work and 
severe exposures. But blessed with a good physicial constitution and 
a cheerful mind, he has traveled the road of life through all the seasons 
and changes that have come, with courage and a hopeful disposition, 
and now at a time when all, or nearly all, of his former contemporaries 
have passed beyond the Western horizon of their earthly careers, and 
are seen no more, he is still comparatively hale and hearty among the 
living, bright in mind and hopeful, and with the prospect of more years 
to mingle with those around him of younger generations. To his first 
and only wife, formerly Miss Catherine McAfee, he was married in 
Marion county. She died in 1859. She was also originally from 
Kentucky. She had borne him six children, John, the subject of this 
sketch, being the eldest : and but two others are living. In early life, 
in Kentucky, he was engaged in merchandising, but in 1830 he came 
to Marion county. Mo., where he entered land and improved a large 
farm. His life afterwards was devoted mainly to farming. John 
McElroy was born on the farm in Marion county, July 6, 1836. After 
he grew up he was married to Miss Levina Blackwood, and he con- 
tinued to reside in Marion county until 1872, when he bought the 
prairie land where he now lives, and improved his farm in this county. 
He has a good place of 160 acres, devoted mainly to grass and for 
stock-raising purposes. He is one of the hard working, thorough- 
going farmers of the township, and one of its well respected citizens. 
Mr. McElroy's first wife died in the summer of 1877. She had borne 
him 10 children, seven of whom are living, namely: William P., 
Samuel O., Catherine, Anna H., Susie and John. To his present wife 
Mr. McElroy was married December 25, 1881. She is a daughter of 
Sanford Smith, and a sister to Solomon D. Smith, whose sketch 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Her Christian name is Hattie. She 
has borne her husband two children, the eldest of whom died in 
infancy ; the second one is Levina. 

CHARLES A. McKETHEN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. McKethen, now past the third score of his age, was partly 
reared in Shelby county, and is therefore a representative of one of 
its pioneer families. His father, Robert McKethen, a native of North 
Carolina, was principally reared in Tennessee, and was a gallant 



930 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

soldier under Jackson in the War of 1812. Returning victorious from 
the battles of his country after the war, he was married in Tennessee 
to Miss Sallie Latimer, and after some years' residence in that State 
put out the fire on his hearthstone, in the valley of the rolling Ten- 
nessee, and turned the front of his white-covered mover's wagon 
toward the then wilderness beyond the surging waters of the imperial 
Mississippi. After a long journey over mountains and through valleys, 
across bridgeless streams and trackless prairies, through a primitive 
wilderness from the beginning of the journey, he landed safely in 
North Missouri with his loved ones, his faithful rifle and his sleepless 
watch-dog, in 1831. He stopped for a while in Marion county, but 
soon crossed over into Shelby, where he improved a farm, reared a 
worthy family of children, and lived a respected, useful life until he 
was borne away under the shadow of old age to his final resting place, 
in his adopted county, in 1847. His good wife, a venerable white- 
haired old pioneer mother, is still living, now closely approaching her 
ninety-first year. Charles A. McKethen was born a few years before 
his parents left Tennessee, in Sumner county, on the 7th day of May, 
1824. Growing up to manhood in Shelby county, he, too, following 
the example of his father, became a farmer, and Ijy industry and good 
management he has proved a successful one. He has a fine farm of 
320 acres, all the fruit of his own honest toil. One of the substantial 
property holders of the township, he is at the same time one of its 
most highly esteemed citizens, for his life has been guided by the 
strictest integrity. During the war he served for nearly a year in the 
Union army. In 1863 he was married to Miss Catherine Baker, a 
daughter of George W. Baker, a worthy and respected citizen of 
Shelbyville. His wife has borne him nine children, namely: George 
R., Sallie A., Mary G., Hattie, John S., Charles E., Lucy B., and 
two others who died in infancy. Mrs. McKethen is a member of the 
Christian Church. 

WILLIAM H. McMASTER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

The second in a family of eight children, Mr. McMaster was born 
in Livingston county, N. Y., September 4, 1844, and was a son of 
Robert and Lucy (Hamilton) McMaster, the father also a native of 
New York, but the mother originally of Vermont. The father 
died in 1866, but the mother survived until 1882. Only four 
of the family besides William H. are now living. He was 
reared in New York, and in his seventeenth year, in 1862, 
enlisted in the Union army, One Hundred and Thirtieth New York 
Infantry, afterwards transformed to the First New York Dragoons, 
under Gen. Sheridan. He was in most of the principal battles and 
many of the less engagements in which Gen. Sheridan's command 
took a part. He was wounded at Port Republic, Va., September 26, 
1864. Returning home to New York in 1865, after his discharge, 
he remained there engaged in farming, to which he had been brought 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 931 

up, for about four years, and in 1869 came to Missouri, settling in 
Shelby county. Here he recommenced farming and has since con- 
tinued it. He has a good farm of 110 acres, which is largely devoted 
to grass and used for stock purposes, he being engaged in stock-rais- 
ing to some extent. In 1872 Mr. McMaster was married to Miss 
Nettie Robison, a daughter of D. M. Robison, formerly of Ohio. 
They have three children : Herbert Robison, Roscoe Hamilton and 
Clara. Mr. McMaster is a member of the A. O. U. W. and the G. 
A. R. He is one of the energetic farmers and well respected citizens 
of the township. 

JOHN F. McMURRAY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

The McMurrays were among the first settlers of Marion county, 
Ky., and Mr. McMurraj^'s father, William McMurray, was born there 
50 years before the beginning of the present century. In young man- 
hood he was married in that county to Miss Elizabeth Wilson, a 
daughter of Thomas Wilson, a prominent and influential citizen of 
the county. Mr. McMurray' s father became a successful farmer and 
stock-dealer in Kentucky, and served as justice of the peace for a 
number of years. But in 1834 he removed to Missouri with his 
family and settled in Marion county, of this State. Seven years after- 
wards, however, he crossed over into Shelby county, where he was 
successfully engaged in farming until his death. He and his good 
wife reared to be grown seven of their ten children, of whom John F., 
the subject of this sketch, was the fourth. He was born in Marion 
county, Ky., in 1828, and was therefore principally reared in 
Missouri. Growing to manhood in Shelby county, he meanwhile 
secured more than an average general education for that time. Pos- 
sessed of a natural taste for books, he not only made good use of the 
occasional schools kept in the vicinity, but also occupied his leisure at 
home with study. On the 27th of September, 1855, he was married 
to Miss Martha C. Dunn, a daughter of John Dunn, now deceased, 
but for years one of the estimable farmers and citizens of Shelby 
county. In the meantime he had entered upon the pursuit of farming 
for himself, and this he has since continued with satisfactory succes*. 
He has a good farm neatly improved, one of the comfortable home- 
steads, though not a large place, in the township. He is a man who 
looks to quality more than quantity in everything with which he has 
to do, and this trait of character is manifest in all his surroundings. 
Mr. McMurray has kept up his habits of study and mental improve- 
ment through life, and he has come to be a man of excellent informa- 
tion and culture. He has an excellent library of standard works in 
history, etc., which were selected with singular intelligence and good 
judgment. He is a man with whom it is both pleasant and instructive 
to converse with and, withal, he is genial and hospitable, quite popular 
with all who know him. Mr. and Mrs. McMurray have had a family 
of eight children, namely: Laura B., Mary F., Lizzie E., Emma C, 



932 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Mattie S., Nellie J., William D. and Marvin C. Mr. and Mrs. McM. 
are members of the M. E. Church South, and he is an active member 
of the Temperance order. 

ALEXANDER McMURTRY (deceased) 

CContributed). 

Alexander McMurtrj, for over 40 years an honored and respected 
citizen of Shelby county, was by nativity a Kentuckian, born in Gar- 
rard county, September "1^^ 1806. Reared in Kentucky, in 1831 he 
removed to Missouri and made his home first in Ralls county, where 
he resided for about 11 years. While a resident of that county he 
served as county treasurer for a number of years, and was married 
there in 1839 to Miss Emily J. McPherson. In 1842 he removed to 
Shelby county and was successfully engaged in merchandising in this 
county until 1856, when he ifnproved a good farm about one mile from 
Shelbyville. He resided on his farm for some 20 years and became 
one of the enterprising and progressive farmers and stock-raisers of 
the county. Even before engaged in farming he had amassed a re- 
spectable fortune at merchandising, and this was considerably aug- 
mented by his success as a farmer. In 1876, however, his health 
becoming greatly impaired, he quit the farm and returned to Shelby- 
ville, where he resided until his death. He died at his residence in 
this place October 24, 1882. His first wife had preceded him to the 
grave in 1847, leaving him four children, three of whom are living, 
namely : Mrs. A. R. Graham ; Mrs. H. C. Carlisle, and Mrs. Emily 
O'Brien, a resident of Marion county. In 1848 he was married to 
Miss Mary A. Ennis, a sister to Sheriff Ennis, of this county. She 
died February 6, 1881, leaving a daughter who is now the wife of P. 
D. Denver. Mr. McMurtry, as has been intimated, was quite suc- 
cessful in the business and industrial activities in life, and, at the time 
of his death, one of the heaviest tax-payers in the county. He was, 
at the same time, a man of generous impulses and great liberality. 
He was long a member of the PresV)yterian Church at Shelbyville and 
for many years a ruling elder. One of the most liberal supporters of 
the church at this place during his lifetime, at his death he left it a' 
liberal endowment by his will. In politics he was a Democrat before 
the war, but took no conspicuous part in political affairs. When the 
struggle for the preservation of the Union came, although a large 
slave holder himself, he was ardent in his devotion to the cause of the 
government and gave every aid and encouragement in his power to the 
soldiers of the Union, not excepting his private means whenever it 
was necessary. Since the war he naturally identified himself with the 
Republican party, as the party chiefly instrumental in saving the 
Union in the hour of its greatest peril. Personally, he was a man of 
irreproachable habits, of plain and kind-hearted manners, and was re- 
spected and esteemed by all, but valued and appreciated most by those 
who had known him longest and best. In the death of Alexander 
McMurtry, Shelby county lost one of her worthiest and best citizens. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 933 

J. N. MAHAFFEY, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Slielbyville) . 

Dr. MahafFey located at Shelbyville in 1879 and has since been con- 
tinuously engaged in the practice of his profession at this place. A 
man of good general education and an experienced teacher before 
commencing the study of medicine, he then took a thorough profes- 
sional course, both under an experienced physician and in college, 
graduating with distinction from the Medical College of Cleveland, 
Ohio, in 1877. He .thus, so far as study and the knowledge afforded 
by the schools are concerned, qualified himself fully and well for the 
practice of medicine. He began the practice at Mt. Holly, Ohio, in 
the spring of 1877, and continued there with excellent success until 
his removal to Missouri and location at Shelbyville. Here he has 
built up a good practice, and has taken an enviable position in his pro- 
fession. He is a prominent member of the county and district 
medical societies. Dr. Mahaffey was born at Mt. Vernon, in Knox 
county, O., February 26, 1852. His parents were John and Rhoda 
E. (Arnold) Mahaffey, both born and reared in Ohio, but each of 
Irish descent. Dr. Mahaffey was educated at Mt. Vernon and the 
Greentown Academy, of Perryville, O., and at the age of 17 was 
qualified for teaching. He followed teaching for several years, and 
afterwards studied medicine. His preceptors in his profession were 
Dr. Black, of Amity, and Prof. Metz, of Massillon, O., Oculist. He 
then took two courses at the Cleveland Medical College, from which 
he graduated as stated above. March 4, 1873, Dr. Mahaff'ey was mar- 
ried to Miss Rebecca E. Matheney, of Amity, O. They have two 
children, Edwin E., and Eva E. November 8, 1883, Dr. Mahaff'ey 
met with quite a serious accident. While out hunting with a friend, 
the Litter's gun was accidently discharged, the load entering the calf 
of the Doctor's right leg. He was prostrated by this for some time 
and is now only beginning to be able to get about by the use of a 
cane. He feels thankful that the accident was not more serious than 
it was, but of course he would feel still more thankful if it hadn't 
happened at all. It is warmly hoped and expected by his many 
friends and large clientele that he will soon be able to fully resume 
his practice throughout the vicinity of Shelbyville, as well as in town. 

CAPT. MARION H. MARMADUKE 

(_Druggist and County Treasurer, Shelbyville). 

Capt. Marmaduke, a well known and popular citizen of Shelby 
county, is a worthy representative of one of the old and respected 
families of the county. The Marmadukes of this State were originally 
from Virginia, and Capt. Marmaduke's parents, James B. and Lucinda 
(Lyell) Marmaduke, came directly from that State to Missouri as 
early as 1832. His father was a saddler by trade, and located first at 



934 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Palmyra, where he carried on a saddlery and harness shop for about 
five years. In 1837 he came to Shelbyville and ran a shop here for 
about three years, after which he engaged in merchandising, and also 
in farming. He entered nearly a section of land near this place, where 
he improved a good farm. Though a man without any personal ambi- 
tion in politics, he was a close and interested student of public affairs 
and took an active interest in local political management. He was a 
life-long and ardent Democrat, and thoroughly devoted to his party. A 
man of warm generous impulses, while he always wanted to see Dem- 
ocratic measures triumph, he at the same time had many close personal 
friendships and never failed to exert himself for the success of those to 
whose interest he was attached. In other words, he always had his 
choice among candidates, and no man did more for his friends than 
he. While he was an active worker, he was at the same time a sober- 
minded, thoughtful man, and looked well to results before advocating 
any candidate or measure. He had the faculty of foreseeing results to a 
marked degree. Indeed, among those who knew him well he was 
regarded as something of a political philosopher and prophet. Withal, 
he was a man of the highest integrity of character and wielded a justly 
potent influence in local affiiirs. His widow is still living, at the age 
of 74, and makes her home with a daughter, residing at Nevada, in 
Vernon county. Capt. Marmaduke was the fourth in their family of 
children, four of whom are living. He was born at Palmyra, July 22, 
1835, but was reared in this county. Educated in the schools of Shel- 
byville, at the age of 16 he became a partner at this place with his 
brother-in-law in the drug business. They continued business together 
for about four years. Subsequently he studied medicine under Dr. 
J. H. Shoots, of Shelbyville, and since then, in connection with his 
other business, he has been doing more or less office practice. Decem- 
ber 5, 1855, Capt. Marmaduke was married to Miss Mary E. Carney, 
of Carroll county. After his marriage he located on his father's place 
near Shelbyville, where he was residing when the war broke out. Of 
Virginia parentage and Southern principles, he promptly enlisted in 
the State Guard in 1861 and was made lieutenant in Capt. Pollard's 
company, under Col. Porter. He was in the hitter's raid through 
North Missouri and fired the first sfun in the Kirksville fight. After 
Porter's command was disbanded he made his way to Kentucky and 
joined Gen. Bragg. He was in all of Bragg's campaigns in that State 
and Tennessee and then crossed over into Arkansas, joining Gen. 
Green at Batesville. Being commissioned captain with authority to 
recruit a company, he came North for that purpose and was in Mis- 
souri and Illinois recruiting until the close of the war. After the war 
he removed to Santa Fe, Monroe county, and was engaged in the drug 
business and merchandising there for about seven years. Capt. Mar- 
maduke then returned to Shelbyville and formed a partnership 
with his old partner, Mr. Shackelford, in the drug business. 
Two years later Mr. S. removed to Clarence, but Capt. Marma- 
duke has since continued the business. In 1878 he was nomin- 
ated and elected county treasurer and has been re-elected twice since. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 935 

He has made a most capable and efficient county officer and is justly 
regarded as one of the most popuhir men in the county. Capt. M. 
and wife have reared a family of eight children : Lillian, Ella, Jatnes 
M., John S., Maude, Olive, Mark M. and Herbert. James M., a 
graduate of Vanderbilt University, of Nashville, Tenn., is connected 
with his father in the drug store. They have a handsome two-story 
business house and carry a complete and well selected stock of goods. 
Captain and Mrs. M. are members of the M. E. Church South, and he 
is a prominent Mason. 

JOHN D. MELSON 

(Next Treasurer of Shelby Count}', Shelbyville). 

The Melson family is one of the old and respected t\imilies of Bed- 
ford county, Va. They have been settled in the eastern part of that 
State for generations, and have always ranked with the best people of 
their respective communities. Mr. Melson was born in Bedford 
county, Va., and was a son of Thomas Melson and wife, who was a 
Miss Elizabeth Dent before her marriage, his natal day being the 31st 
of May, 1818. Reared in Virginia, he received a good common 
English education, and in 1840 was married to Miss Mary A. West, a 
daughter of Capt. Samuel West, a prominent citizen of Bedford 
county, who was a gallant officer in the War of 1812. Mrs. Melson's 
parents are still living in Virginia, each well preserved at an advanced 
age. Mr. Melson removed to Missouri in 1856 and settled in Ralls 
county, where he resided for 14 years. In 1872 he came to Shelby 
county, locating at Shelbyville, and here he has since made his per- 
manent home. Mr. Melscm has become well known to the people of 
Shelby county and is highly esteemed for his estimable qualities as a 
neighbor, business man and citizen. By industry and enterprise he 
has accumulated a comfortable property without wronging any man of 
a cent or doing an unjust or ungenerous act. A man of marked 
intelligence and public spirit, he takes a worthy and lively interest in 
the att'airs of the county and is appreciated by the people as a man 
who sincerely has the public good at heart. At the primary election 
of this county in June (1884) for candidates for the diflerent county 
offices, he was elected for the office of county treasurer by a handsome 
majority, which insures him a triumphant election at the polls in 
November. Mr. and Mrs. Melson have had a family of 11 chil- 
dren : Joel L., Nathaniel, Anna E., Samuel J., present sheriff of Ralls 
county; Isaac N., Matson N., Virginia, Sallie K., John C, Charles 
M. and Mary E. Five of these are deceased, namely: Nathaniel T., 
who died at the age of 21, in 1863; Sallie K., Charles M., Mary E. 
and John C. Mr. Melson has been a member of the M. E. Church 
South for 22 years and his wife is a worthy member of the Baptist 
Church, His parents removed to Missouri in 1867 and located in 
Ralls county. From there they came to Shelby county in 1872. His 
father died here in 1876. He was a veteran in the War of 1812, and 
received a pension during the later vears of his life on account of his 

54 



936 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

services in that struggle. He was born in 1780 and reached the age 
of 86 years. His mother died in 1872 in her eighty-seventh year. 

JOHN W. MEKCER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelby ville). 

Mr. Mercer w^as the eldest in a family of seven children to reach 
maturity, two sons and five daughters, of Caleb and Servina ( Windle) 
Mercer, of Frederick county, Va., and was born in that county in 
the year 1818. Reared in that county until 18 years of age, he 
then enlisted in the army under Capt. Beal for the Florida War, 
and was three years in the service, principally on the flowery penin- 
sula. After his service he returned to Virginia, but remained only 
seven months, when he went back to Florida and made his home in 
the land of oranges for over 20 years, engaging principally in farm- 
ing and dealing in stock. In 1861, however, he came north and 
located in Mercer county, III., but soon afterwards went to Des 
Moines, la. In 1863 Mr. Mercer was married to Miss Julia Bickford, 
of Illinois, a daughter of John Bickford, formerly of Maine. Three 
years after his marriage he came to Missouri and located in Shelby 
county, where he still resides. Here he has a good farm of 160 acres. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mercer have" five children : John W., Jr. ; Allie M., 
Carrie B., James A. and Lydia F. Both parents are members of the 
M. E. Church. 

N. C. MILLER 

(Dealer in Hardware, Stoves, Tin- ware. Etc., Shelby ville). 

Mr. Miller was born in Shelbyville, June 12, 1848. His father, 
Joseph C, and his mother, who was a Miss Susan J. Leniley, were 
both Virginians, and after their marriage removed from Virginia to 
Missouri in about the year 1835, and settled at Palmyra. From Pal- 
myra Mr. Joseph C. Miller removed to Shelbyville, where he died 
February 10, 1874. He was a cabinet maker by trade and followed 
this business after coming to Shelbyville, but afterwards and until his 
death had a cabinet and furniture store in Shelbyville. Four of the 
children by this marriage are still living, viz. : John W., Susan V., 
married to Mr. John A. Carney,, who is in business with her brother, 
N. C, the subject of this sketch; Mary J., wife of John McLeod, 
resident of Iowa City, and Mr. N. C. Miller, of whom we shall now 
speak. Mr. Miller spent his childhood in Shelbyville, his present 
home, and received the advantages of a good common-school educa- 
tion. When 19 years old he began to learn the tinner's trade with 
Stewart Welker and was engaged in this occupation from 1867 to 
December, 1872, when he started in his present business. He has 
been very successful since he began business for himself. He com- 
menced with a small stock, and has hy his excellent business abilities 
constantly added to it until he has now a large amount on hand esti- 
mated to be worth from $4,000 to $5,000. In connection with his 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 937 

hardware store he employs three competent hands as tinners, who 
perform all kinds of work of this sort. He has at present a tine 
brick store, 20x80 feet, which he erected in 1877. Mr. Miller was 
married October 31, 1872. His wife was a Miss Sallie Duncan and 
was born in Shelbyville in February, 1853. They have four children, 
whose names and ages are as follows : EUa Nora, who is 10 years old ; 
Joseph S., who is in his eighth year; George L., who is five years of 
age, and Lillie Pearl, two years of age. Mrs. Miller is a member of 
the Methodist Church, but Mr. Miller has not as yet become a mem- 
ber of any denomination. 

THOMAS MITCHELL 

(County Clerk and Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Mitchell is now serving his tenth year in the office of county 
clerk, and such is the efficiency with which the duties of his office are 
discharged and the confidence which the people have in him as a man, 
that he will probably continue to hold his present position as long as 
he deserves to retain it. Such is the impression we gather from what 
is generally said of him throughout the county. He is one of the old 
citizens of the county, and his record is known to the people for 28 
years. In early life he received a good general education, and after- 
wards became a successful and popular teacher. He also early engaged 
in farming, which he continued up to the time of his election to his 
present office, and indeed still continues. A man of high character, 
untiring industry and good business qualifications, he of course became 
very successful as a farmer, and for years occupied the position of one 
of the substantial and progressive farmers and highly esteemed citi- 
zens of the county, a position he has never forfeited or lost for a 
moment. Like many of our best citizens, Mr. Mitchell is by nativity 
a Kentuckian. He was born in Shelby county, of that State, Octo- 
ber 11, 1818. His mother was a Miss Rebecca Ketcham before her 
marriage, and came originally from Maryland. His father was Rev. 
Thomas Mitchell, well known in Shelby county, Ky.,as an able and 
exemplary minister of the M. E. Church South, and was chaplain with 
the rank of adjutant in Gen. Payne's brigade, Kentucky militia, in the 
War of 1812. Thomas Mitchell, Jr., was reared to a farm life in 
Kentucky, and on the 10th of August, 1843, was married to Miss 
Susan A. Maddox, a sister to Mark Maddox, of Monroe county. In 
the year 1845 Mr. Mitchell removed to Indiana and located in Monroe 
county, where he taught school, alternated with farming, for about 10 
years. He then came to Shelby county, Mo., and settled on a farm 
five miles west of Shelbina, <n' rather on raw land, which he had 
bought, where he improved a farm. By industry and good manage- 
ment he became comfortably situated. Before and during the war he 
sympathized with the South, as he still does and always expects to. 
But early in the struggle he was pounced upon by the other side and 
made to give bond that he would never take up arms for the Southern 
cause. During the second year of the war, however, times became 



938 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

SO critical that the army was about the safest phxce a Southern man 
could be, for if one remained at home he was liable to be called out 
at any hour of the day or night and shot down on the trumped up 
charge of feeding bushwhackers or something of that sort. Mr. 
Mitchell therefore entered the ranks of Col. Porter's regiment, and 
remained with Porter until the regiment was dispersed by defeat and 
close pursuit of superior forces. Being unable to get South, for the 
whole country for 200 miles was picketed with Federal soldiery, he 
came home and surrendered to the Federal authorities. He was given 
the alternative by them of paying his bond of $1,000 in cash or going 
into an Illinois prison to remain for the balance of the war. He 
chose the former, and paid his bond. That was all the " bounty" or 
«' back," or forward " pay " he ever received for his services. He is 
not now an applicant for a pension. After his return from Porter's 
command he remained on the farm under his own vine and fig tree 
until the close of the war. After the war he continued farming, and 
raised and handled stock to some extent, up to the time of his election 
in 1874. He still owns his farm and supeiintends its management. 
Mr. Mitchell has reared a family of nine children : Mary L., now Mrs. 
Dr. A. G. Wood : Lucy A., now Mrs. Thomas Nelson ; John C, who 
resides on the farm; H. Isabelle, unmarried and at home; Elizabeth 
E., now Mrs. J. F. Barr ; Ella, now Mrs. J. A. Doyle ; Mettle T., now 
Mrs. J. T. Welch; Malinda P., now Mrs. Tyson Dines, and William 
W., a student at Columbia University. Mr, and Mrs. Mitchell are 
members of the Christian Church, and he is a member of the Masonic 
order. 

JAMES W. AND BARNETT N. MOORE 

(Farmer and Stock-raisers, Post-ofRce, Bethel), 

William Moore, the father of James W. and Barnett N,, was a 
native of Kentucky, but afterwards became an early settler of Shelby 
county. Mo. He was born in Boone county, Ky,, on the 20th day of 
April, 1804, and was reared in his native State, He remained in Ken- 
tucky after he grew up, engaged in farming, principally, until 1833, 
when he came to Missouri and for about a year was located in Marion 
county. He then entered land in Shelby county, and began the im- 
provement of the farm one mile west of where his sons, James W. and 
Barnett N,, now reside. He remained here successfully engaged in 
farming until 1852, a period of 19 years. He then went to California, 
rather on a tour of observation, but was taken ill out there and died 15 
years after leaving home. He was married before leaving Kentucky, 
the same year that he came to Missouri, in 1833. His wife, before 
her marriage, was a Miss Mary L. Foley, who was born and reared 
in Virginia. They reared a family of three children, and of these, 
James W. was born on the farm in this county on the 9th day of 
August, 1837, and Barnett N. on the place one mile west, January 
29, 1845. Both were reared on the farm and educated in the common 
schools of the district. During the war, James W., who was old 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 939 

enough for military duties, served about 18 months under Gen. Price. 
Barnett N. took no active part in the war. • In 1877 he was married 
to Mrs. Amanda Lear, a daughter of Anderson Lair. She was taken 
from him by death, however, in 1883, leaving him two children, James 
F. and Royal A. Mrs. Moore had been a worthy member of the M. 
E. Church South, for years before her death, and was a most esti- 
mable and exemplary Christian lady. Both Messrs. James W. and 
Barnett N. Moore are also meml)ers of that Church. They are classed 
among the best citizens of Bhick Creek township, and are substantial 
and well-to-do farmers. Their place contains 400 acres of good land, 
and is comfortably improved. Their father served on the first grand 
jury ever impaneled in this county. 

HON. JOHN NESBIT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Shelbyville). 

From the " Official* Biographical Conspectus of the XXVHI Gen- 
eral Assembly of Missouri," of which body Mr. Nesbit was an active 
and able member, we take the following paragraph, contained in his 
biography : — 

" Mr. Nesbit belongs to a class of clear-headed and useful citizens 
who, owing to their peculiar surroundings, have never been con- 
spicuously before the public, although recognized by their acquaint- 
ances and associates as men of the most estimable characters, and 
possessing qualities fitting them for almost any position within the 
gift of the people. He was born in Franklin county, Pcbu., in 1814, 
and emigrated to Hampshire county, Ya., in 1836. In 1838 he came 
to Shelby county. Mo., where he has resided continuously ever since, 
engaged in agricultural pursuits. He believes in progress, education, 
and local development, and means business in everything he does. 
He never indulges in bombast or buncombe, and never votes on a 
measure unless he understands it thoroughly. He is a member of the 
Committee on Roads and Highways." 

Mr. Nesbit, a resident of this county for 46 years, has not only 
become one of its prominent and highly esteemed citizens, but by 
industry and the clear-iieaded intelligence for which he is remarked 
by all who know him, has become one of the substantial property- 
holders and successful farmers of the county. He came here when a 
young man and with very little money — in fact, walked up from St. 
Louis through the snow eight inches deep, but could have ridden if he 
had had the money to pay for it, on his way from Virginia. Arrived 
in this county, he hired out at farm labor for $10 a month. But being 
a natural mechanic — having a taste and aptitude for work with tools — 
he soon began carpentering, and followed that for four years. Being 
economical, he saved up some money, for he generally received $1.00 
a day for his work. His surplus cash he invested in land, becoming 
in a few years a somewhat extensive land-holder. Land was then in 
the market for entry at $1.25 an acre, and he had the intelligence and 
sagacity to see that that was the best investment he could make. He 



940 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

also improved a farm in the county, and after awhile gave his time' and 
attention exclusively to'farming and raising stock. Mr. Nesbit's life 
has been one of unceasing activity and industry, as well as one free 
from all reproach, so that now he is not only in the enjo3'ment of a 
competency, but in what is better, an irreproachable and honored 
name. His farm contains over 700 acres and is excellently improved, 
one of the best farms, in fact, in the county. It is largely run 
in blue grass for stock purposes, and as a blue grass stock farm 
is without a superior in the county. In July, 1842, Mr. Nesbit was 
married to Mrs. Pamelia Carter, 7'elict of F. A. F. Carter, and a 
daughter of James Swart, formerly a wealthy farmer and prominent 
citizen of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Nesbit have had six children : 
Mary E. (deceased) ; Susie A. (deceased) : Zachery E., Virginia F., 
Isabella K. and James N. By her first husband Mrs. Nesbit had a 
daughter, who died when young, Anna E. Mr. Nesbit was a sou of 
Nathaniel and Elanor Nesbit, both of old and respected Pennsylvania 
families. 

WILLIAM Z. T. PEOPLES 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-ofRce, Leonard). 

Among the early settlers in Shelby county were the parents of the 
subject of the present sketch, John and Rebecca (Bachmau) Peoples. 
They came from Tennessee in 1837, and the father entered land and 
improved a farm in this county. He died here in 1854, but the 
mother is still living, now within three years of the age of four 
score. William Z. T. was next to the youngest in their family of thir- 
teen children, four daughters and nine sons, and was born on the 
farm in this county, March 12, 1848. But six others in the family 
are living. William Z. T., brought up in the early days of the county, 
was from boyhood enured to hard work, and by experience taught the 
great lesson that honest success is to be had only by honest toil. 
This has been the controlling principle of his life. From youth he 
has striven to rise in the world to the position of useful citizenship 
and competency in property affairs by untiring toil, honest dealing 
and intelligent management. Continuing the life of a farmer, he has 
made a satisfactory success of this pursuit. He now has an excellent 
fai"m of 240 acres, which he has improved and stocked something 
better than the average of farms in the township. He has just com- 
pleted a neat and comn)odious two-story frame dwelling on his place, 
which well becomes his farm and sets it off to good advantage. Mr. 
Peoples is a man of liimily, and has been married for 13 years. May 
4, 1871, he was married to Miss Mary A. Garnett, a daughter of 
Thomas Garnett, formerly of Kentucky. They have but one child, 
Noah W., now a lad 12 years of age. 

THOMAS S. PRIEST 

(Eetired Farmer, Shelby ville, Mo.), 

Mr. Priest was born in Frederick county, Va., August 28, 1811, 
and was the son of Lewis and Mary Baker Priest, both natives of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 941 

Virginia. Thomas S. was raised on the farm and came to Missouri 
in 1841. He settled in Black Creek township, five miles west of 
Shelbyville. He made a farm of 200 acres and lived on it until about 
12 years ago when he moved to town. His farm now consisting of 
545 acres he has placed in charge of his son, a young man of 16. Mr. 
Priest owns 140 acres beside, and has always made stock-raising his 
principal business, in which he has been successful beyond his fondest 
hopes. He is one of the substantial men of the township. He was a 
stockholder in the Shelby Savings Bank when that was in existence. 
Mr. P. has always been a Democrat, but takes little interest in 
politics. When he came to Missouri his mother came with him, but 
died in a short time. He has also lost three brothers, Madison, 
Henry and Jacob ; and two charming young sisters, Elizabeth and 
Sarah. He has one living sister, Emily, widow of Samuel O. Van 
Vactor, of Shelbyville. Mr. Priest was married Fel)ruary 19, 1855, 
to Miss Jane E. Dunn, a sister of S. F. and P. B. Dunn. She died 
in 1869, and live years ago, Mr. P. married her sister Miss Susan 
Dunn. There are two living children, Susan Amanda and Thomas 
Dunn. Three daughters are deceased, Mary E. and Henrietta died 
within three months of each other, of consumption. They were in the 
first bloom and beauty of womanhood, and onh'' the Christian's forti- 
tude could support the bereaved parents under such a blow. Virginia 
J. died at the age of 18 months. Mr. and Mrs. Priest are members 
of the Presbyterian Church. 

A. G. PRIEST, M. D. 

(Phj'siGian and Surgeon, Shelbyville). 

With the exception of Dr. Yancy, Dr. Priest is the oldest phy- 
sician in duration of practice in Shelby county. Graduating at Jef- 
ferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, in the class of 1852, he im- 
mediately afterwards began his practice in Shelley county, now over 
thirty-two years ago. Dr. Priest is a Virginian by nativity, born in 
Fauquier county, December 10, 1828. When he was 13 years of 
age, his parents, Henry and Lavina (Gulick) Priest, removed to Mis- 
souri, and settled in Ralls county, about five miles from Hannibal. 
In Virginia his father had carried on the saddle and harness business 
(when young), but in Virginia and Missouri he engaged in farming and 
followed that occupation until his death, April 6, 1859. His wife sur- 
vived him about 11 years. A. G. Priest (the Doctor) grew to man- 
hood in Ralls county, and in 1849 commenced the study of medicine 
at Paris in Monroe county, under his brother-in-law. Dr. John W. 
Long, a prominent phj'sician of that place. After a preparatory 
course of reading for about a year imder Dr. Long, he marticulated 
at Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, entering the class of 
'50-51. The next year he also attended the same college and gradu- 
ated with distinction in the spring of 1852, as stated above. Dr. 
Priest continued the practice at Shelbyville, his colleagues in the pro- 
fession, during the earlier years of his practice, being Dr. John Caro- 



942 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

tlieis and Dr. T. H. Irvin, until January 16, 1862, when he entered 
the Union service, becoming a member of Co. A, Eleventh Missouri 
State Militia. He was soon assigned the position of assistant surgeon 
of the regiment. He resigned, however, in a short time, on account 
of a personal difference between himself and the colonel of the regi- 
ment, the afterwards notorious Gen. John McNeil. On his return 
home, he organized a company of volunteers of which he was elected 
captain, and this was afterwards consolidated with the old Eleventh Mis- 
souri. He led his company to Pilot Knob, Bloomfield and Cape 
Girardeau, but in the summer of 1863 resigned his command and re- 
sumed the practice of medicine at Shell)yville. He has since been 
continuously engaged in the i)ractice. October 20, 1853, Dr. Priest 
was married to Miss Martha Ennis, a sister of Sheriff Ennis, of this 
county. They have four children : Henry H., Albert M., Mary, now 
Mrs. J. D. Dale, and Cora. Dr. Priest is one of the leading physi- 
cians of this part of the county, and one of the public spirited, 
highly respected citizens of Shelbyville. He takes no personal 
interest in politics, but takes an active part in securing the election of 
good men for office and the adoption and enforcement of measures 
in public affairs calculated to promote the best interests of the com- 
munity. Prior to the war he was postmaster at this place and owned 
a drug store. Since the war he has held no official position except to 
serve on town and school boards. He is a prominent member of the 
Masonic order, and he has been identified with that order for nearly 
30 years. 

W. L. PRIEST 

(Post-office, Shelbyville, Mo.). 

The subject of this sketch was born in Shelby county, in 1837, and 
was the eldest child of M. J. Priest. He was educated in Shelby 
county, having all the disadvantages of the public school system of that 
early day to contend with. In 1859 he was attacked with the Pike's 
Peak fever and made the trip across the plains to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, but like many others who went the same spring, was soon satis- 
fied and returned and content to remain in Shelby until 1861, when the 
war cloud burst upon the country with the roar oi artillery, etc. Be- 
ing a Southern man in sympathy and conviction as well as by lineage 
from the Old Dominion, he promptly went to the front as a volunteer 
under the standard of the Confederacy. He enlisted early in 1861 and 
for four years followed the flag of the South. He was under Gen. 
Marmaduke the greater part of the four years and participated in all 
engagements in which his command took part, except the last raid into 
Missouri which was prevented by sickness. By meritorious conduct 
as a soldier, he rose from the ranks of a private to the position of 
first lieutenant. After the war he resumed farming in Shelby county 
and continued it until 1873 ; he again crossed the plains to Colorado 
and engaged in mining. He was only partially successful and returned 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. ^43 

to Shelby county early in 1877, and in the fall of the same year was 
married to Miss Anna, daughter of John W. Vandiver, mentioned in 
this volume. Mr. and Mrs. P. have two children: William M. and 
Susie F. He and his wife are members of the M. E. Church South. 
Mr. Priest has a good farm of 170 acres, three miles from the county 
seat, substantially and comfortably improved. 

JOHN C. PRIEST 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelby ville). 

For 48 years the farm on which Mr. Priest now resides has been 
occupied by either his father's family or himself. Mr. Priest's parents, 
Madison J. and Sarah A. (Vandiver) Priest, were therefore among 
the pioneer residents of Shelby county. Both were Virginians by 
nativity. The father came out to Missouri a young man, and was 
married in Marion county. His wife was a daughter of William Van- 
diver. Subsequently, in 1836, he settled on the farm in Shelby county 
where John C. now resides. He was a man of some prominence in 
this county, a successful farmer, and filled the office of county assessor 
for three terms. John C. was the youngest in a family of five chil- 
dren, namely : William, Mary E., Thomas E., Silas W. and John C, 
all of whom except Thomas E. are living. John C. Priest was born 
on the farm where he now resides, February 1, 1855, and was brought 
up to be a practical farmer. Farming has continued to be his occupa- 
tion since reaching manhood. On the 30th of October, 1883, he was 
married to Miss Emma McMurray, a daughter of John F. McMurray, 
whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. Mr. Priest 
has continued to reside on the old family homestead, a good tarm, 
substantially improved, and he is accounted one of the energetic young 
farmers of the township. Mr. and Mrs. Priest are members of the 
M. E. Church. Mr. Priest is a member of the I. O. O. F. 

JAMES EALPH 

(Lumber, Sash, Doors, etc., Shelbyville). 

Mr. Ralph, one of the oldest residents and most valuable citizens of 
the township, settled in Quincy in 1835, and being a carpenter and 
house builder by trade, built the first frame house in the place. He 
was born in Delaware, May 15, 1807. His first marriage occurred 
December 1, 1830, his wife. Miss Mary Adkinson, living but a few 
years. In 1836 Mr. Ralph came to Shelbyville, Shelby county, buy- 
ing lots through a friend, James Rider. He also built here the first 
frame house in the town. It was at Quincy that Mr. R. married a 
second time, a widow, whose maiden name was Moore. She, how- 
ever, scarcely survived the honeymoon, and February 14, 1840, he 
was wedded to Miss Emeline Dines, sister to Tyson and Joseph Dines. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph have no children, but have an adopted daughter. 
Miss Emma Dines by name. She is a neice of Mrs. R. Mr. Ralph 
tried successively carpentering, farming and merchandising before he 



944 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

embarked in his present business. He has now been for 19 years 
dealing in lumber, and trades a little in real estate. He keeps a shop 
in which he works just enough to employ his leisure hours. In 
politics Mr. Kalph is a Democrat, though he has always held himself 
aloof from the broils and turmoils of political life. He never ran for 
any office, but has lived quietly at home, an honest, law-abiding 
citizen smd an exemplary domestic man. He and his wife are members 
of the M. E. Church South, his membership dating back over 50 
years. 

OSCAE H. EANDALL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Randall has a good farm of 340 acres in Salt River township, 
and belongs to the more energetic and progressive class of farmers of 
the county. He is a native of Vermont, born in Orange county in 
1844, and was the ninth in a family of 11 children of Mason and Mary 
P. Randall. Reared on his father's farm in Orange county, he received 
a good education in the common schools of that county, and at the 
age of 19 went West to California, — the Pacific coast. He spent six 
years in California and Oregon, and returned to Vermont in 18(59. In 
1870 he visited Missouri, and the summer of the following year came 
back to this State, where he has since made his permanent home. In 
August, 1871, he was married to Miss Martha B. Randall, a cousin of 
his and a daughter of John and Eliza Randall, of Vermont. They 
were married at Palmyra, Mo., immediately on her arrival at that 
place. Mr, Randall then located in Shelby county, where he has ever 
since resided. Mr. and Mrs. R. have three children : Aura, Bertie C, 
and Myrtle B. They have lost four. One of Mr. Randall's sisters, 
Miss Eliza G. Randall, organized the well-known school of fine arts 
in Washington, D. C, known the country over as Randall's School of 
Fine Arts. It was established in 1866. She died in Washington City 
in 1874. 

SAMUEL REYNOLDS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

The Reynoldses, of North of Ireland ancestry, ha^e, however, long 
been settled in Pennsylvania, or, at least, the members of the branch 
of the family of which the subject of the present sketch is a repre- 
sentative, have. Mr. Reynolds' father, Samuel Reynolds, was born 
and reared in the Keystone State, and lived there, a substantial 
farmer and respected citizen, until his death. He died in 1852. His 
wife was a Miss Nancy Dunlap before her marriage, also a native of 
that State. She died in 1847. Samuel Reynolds, Jr., the subject of 
this sketch, was born in Pennsylvania in 1816, and was the eldest in 
a family of four children, three of whom are living. Reared on his 
father's farm, he was subsequently married to Miss Lavinia Miller, a 
daughter of William Miller, of the same county. He continued to 
reside there, engaged in farming, until 1857, when he came West, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 945 

locating for a time in Iowa. In 1864, however, he decided to come 
further South, and accordingly settled in Shelby county, where he 
made his permanent home. Here he bought raw land and improved 
a good farm. He has 160 acres in his place and is comfortably situ- 
ated. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have had several children: William 
M., Nancy eJ., John, Samuel, who died in infancy, Jesse A., Samuel 
(again), Perry, Lulie and Ernest, five of whom are married and set- 
tled in life. The two eldest sons, William M. and John, were gallant 
soldiers in the Union army during the war, being out for four 3'ears, 
and participating in a number of the hardest fought battles of that 
long and terrible struggle. Mr. and Mrs. R. are members of the 
Presbyterian Church and have been for about 30 years. 

DAVID M. ROBISON 

(Farmer, Post-ofHce, Shelbyville). 

Many Pennsylvania and Ohio farmers have settled in Shelby county 
since the war, to the great benefit of the county, and prominent among 
these is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. Robison. He is of an 
old Pennsylvania family, and was born in Adams county, of that State, 
on the 1st day of November, 1821. When he was a lad in his 
thirteenth year, his parents, James and Jane (Hunter) Robison, 
removed to Crawford county, Ohio, where they settled and resided 
until their deaths. His father was an energetic, thorouo;h-going 
farmer, and was one of the valuable citizens of Adams county. 
David M. was brought up on a farm to habits of industry by his 
father, and remained at home until he was in his twenty-third year, 
helping to carry on the farm, for his mother was then a widow, the 
father having died in 1840. Meanwhile, however, he had paid his 
court to a young lady of the vicinity, Miss Anna Baum, a daughter of 
Peter Baum, formerly of Pennsylvania, and had won her heart. 
They were engaged to be married, but when the happy day came 
around young Rol)ison found himself without a penny either to pro- 
cure the marriage license or compensate the minister for performing 
the ceremony, but amor omnia vincet — he was not to be out done. 
He promptly borrowed a few dollars for these necessary expenses, and 
the marriage knot was duly tied. Turning his face bravely to the duties 
and responsibilities of life, he went to work to establish himself and 
his incipient family with a comfortable home. Continuing farming in 
Ohio, he resided there for over 20 years, after which, in 1865, he 
came to Missouri. Here he bought land which was partly improved, 
on which he settled and resumed farming. He also added to and l)et- 
tered the improvements on his farm, erecting new buildings, making 
new fences, etc., until he now has one of the best farms in this part 
of the county. His place contains nearly 400 acres, all of which but 
about 50 acres are under fence. Mr. Robison raises stock to a con- 
siderable extent, and makes a specialty of handling fine cattle. He is 
now worth not less, probably, than $15,000, a gratifying showing for 
one who had to borrow the money to get married on when he started 



946 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

out ill life. It serves to show what courage and industry and good 
management can accomplish. He wasted no money in fine engage- 
ment rings, or hired-buggy drives, when he was young, and has 
wasted none since. Notwithstanding, he secured a wife worth all the 
rings and buggy drives in the world to him. They have been blessed 
with six children: Oliver, Elvira, Sylvester, Jeanette, Charles and 
Orinda. 

BENJAMIN F. SMITH 

(Proprietor of the Shelby House, aad Farmer and Stock-raiser, Shelbyville). 

Among the names of the respected and worthy citizens of Shelby 
<!ounty is justly included that of the subject of the present sketch. 
Mr. Smith descends from two old and excellent Virginia families — the 
Smiths and Parrs, Hon. George William Smith, Governor of Vir- 
ginia, who lost his life at the burning of the Richmond theater, in 
1811, was a distinguished representative of the same family to which 
Mr. S. belongs, on his father's side. The Thorntons of that State 
and their descendants are also related to this branch of the Smith 
family. Both his grandfathers, Smith and Parr, served for the Col- 
onies in the War of the Revolution, and one or both of them lived to 
do service for their country in the War of 1812. Both received Gov- 
ernment land warrants for their services. Mr, Smith, himself, is a 
native Virginian, born in Harrison county (now of West Virginia), 
July 29, 1837, He was the third in the family of 10 children of 
Charles Smith and wife, nee Nancy Parr, his father born and reared 
in Fauquier county, Va,, and his mother also in Fauquier county, that 
State, In early life his father went to Alabama, where he became 
overseer on a large cotton plantation near Mobile. Later along he 
removed to West Virginia, and subsequently followed farming for 
some years in Harrison county, of that State. In 1857 he came to 
Missouri with his family and settled in Shelby county, where he 
resided, engaged principally in farming, until his death. He lived to 
reach the age of 77, dying at his homestead in this county, June 23, 
1882. He was a man universally respected and esteemed wherever 
he was known. A quiet, unol)strusive citizen and a man of industry, 
he was at the same time generally remarked for his intelligence and 
originality of thought. Though not what may be called a man of 
culture, he, nevertheless, had a good general education and was espec- 
ially fond of reading, thus becoming a man of more than ordinary 
general information. He took a deep interest in church matters, and 
was an earnest member of the Protestant Methodist Church, For 
many years he was a class-leader in his church in West Virginia, but 
after his removal to this State never united himself with any denomi- 
nation here, as there was none convenient, for a long time, of his own 
particular faith. He, however, held fast to the doctrines of the 
Methodist Church, and died an earnest adherent of that faith. The 
mother still lives, and is a most estimable, motherly-hearted. Chris- 
tian lady, and is held in high esteem by all her neighbors and acquaint- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 947 

ances. The names of their children are as follows ; Thomas Thorn- 
ton, George Lewis, Benjamin T., Granville, Jackson, Acldis Clawson, 
Mary, Martha, Lonisa, Helen and Emma. But three of the broth- 
ers and three of the sisters, are living — the subject of this sketch, 
George L., a prominent physician of Bates county, and Addis C, a 
leading physician of Macon county. The eldest brother, Thomas T., 
was a lawyer by profession, and something of a political leader in 
his county. He died here, however, soon after the family came to 
Missouri. In the canvass of 1858 he held joint discussions with 
Hon. W. R. Strachan over the county in behalf of his friend, Hon. 
Samuel Singleton, who was the nominee of the Whig party for the 
Legislature. The fourth brother, Granville J., who served for three 
years in the Union army, died in 18(34, from illness contracted in the 
army. Those of the other brothers of the family living, and the father, 
however, were identified Avith the South, in sympathy and political 
convictions, and Dr. Luke Smith became captain of a Southern com- 
pany. On the eve of starting South he was accidentally shot by one 
of his comrades (fracture of the radius), consequently could not go 
with his company, and while in hiding was captured, compelled to 
take the oath, and consequently took no further part in the war. 
Benjamin F. Smith, the subject of this sketch, was 19 years of age 
when the family came to Missouri, and had received a good common 
English education in the subscription schools of the neighborhood 
where he was reared, in West Virginia. He early entered mercantile 
life, in which he was engaged about eight j^ears, but having little or 
no taste for the business, he withdrew from it and became a farmer, 
in which he has always taken great pleasure. On the 12th of Sep- 
tember, 1862, he was married to Miss Mary E. Gray, a daughter of 
Jesse D. Gray, of this county. Mr. Smith followed farming with 
success, and also engaged in stock-raising and feeding and shipping 
stock, which he continued up to some seven or eight years ago, and 
by his industry and good management succeeded in situating him- 
self comfortably in life. He had a fine farm of about 300 acres, well 
stocked, and considerable other property. But during the hard times 
of 1875-76-77 he met with continued reverses and repeated heavy 
losses, so that, becoming involved, he was compelled to sacrifice his 
farm in order to pay his debts and save his honor and his own self- 
respect. He let his farm go, which sufficed to make him square with 
the world again, but the sacrifice practically broke him up. He says 
of this himself: "Although I was compelled to sacrifice my home- 
stead, which was well improved and a most desirable place to live, I have 
the satisfaction of knowing that I paid every dollar I owed, principal 
and interest, and came out of the wreck with clean hands and a clear 
conscience," — a sentiment worthy of a noble and true man. He 
then removed to Shelby ville, where he engaged in the hotel business, 
which he is still follovving as a means of providing for his family. 
He owns a neat hotel property here, and is giving his children the 
advantages of the excellent schools of this place. He is dissatisfied, 
however, with his present business, and is anxious to sell his prop- 



948 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

erty, in order that he may resume farming, his favorite pursuit. He 
and wife are worthy members of the Christian Church. They have 
three children : Mary Gertrude, Thomas Thornton and Fannie Luke. 
Charley G. died in 1880. Mr. S. is a prominent member of the 
Masonic order. 

SOLOMON D. SMITH 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Smith's parents, Sanford S. and Edith (Clayson) Smith, were 
originally from Connecticut, both born about the beginning of the 
present century. After their marriage they became early settlers in 
what is now Hancock county, Ohio. The father was a farmer by 
occupation, and died there in 1878. The mother lived to the 
advanced age of 82, dying only about a year ago. The father was a 
man of good education and marked mental force, one of the intelli- 
gent, leading men of his vicinity. Solomon D. was born in Hancock 
county, Ohio, on the 14th day of June, 1838. As he grew up he had 
the full benefit of the excellent district and college schools kept in 
Ohio, and being of a studious turn of mind, early acquired a good com- 
mon English education. At the ag-e of 16 he beoan teachinsr school and 
he continued in that calling for some 25 years, though not exclusively 
so in later years. He only retired from the school-room a few years 
ago. In Ohio he had an enviable reputation as a teacher, which he 
fully kept up in this State. Mr. Smith came to Missouri in 1866 
and bought the farm where he now resides, or rather the raw land, on 
which he improved his present farm. He has a good place of 143 
acres, and has the name of beino; one of the thorough g:oino; farmers 
of the township. In 1862 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Isabella 
McLeod, daughter of John McLeod, formerl}'^ of Ohio. 

THOMAS W. SHEETZ 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Both the families of which Mr. Sheetz is a representative, the 
Sheetzs and Vardervers, were early settlers in Shelby county, having 
come here as far back as 1883. Mr. Sheetz' s father, Capt. H. F. 
Sheetz, was a well-to-do farmer of the county. He had served as 
captain of a militia in Kentucky, and also served in the same capac- 
ity in this county. He died here in 1858. Mr. Sheetz's mother was 
Miss Rebecca T. Varderver, a daughter of H. S. Varderver, another 
old and respected citizen of the county. Thomas W. Sheetz was born 
in Hampshire county, Va., in 1836, and was therefore only two years 
of age when his parents came to Missouri. He was reared in this 
county, and was the eldest of nine children, seven of whom lived to be 
grown, two sons and five daughters. Thomas W. Sheetz, after he 
grew up, was married to Miss Maria E. Huston ; she was a daughter 
of Joseph Huston, and they were married in 1866. They have eight 
children, namely: J. H., S. Lee, Barton, Mattie B., Thomas R. and 
W. W. Mr. Sheetz started out for himself, when a young man, with- 



■ HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 949 

•out a dollar, and made his first money by breaking prairie with four 
yoke of cattle and for $3 an acre. He accumulated a little start, 
however, after awhile, and improved a fiirm. Since then by continued 
industry and good management he has accumulated property until he 
is now one of the substantial farmers of Black Creek township. He 
has a fine farm of 400 acres, all well improved and well stocked. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sheetz are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

JUDGE OLIVER T. TERRILL- 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Shelby ville) . 

Judge Terrill is a native of Kentuckj', born in Garrett county, 
November 17, 1823. His parents, John and Sarah (Henderson) 
Terrill, were originally from Virginia, but were married in Kentucky, 
and from there came to Missouri, in 1830. They settled in Marion 
county, five miles east of Philadelphia, where the family lived until 
the father's death, and where Judge Oliver T. Terrill was reared. 
There was a family of 13 children, but only three of them are now 
living, namely : Judge Terrill, John M. and Frances, the widow of 
Mr. Bush, now making her home with the Judge. March 28, 1848, 
Judge Terrill was married to Miss Susan McCullough, a daughter of 
William and Margaret McCullough, formerly of Kentucky, but after- 
wards of Bloomington, Ind., where both lived until their deaths. 
Judge Terrill and his wife are cousins-germain, and they were married 
while she was on a visit to this State. After his marriage he located 
at Philadelphia, in Marion county, but in 1849 went to California 
during the gold excitement, and spent two or three years in the mines, 
teaming and running a ferry across the American river. Returning in 
1858, Judge Terry engaged in farming in Monroe county, and seven 
years afterwards removed to Saline county. In 1859 he settled in 
Shelby county, four miles north-west of Shelbyville, but in 1863 came 
to his present farm adjoining this place. For over 20 years he has 
resided on his present farm and has been engaged in farming and 
handling stock, His place is well improved, contains 167 acres and 
is one of the choice homesteads in the vicinity of Shelbyville. In 
1878 Judge Terrill was appointed a member of the county court to 
fill out a vacancy caused by the death of Judge Edmonds, and in the 
fall of that year was elected presiding justice of the county court for 
a term of four years. Judge and Mrs. Terrill have had but two 
children: Samuel L. and Eugene M. The eldest died at the age of 
14 ; Eugene M., who was married to Miss Retta Spate, of Clarence, 
resides on the farm with his father. Judge Terrill is highly respected 
and esteemed one of the worthy and useful citizens of the community. 

EUGENE D. TINGLE 

(Attorney at Law and Notary Public, Shelbyville) . 

Mr. Tingle, a gentleman of superior education and a lawyer of 
learning and recognized ability, came out to Missouri from Maryland 



950 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. - 

since the war and has been a resident of Shelby county for a number 
of years, where he has established an enviable reputation in his pro- 
fession and has won the consideration and respect of the people of 
the county. He was born in Snow Hill, the county seat of Worcester 
county, Marjdand, July 4, 1840. His father was Hon. William Tin- 
gle, for over 20 years the judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of 
Maryland, and regarded as one of the ablest judges and soundest 
lawyers of that State. Mr. Tingle's mother was a Miss Sallie M. 
Wifliamson before" her marriage, and was a daughter of Eev. Stuart 
Williamson, an eminent Presbyterian divine, well known throughout 
the States of Delaware and Maryland for his great ability and pro- 
found piety. Both parents were of English and Scotch descent and 
were of old and highly respected families in those countries. Mr. 
Tingle was reared at Snow Hill and after a preparatory course in the 
schools of that place, entered Newark Academy, in Delaware. After 
taking a course at Newark, he entered the University of Pennsylvania 
and was a student there when the war broke out. He was preparing 
himself for the legal profession and, being in the senior class, would 
soon have graduated in law, but had to quit the University on account 
of the war. Coming home, he was admitted to the bar by Judge 
Thomas A. Spence, his father's successor on the bench. During the 
war his brother, Stuart Tingle, also a lawyer and on Gen. Lee's staff, 
returning home, was captured and imprisoned at Fort McHeury and 
afterwards killed, and Eugene D. was suspected by the Federal 
authorities of beino; connected with his brother in intrigues for the 
interest of the South, so that he was banished to Canada, to remain 
until after the war. He then returned, the war being over, and took 
charge of Buckingham Academy, at Berlin, Maryland, and afterwards 
had "charge of the Union Academy at Snow Hill. Subsequently he 
practiced law at that point until 1869, when he came to Missouri and 
located at Shelbyville, where he opened a law office. He was married 
here March 11, 1870, to Miss Kate Boettcher, a native of Shelby 
county, Mo., an accomplished lady, who was educated at Columbia, 
Mo. After practicing here for about three years, he returned to 
Maryland, on acconnt of the death of his mother. In 1874 he located 
at Barry, 111., being admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of 
that State. Returning to Shelbyville, however, in about 18 months, 
he was elected Superintendent of Schools for Shelby county, and is 
now successfully engaged in the practice of the law at that place. 
Mr. Tinsle is aDemocrat of the old school and is proud of his Mary- 
land ancestry, and devoted to his native State and her traditions. Mr. 
and Mrs. Tingle have one child, Tommie. The eldest, William, is 
deceased, dying at the age of 11. Mr. and Mrs. Tingle are members 
of the M. E. Church South, and Mr. Tingle is a member of the 
Masonic order. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 951 



CHARLES F. WAINRIGHT, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Shelby ville) . 

Dr. Waiuright graduated from the Missouri Medical College of St . 
Louis in the class of 1882, having taken a regular course at that insti- 
tution of two terms. He had previously studied medicine under Drs. 
Lawson and Harrison, prominent physicians of Newton county, 
placing himself under their instruction in 1879. With a somewhat 
advanced general education before he commenced the study of medi- 
cine, he was well qualified to enter upon his professional course, which 
he pursued with assiduity and rare good judgment, striving not only to 
understand the science of medicine thoroughly, but to familiarize 
himself particularly with such information as would most likely be for 
the greatest practical utility when he should come to enter the regular 
and active practice. It is not too much to say that Dr. Waiuright 
quit medical college one of the most thoroughly qualified young 
physicians ever graduated by that old and eminent institution. It of 
course takes time for a young physician to build up a practice, but 
this he is doing with more than ordinary expedition and success, thus 
fulfilling the promise his career as a student seemed to hold out. He 
has been engaged in the practice at Shelbyville ever since his gradua- 
tion. Dr. Waiuright is a son of Rev. Samuel T. Waiuright, of New- 
ton county, one of the oldest and most beloved of the early ministers 
of the M. E. Church South in the State. Rev. Mr. Waiuright has 
been actively engaged in the ministry for 54 years continuously and 
may still be seen, now in his seventy-second year, in the pulpit, a 
venerable, white-haired man of God, appealing to his fellow-creatures 
to embrace the last best hope of this life, the hope of the blessed 
immortality beyond the grave through faith in Christ. He was from 
Virginia, born in 1812, and came to'^Missouri in 1839, stopping for a 
few years in Shelby county, but finally settling in Newton county, 
after a residence of some years in Lewis county. His good vvife, who 
had blessed him with a worthy family of children and been his devoted 
helpmeet, faithful and true, from the morning of their happy married 
life, was called away by the angel of death in 1879. Mr. Waiuright 
was born while his parents resided in Lewis county, in 1858. His 
mother was a Miss Agee, of Virginia, before her marriage. In Octo- 
ber, 1882, Dr. Waiuright was married to Miss Ellen C, a daughter 
of James D. Parsons, a leading agriculturist and citizen of Shelby 
county. 

JOHN WARD 

(Post-office, Slielby ville) . 

Mr. Ward was born in Portland, Me., November 27, 1807, of 
English descent. He removed with his parents to Canada when 
about three vears of age and resided in Canada and Vermont until 
1834, when he was married to Roxana Haskins, of Shefi"ord, Canada. 

55 



952 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Removing to Ohio in the same year, he was engaged in millwrighting 
there. In 1865 he removed with his family to Shelby county, Mo., 
and engaged in farming, where he has since resided. He has been a 
member of the A. F. and A. M. for 41 years. 

MYRON L. WARD 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbj'ville) . 

Mr. Ward is a native of Ohio, born in Medina county, May 20, 
1849. His father John Ward, as mentioned in the previous sketch, 
was originally from Maine. In 18(35 the family came to Shelby 
county. Mo., Myron L. then being about 16 years of age. He was 
married March 20, 1872, to Miss Libbie McMaster, a daughter of 
Robert McMaster, formerly of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have' 
three children: Stella, Edna and Burchard. Mr. Ward resides on 
the farm on which his father settled in 1865, which is a good place of 
nearly 300 acres. He is one of the successful, energetic farmers of 
the township. 

REV. JOHN T. WELCH 

(Minister of the Christiau Churcli, Shelbyville) . 

The family of which the subject of the present sketch is a represen- 
tative was one of the first to settle in Monroe county. Rev. Mr. 
Welch's grandfather, Thomas Welch, came here with his family in 
about 1835, and located at Paris. Thomas Welch was a man of 
marked intelligence and good education, was a school teacher in fact, 
for a number of years, and is believed to have taught the first school, 
certainly one of the first ones, ever kept at Paris. He died in this 
county at an advanced age in about 1870. David Welch, the father of 
Rev. John T., was some 10 years of age when his parents removed to 
Missouri. After he grew up he was married to Miss Rebecca Dawson, 
and subsequently resided in different counties in this State and in 
Arkansas, but finally settled permanently in Dallas county, where he 
is still livinof. Near the beojinnino- of our late Civil War he enlisted 
as a soldier and for almost four years he wore the gray. A portion of 
the time he served his regiment as Quartermaster. Rev. John T. 
Welch was born while his parents resided in Boone county and on the 
8th of October, 1853. He was principally reared, however, in Saline 
county, wher.e his parents made their home for some years during his 
boyhood and youth. He early formed the purpose to devote himself 
to the ministry and qualified himself at school with that object in view. 
After completing the courses of the common and intermediate schools 
he matriculated at the State University, where he studied the higher 
branches included in the curriculum of general education. He stud- 
ied theology at the Christian University at Canton Mo., where he 
took a complete course and graduated among the first in his class in 
1881. He was duly ordained a minister of the Christian Church and 
on completing his theological education at the university, entered at 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 953 

once actively and regularly into the work of the ministry. He came 
to Shelby county in August of the same year of his graduation and for 
one year following preached as a county evangelist. Since that time 
he has preached for the church at Shelbyville as its pastor and for 
other churches in the county. Rev. Mr. Welch is a man of earnest 
piety, sterling, superior ability, and fine mental culture, both general 
and theological, and already has established a wide and enviable repu- 
tation as an able and successful minister and eloquent, popular 
preacher. If spared to run the ordinary course of nature, his life can 
hardly fail to prove one of great value to his church, to the cause of 
Christianity, and to the welfiire and happiness of those among whom it 
is spent. His future certainly seems one of bright promise. On 
the 20th of May, 1884, Rev. Mr. Welch was married to Miss Met- 
tle Mitchell, a refined and accomplished daughter of Thomas Mitchell, 
present county clerk of Shelby county. 

WILLIAM WINETROUB 

(Dealer in General Merctiaadlse, Shelbyville"). 

Mr. Winetroub was born in Russian Poland, near Warsaw, April 
16, 1842, ol'Levick and Nettie (Wolfe) Winetroub. He was the only 
one of the familv who ever came to America. Becoming enamored of 
a young lady in New York City, Miss Hannah Cohn, he married h&c 
in 1863, and has ever since lieen a citizen of the United States. He 
was a barber by trade, at which he worked until 1866 in New York. 
He then came West and went into the hide and wool business in 
Quincy. After a residence often years Mr. W. came to Shelbyville, 
and has now a large and well selected stock of general merchandise. 
His house is doing a fine trade, and his business is steadily increasing. 
He is a man of splendid qualities and is a success in life. He has a 
family of nine children: Nathan, in his father's store ; Abe, on a farm ; 
Nettie, Sol, Mattie, Ben and Bert, twins ; eToe and Charley. Phoebe, 
the second daughter, died September 4, 1882, aged 16 years. Mr. 
Winetroub belonsrs to the I. O. O. F. 



SALT RIYER TOWNSHIP. 



PETER ALPAUGH 

(Farmer and Apiarist, Post-offlce, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Alpaugh, who has a good farm of 200 acres in Salt River town- 
ship, and is largely engaged in bee culture besides farming and stock- 
raising, is a native of Canada, born in Wellington county, June 15, 
1848. He was the fifth child of 11 children of John and Eleanor 
Alpaugh, and was reared m his native county. He remained in Canada 



954 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

until he was about 25 years of age. He then made a trip to the Pacific 
coast, visiting during his sojourn in the West, California, Vancouver's 
Island, Victoria, and other localities. He also went up the Frazier 
river and altogether was absent in the West for nearly two years. 
Returning to Canada, he remained there until 1880, and in the mean- 
time, in 1877, was married to Miss Maria Sargent, a daughter of Henry 
Sargent, of Canada. Three years after his marriage, Mr. Alpaugh 
came to Missouri and bought his present place in Shelby county. He 
has proved a valuable acquisition to the agricultural interests and 
citizenship of this county. He is a thorough-going energetic man, 
and is rapidly coming to the front as one of the prominent, successful 
farmers of the county. Mr. Alpaugh handles good stock, and in the 
bee line has about 50 stands, a branch of industry which he has proven 
a success. Mr. and Mrs. Alpaugh have two children, Emma L. and 
Ella. Mr. Alpaugh is a carpenter by trade, but has done nothing in 
that line for several years. He followed it, however, principally 
while on the Pacific coast. He stopped at Salt Lake on his return 
home and attended the Mormon worship, where he saw over 5,000 
people assembled. 

JULIUS A. BAKER 

. (Superiateadeat of the County Poor Farm, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Baker is a son of George W. Baker and wife, Rebecca J. Baker, 
who were reared and married in Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 
1852. They settled near Shelbyville, but since have moved to Shelby- 
ville, Mo. The father is one of the energetic and respected men of 
that vicinity, and has held the office of constable for four years. He 
and wife are members of the Christian Church. Julius A. was born 
in Boone county, Ky., October 14, 1846, and is the fifth in a family 
often children. He was reared in Shelby county and received a com- 
mon school education. In 1876 he was married to Miss Mary Engle 
of this county, a daughter of Samuel P. and Lizzie Engle, who came 
here in 1855 from Kentucky. Mr. B. has followed farming in the 
county since his marriage, and on rented lands until January, 1882, 
when he was awarded the contract of superintending and carrying on 
the county poor fjirni, which he has since done with excellent success 
and to the satisfaction of the county court and the public generally. 
This farm contains 160 acres and is managed by Mr. Baker to the best 
advantage. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have two children, Irene and Frank 
W. Mr. B. is a member of the A. F. and A. M. and is Past-Master 
of St. Andrew Lodge No. 96, at Shelbyville. 

ISAAC NEWTON BONTA 

(Farmer and Breeder of Fine Horses, Post-offlce, Shelbina). 

When the trumpet of war sounded in 1861 Mr. Bonta, then at the 
age of 18 and as full of courage and love of country as of life and 
spirit, gallantly enlisted himself on the roll of those plighted to do, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 955 

and, if necessary, to die for the great principles of self-government 
and Southern independence — principles consecrated by the lives and 
services of Washington and the other Fathers of the Revolution. He 
was born and reared in Kentucky, and to the natural and world-known 
courage of the Virginian he added the spirit and dash of the Blue 
Grass State, so that in common with most Kentucklans he made a 
soldier not to be frightened by a noise or deterred from duty by hard- 
ships and dangers. He served under the intrepid, eagle-eyed, lion- 
hearted cavalry leader, Morgan, and under his brilliant, but ill-fated 
banner, made the desperate and terrible raid of Ohio, where " cannon 
to the right of them, cannon to the left of them, cannon in front 
of them, volleyed and thundered." He was captured on Morgan's 
raid, but finally made his escape, and as exit through the Federal 
lines to the South was impossible, he made his way north-westward, 
and located in Illinois. There he found an object in life more inter- 
esting and attractive than the red-stained field of battle, a charming 
young lady. Miss Sallie M. Kinder, to whom he paid assiduous court 
and whom, as all the world goes, he of course won. They were mar- 
ried and remained in Illinois until 1869. He engaged in farming and 
she turned to her household duties. They then came to Missouri 
and settled near Shelbina, where he bought a tract of land. Here he 
has a good farm of 237 acres, and while farming in a general way is 
making a specialty of raising thorough-bred horses, in which he has 
good success. Mr. Bonta is a worthy, peaceable, law-abiding citizen, 
and can say with truth what not every one can say, that neither he nor 
his father ever had a lawsuit in his life. He is a sen of Isaac Bonta 
and Cassandra, nee Bonta, both of the same surname. He was of 
Henry county, Ky., and was born in that county on the 25th day of 
April, 1843. Reared on the farm, he was at home when the war broke 
out, and from there enlisted in the Southern army. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bonta have five children from two to fourteen years old, named, 
Mattie E., Annie M., Isaac W., Cassie B, and Seaton A. 

MRS. ELIZABETH A. BARTON 

(Post-office, Shelbina). 

This good mother and worthy, excellent lady of Salt River town- 
ship, who has been a resident of the township for over half a century 
and since she was eight years of age, and over 20 of the later years 
of whose life have been spent in widowhood, is justly deserving some 
notice in any worthy history of Shelby county. A lady of many 
excellencies of mind and heart and of great fortitude and resolution, 
she has at the same time shown herself to be a woman of more than 
ordinary strength of character, good judgment and energy, by the 
resolute, successful manner with which she long conducted her farm 
affairs and kept her family together while her children were young, 
providing for their care and support by her own good management, 
and diminishing not in the least the estate which her kind and devoted, 
though unfortunate husband, left her at his death. She was born in 



956 HISTORY OF* SHELBY COUNTY. 

Smythe county, Va., June 6, 1825, juid was a daughter of Andrew 
McBrooni and his wife, Margaret McBroora, who came to Missouri in 
1833 and settled in Salt Eiver township, of Shelby county. Mrs. 
Barton was reared here, and on the 27th of February, 1847, was mar- 
ried to Morgan P. Barton, of this county, but formerly of Marion 
county. He was a farmer by occupation, and a fairly successful one. 
He was an affectionate husband and father, and a worthy, good citizen. 
Sympathizing with the South in the late war, he was driven from home 
for that reason and sought safety in the Southern army as a volunteer 
in the ranks of the South. After the fight at Kirksville, however, he 
came home, in the hope that if he took the iron-clad oath of loyalty 
and remained quietly at home, raising corn and other produce, he 
would be let alone. On the contrary, he was hurried off to prison at 
Alton, 111., where he was incarcerated _in a loathsome prison-])en and 
kept for four months and until death, in the form of small-pox, came 
and relieved him of his sufferings. Mrs. Barton still resides on the 
homestead which his honest toil made for her and their children. This 
is a good fjirm of 120 acres, and she is comfortably situated. She has 
reared nine children : George W., John S., Sarah G., Mary S., Squire 
P., Stephen F., William W. and Morgan H. Nancy J. died in 1880, 
after her marriage, leaving a child. Several of the others are also 
married. George W. and Stephen F. are on the farm managing it for 
their mother and themselves on terms that are fair to both. They are 
both energetic young men, and are highly esteemed. Mrs. B. is a 
member of the M. E. Church South, as was also her husband. 

J. M. BATES 

(Of Gottou & Bates, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothiiior, Gents' Furnishing Goods, Hats, 
Caps, Boots, Shoes, etc., etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Bates, one of the substantial citizens and highly esteemed busi- 
ness men of Shelbina, has been engaged in business at this place for a 
number of years, and is a native of Missouri. He was born in Boone 
county, September 21, 1827. While he was yet in boyhood his 
parents removed to Monroe county, settling about eight miles south- 
east of Shelbina. He was reared on the farm in that county, and on 
the 20th of April, 1854, was married to Miss Amanda J., a daughter 
of David Lusk. He then began the improvement of a farm about 
four miles south-west of this place, where he resided until 1868, when 
he came to Shelbina. Here he engaged in the grocery trade with D. 
G. Minter, continuing in business about five years. Soon afterwards 
he opened a lumber yard and carried that on with success until the 
fall of 1883. Since then he has been a partner in the above named 
firm. Mr. Bates is a substantial property holder and in well-to-do 
circumstances. The business of the firm has been spoken of in a 
sketch of Mr. Cotton. Mr. and Mrs. Bates have no children of their 
own, but are rearing an orphan boy, Freddie Sparks, now 14 years of 
age. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a 
Royal Arch Mason. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 9^7 



JOHN M. BECK 

(Post-office, Shelbina). 
Mr Beck, a German by nativity and education, was born in Prussia 
September 4, 1828, and as he' grew up learned the weaver's trade 
In 1851 he came to America and was engaged in merchandismg until 
1854 Mr. Beck came to Shelby county in 1856, and followed car- 
penterino- in this county for some time. In 1862 he enlisted in the 
Union army and served for three years, coming out of the army a crip- 
ple for life. In 1865 he went to Oregon, thence to California, and 
returned in 1866, havino- made the trip to recover his health, which 
was broken down during the war. Here he resumed the weaver s 
trade, which he has since^foUowed. Mr. Beck has a good home prop- 
erty in Walkersville, consisting of a comfortable residence, and some 
six acres of land. 

HENRY BEROLZHEIMER 

(Dealer in Dry Goods, Clothing, Furnishing Goods, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, etc., 

Shelbina). 
Mr Berolzheimer is a native of Germany, born in Nuremberg, 
Bavaria May 25, 1850. His parents were among the well-to-do and 
respected people of that place, and had intended their son, Henry, lor 
the professicm of civil engineering. He was well advanced in the 
course of instruction preparatory for that profession when his plans 
were chano-ed by the death of his mother. He then entered a manu- 
facturino- establishment, where he worked for two years. At the age 
of 18 he went to Paris, France, where he obtained a situation ma 
larcre commission house, remaining there until he was compelled to 
lea?e on account of the Franco-Prussian War. Four days before the 
fall of Sedan he was banished on account of his German nativity. 
From Paris he visited different points, including England and Switzer- 
land, finally taking a position in Port au Prince, on the Island ot Hayti, 
in a laro-e su-ar and cotlee shipping house, making the arrangements to 
that effect in^Havre, France. There he spent about a year, and in 
1872 he came to New York, and for the next live years was employed 
in a manufacturing establishment of that city. Following thjs, Mr^ 
B. made a visit to his home in Bavaria, and atter his re urn to New 
York remained there two years engaged in the ^vholes^de millinery 
establishment, being book-keeper for the house, ^rom New York he 
went to Hazelton, Pa., where he carried on the retail clothing business 
for about 18 months, coming thence west to Parsons Kan ^vhere he 
was in business until his removal to Shelbina m the fall ot 1881 
Here he became a partner with Mr. I. D. Nelkeinhis present line of 
bnsmess,but six months afterwards was compe led by the aid otlawto 
get a hold of the business, and has since carried on the business alone. 
Mr B has been very successful in business at Shelbina, and is now 
one of the leading and wealthy citizens of the place. He carries a 



958 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

stock of from $12,000 to $15,000, and has a trade proportionally 
much laro-er. He is one of the public-spirited citizens of the place 
and is very active both in personal exertions and with his means in 
helping to build up Shelbina. He has laid off a valuable addition to 
the town into broad streets and alleys and handsome building lots for 
residences, and has greatly encouraged the erection of buildings in 
his addition by disposing of his lots at reasonable rates. His addition, 
known as " Pat ton's Addition" contains 17V2 acres, and includes 
•many of the handsomest dwelling sites of the place. He is also a 
large stock holder and a director in the Shelbina Creamery Company, 
having a fifth interest in the stock of $10,000 in that company. Mr. 
H. is not a married man, but it is hardly expected that in the rare 
feminine environment of his present home he will long remain so. 
He is a man of good education, fine business ability, marked energy 
and enterprise, and one of the most public-spirited and useful citizens 
of Shelbina. 

BODINE & CROW 

(Dealers in Lumber, Lath, Shingles, Lime, etc., Shelbina). 

The firm of Bodine and Crow was organized in April, 1884, and 
starting on ample capital, as well as being energetic, popular business 
men, they readily took a position among the leading lumber dealers 
of the county, not only in the value and variety of their stock, but in 
the extent and character of their custom. Their trade extends far 
into the country tributary to Shelbina, and includes many of the best 
men of the county. Messrs. Bodine & Crow have established their 
business on a firm and prosperous basis, and their future in this line 
seems to be one of assured success. They buy for cash and sell at 
the lowest retail rates, and are careful to put no inferior goods on 
their customers under any wrong impressions as to their quality or 
value. Thus they have won and retained the confidence of the public. 
Mr. Bodine has been in the lumber trade here since March, 1883. 
He is a native Missourian, born near Humphreys, in Sullivan county, 
September 30, 1851. His father, J. A. Bodine, was a brother to 
Robert Bodine, the well known attorney of Paris, Monroe county. 
In 1868, Robert E., having previously taken a commercial course at 
Quincy, III., entered the civil engineer corps of the Missouri, Kansas 
and Texas Railway Company and was in the service of the company 
for about three years, becoming during this time a thorough civil 
engineer. In August, 1871, he took charge of the railway office at 
Paris and was agent there for some 10 years, being also telegraph 
operator during this time. At the end of this time Mr. Bodine 
resigned and came to Shelbina. He subsequently engaged in the 
lumber business, as stated above. June 13, 1872, he was married to 
Miss Anna Parsons, a daughter of John M. Parsons, now of Shelbina. 
They have one child. Cooper P. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic order. 
Mr. Crow is also a native Missourian, born near Memphis, in Scot- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 959 

land county, November 6, 1856. His parents, John L. and Agnes 
(Fifer) Crow, came originally from Virginia, but were directly from 
Kentucky to this State. They first located in Scotland county, and 
then settled in Monroe county about eight miles south-east of Shelbina. 
William D., the subject of this sketch, was reared in Monroe county 
from the age of seven years, and was educated at the Shelbina Insti- 
tute. He followed farming and handling stock up to 1882, when he 
engaged in ranching near Deer Lodge, in Montana. Remaining out 
there a year, he then returned and in the spring of 1884 he became a 
partner in the present firm. Messrs. Bodine & Crow are both 
young men of fine business qualifications and are full of enterprise 
and energy ; they are men of character and can be implicitly relied 
on in business affairs and otherwise. They have made an excellent 
start in business and will doubtless continue in the successful career 
they have thus far succeeded in making. 

GEORGE W. BOYCE 

(Farmer and Carpenter, Post-office, Lentner). 

A native of Delaware, Mr. Boyce was born in Sussex county, on the 
21st day of June, 1825, and was the second eldest of seven children 
of Joseph Boyce, a veteran of the War of 1812, and wife, nee Fannie 
Ball. Reared on his fiither's farm in Sussex county, Mr. Boyce, Jr., 
was married in 1849 to Miss Eliza A. Hearn, of Delaware. She died, 
however, the following year, and in 1857 Mr. Boyce came to Missouri. 
Here he was married in 1859 to Miss Elizabeth Barr. Subsequently 
he located in Shelby county, near Lentner, where he was engaged in 
farming until the second year of the war. He then enlisted in the 
Southern army under Col. Porter, but was captured at Kirksville, 
and after his release he went to Delaware, where he remained until 
the close of the war. His wife died in 1865, leaving him one child, 
Mary Lee, who died shortly afterwards. In 1866 he returned to 
Missouri and in 1873 was married to Miss Mary J. Brewington, of 
Shelby county. Mr. Boyce has been residing on his present farm for 
many years. He has a place of 192 acres, and is engaged in stock- 
raising and raising grain. Mr. Boyce learned the carpenter's trade 
when quite a young man and worked at it continuously up to a few 
years ago. He followed carpentering exclusively for many years and 
made his start in life at that occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Boyce have 
one child, Tilden G., named for the sage of Greystone, whom it is 
needless to say Mr. Boyce is for President first, last and all the time, 
whether the " Old Man " can walk or talk or not. Mrs. Boyce is a 
member of the M. E. Church South, and he is a member of the A. 
F. and A. M". 

JOHN J. BRAGG 

(Of Bragg & Dobyns, Dealers in Lumber and Agricultural Implements, Shelbina). 

The biographical department of this work could hardly be con- 
sidered complete if it failed to include, at least, a brief record of the 



960 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

subject of the present sketch. A native of the county, born in Tiger 
Fork township, March 14, 1848, Mr. Bragg was reared among this 
people, and although still comparatively a young man, has already 
been prominently identified with the public affairs of the county, and 
is one of the leading business men of Shelbina. Reared on his 
father's farm in Tiger Fork township, he completed his education at 
Van Rensselaer Academy, and subsequently taught school, beginning 
as early as 1867, when he taught his first school in Dunklin county. 
He afterwards taught in this county, and also, for a short time, near 
Hannibal. At the age of 24, in October, 1872, he was married to 
Miss Carolina S. Hendren, of Marion county. Two years later Mr. 
Bragg ran for circuit clerk of Shelby county, and was nominated and 
elected. His success as a candidate showed that he was well liked 
among the sterner sex as his success as a matrimonial candidate had 
shown him to be with the fair sex. He served in the circuit clerk's 
office for four years, and made so good and popular an officer that 
he v(ras re-elected by a large majority, his last term expiring in 1882. 
He then ran for probate judge, or rather for the nomination at the 
primary election. No one doubted his qualifications or integrity, but 
some of the older Democrats thought he was rather young for so 
important and prominent an office, as he was then but 34 years of age. 
However, he made a gallant race, and was beaten only by one vote 
in an aggregate poll of 2,600. But his want of age and corpulency, 
instead of want of brains, defeated him. Mr. Bragg; engaged in his 
present business in 1883, in partnership with Mr. B. S. Dobyns. 
They have the leading establishment in their line in the county and do 
an annual business of about $40,000. Both are thoroughly capable 
business men and more than ordinarily popular with the custom in 
their lines. Mr. and Mrs. Bragg have a family of five children: 
Walter O., Harold I., Wade Hampton, Corinne A. and an infant. 
Mr. Bragg is a member of the Masonic order, and he and wife are 
members of the Christian Church. 

REUBEN BRANHAM 

(Constable and General Collector, Shelbina) . 

Mr. Branham is a native of Virginia, born in Shenandoah county, 
February 22, 1819. He early learned the tailor's trade, but has not 
worked at it of any consequence since 1855. He was married at 
Harpers's Ferry, Va., February 3, 1856, to Miss Cornelia A. Flana- 
gan. Mr. Branham came to Missouri first in 1855, but returned to 
Virginia soon afterwards and spent a short time in Ohio. He returned 
in 1857 to this State and farmed in Monroe county until he came to 
Shelbina five years afterwards. In 1858 he had his left elbow thrown 
out of place, from which accident he has never had much use of that 
arm. In 1867 he became constable of Salt River township in Shelby 
county, and has held the office ever since, for a period now of 14 
years, except for an interim of three years. He was city marshal of 
Shelbina eight years. He has done a large collecting business and is 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 961 

looked upon as a reliable and faithful collector. Mr. and Mrs. Bran- 
ham have no children. His father was Reuben Branham, Sr., and 
his mother's maiden name was Rebecca Taylor. Both are now 
deceased. 

JOHN McKEE BRISON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

On both sides of his parents' family Mr. Brison comes of old and 
highly respected Pennsylvania ancestry — the Brisons and Wylies. 
Both families were settled in that State prior to the Revolutionary 
War, and Mr. Brison's mother's family (the Wylies) is prominently 
mentioned in the history of the Redstone country of that State. 
She was a near relative to Gen. Stonewall Jackson, of Confederate 
fame. Mr. Brison's father was Oliver Brison, born at Pittsburg in 
1794, a son of James Brison, born at Uniontown, Pa., in 
1709. Judge Wylie, on the Supreme Bench at Washington, D. C, 
is a cousin of Mr. Brison. In 1835 Mr. Brison's parents came to 
Missouri and settled a mile and a half south-east of West Ely, where 
they reared their family of children, of whom there were 10, eight 
still livino;, the dead being Henry C. and Rebecca W., and the living, 
William W., Sarah McK., Lydia McD., Andrew W., John McK., 
Joseph O., Mary E. and Adeline C. John McKee Brison was born 
on the farm near West Ely, March 6, 1837, and was reared a farmer. 
On the 2d of May, 1872, he was married to Miss Mary S. Barton, a 
daughter of Morgan Barton, of this county. They have five chil- 
dren : Henry W., Mary E., Lee Nora, William M. and John C, the 
eldest about 10 years and the youngest, four. Mr. Brison has a good 
farm of 120 acres five miles west of Shelbina. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church, and all his family have been as far 
back as their ancestry can be traced. 

JOHN W. CHAMBERS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina) . 

In the family of George A. and Mary E. (Conner) Chambers, of 
Harrison county, Ky., were nine children, eight of whom grew to 
mature years, namely: John W., Jr., Sarah E., Lewis C, Asa F., 
George N., James M., Charles D. and Robert L. The father was a 
son of Samuel Chambers, formerly of Bourbon county, Ky., and the 
mother was a daughter of Lewis Conner, of that State. The children 
were reared in their native countv, of which the parents were well- 
to-do and respected residents. John W. Chambers, the subject of 
this sketch, after he grew up, having come to Missouri in the mean- 
time, was married January 16, 1868, to Miss Mary E., a daughter of 
T. O. Bairly, of Monroe county. Settling in Shelby county, Mr. 
Chambers has since resided in this county, and has long ranked 
amons: its enertjetic and comfortable farmers. He has a good farm of 
160 acres two miles and a half north-east of Shelbina. Mr. and Mrs. 
Chambers have five children, viz. : George F., Charles E., Mary E., 



962 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

James F. and Carrie. He and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. Mr. Chambers is now in his forty-fourth year, the very 
meridian of life, having been born March 2, 1841. 

JOHN S. CHANDLER 

(Postmaster, Shelbina") . 

Mr. Chandler, a gallant soldier of the Union in the late war, and 
for a number of years past one of the worthy and respected citizens 
of Shelbina, is by nativity from the old Granite State, and a repre- 
sentative by consanguinity of two of the first families of that State, 
and, indeed, of the whole country — the Chandlers and Websters. On 
his father's side he is a descendant of the old colonial Chandler family 
of New Haaipshire, from which sprang Hon. Thomas Chandler, born 
at Bedford, N. H., August 10, 1772; ^he latter's brother, Hon. John 
Chandler, born at Epping, N. H., and of Revolutionary fame; and 
Hon. Zachariah Chandler, their nephew, afterwards of Michigan, born 
at Bedford, N. H., December 10, 1813; as well as Hon. William E. 
Chandler, present Secretary of the Navy, and a number of others of 
less note. ' On his mother's side Mr. Chandler is a direct lineal 
descendant of Col. Ebenezer Webster, of New Hampshire, of Revolu- 
tionary tame, the father of Daniel Webster, the distinguished Ameri- 
can statesman. Mr. Chandler's mother, Sarah M. Webster, was a 
grand-niece to Daniel Webster, or, in other words, her grandfather 
was Daniel Webster's brother. Of Mr. Chandler's parents, John G. 
and Sarah M. (Webster) Chandler, the former was born and reared 
in Vermont and the latter was born in Canada. He, the second in 
their family of children, was born at Groton, in Grafton county, N. 
H., January 8, 1843. When he was a lad 12 years of age his parents 
came West and settled near Beloit, Wis., where he grew to manhood, 
or until he entered the Union army, for the preservation of the gov- 
ernment, in the establishment of which his ancestors on both sides had 
played so conspicuous a part. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the 
Union service under President Lincoln's first call for three months' 
men, becoming a member of the First Wisconsin regiment at Beloit, 
Wis. He served for four months and then I'e-enlisted, after remain- 
ing at home for a time, becoming a member of the Seventy-fourth Illi- 
nois Volunteer Infantry. After this he served until the close of the 
war. Near Rome, Ga., on Sherman's march to the sea, he was severely 
wounded in the foot, the ball lodging between the bones of the foot 
so that it was impossible to extract it, and by this he was disabled for 
further field service. He subsequently did hospital duty until he was 
discharged at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, after the war. He then 
returned home and took a three years' course in the Illinois Soldiers' 
College, at Fulton, graduating in 1871, which included, also, a busi- 
ness education. From Illinois he came to Shelbina, or rather to 
Shelby county, and engaged in farming, his father's family having 
preceded him to this county. A year later he came to Shelbina and 
engaged in the real estate business, which he followed for about three 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 963 

years. After this he became assistant in the post-office, and in 1879 
was appointed postmaster, the position he has since held. He also 
carries a stock of stationery, books, etc., and has held the office of 
notary public for more than 10 years. May 17, 1877, he was married 
to Miss Minnie Williams, an adopted daughter of G. K, Williams, of 
Lentner, this county. Mr. and Mrs. C. have three children : Georgia 
M., Bertie T. and John S. Mr. Chandler is at present Post Com- 
mander of the G. A. R. at this place, and Recorder of the A. O. U. W. 
His wife is a member of the M. E. Church, and he is also a member 
of the Select Knights, A. O. U. W. 

JOHN A. CHRISTINE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Christine, one of the energetic and respected young farmers of 
Salt River township, was a son of John and Nancy E. Christine, of 
this county, the former of whom was killed at the Central ia fight 
during the late war. The mother is now the wife of Rev. Sanford 
Smith. John A. was the eldest of four children, and was born in this 
county, January 26, 1856. Reared in the county, he was educated at 
the district schools and brought up to farm life. He early started out 
for himself, and by industry has made himself a comfortable home. 
They have a good farm of 120 acres and are raising considerable stock, 
giving particular attention to high grade cattle. March 26, 1876, he 
was married to Miss Leatha A. Caldwell, a daughter of Noah and 
Sarah Caldwell, formerly of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. C. have four 
children : Mary A., Sarah E., AUie M. and Jessie E. 

W7^ WILLIAM C. CLARK 

(Manufacturer of Wagons, Buggies, Carriages, etc., and General Kepairer, Shel- 

bina) . 

Mr. Clark's career in his present line of business has been one of 
marked success. He came here in 1874, and at that time had but 
$10 in the world. He went to work, however, to succeed and he 
has not been disappointed. He now manufactures a large number 
of wagons, buggies, carriages, etc., annually, and keeps about six 
or eight hands constantly employed. He also does a considerable 
business in handling Eastern made buof2:ies, and is engaged in the 
agricultural implement trade, such as the McCormick reapers and 
binders, Minnesota steam threshers, hay rakes, etc. In a word, Mr. 
Clark has a large business in his different lines and has accumulated 
a comfortable property. The wagons and other vehicles he makes 
have an excellent reputation, and the demand for them is steadily 
on the increase. Mr. Clark is a native of Canada, born at Brighton 
August 3, 1845. His father, Robert Clark, was a wagon maker by 
trade and followed the business at Brighton for about 25 years. 
William C. was brought up to his trade and learned it thoroughly in 
all its branches, becoming a practical painter, blacksmith and wood- 



964 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

worker. In 1865 his parents removed to Indiana and the foHowing 
year to Shelbina, in this county. Here his father worked at house 
carpentering, William C. working with him for about two years. In 
1868 William C. Clark went to Paris and from there, three years 
afterwards, to Hannibal, where he worked until 1873. Meanwhile, 
December 7, 1872, he was married at Hannibal, Mo., to Miss Anna 
Morrie. About the close of the following year his health became 
seriously impaired, resulting from an attack of cholera, and he there- 
fore went to California. In 1874, however, he returned to Missouri 
and located at Shelbina, where he has since resided. The success of 
his career here we have noted above. Mr. Clark's father made his 
home at this place until a short time before his death, or, rather, this 
was his home at the time of his death, and he died while he was tem- 
porarily absent in Illinois, in August, 1873. The mother, who was. a 
Miss Jane Powers before her marriage, and a native of Michigan, 
returned to Decatur, Mich., after her husband's death, where she is 
now living. Mr. Clark is a member of the M. E. Church South, as is 
also his wife. 

LEVI CLARK 

(Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, and of Lelaud & Clark, Dealers in Furniture, and 

Undertakers, Shelbina). 

Mr. Clark was born near Richland, Richland county, Ohio, January 
10, 1828. His parents, Henry and Nancy Smith Clark, his father 
from England, his mother from New York, came to Ohio at an early 
date. They subsequently removed to Michigan and settled in Hills- 
dale county, where Mr. Clark was reared. When grown to manhood 
he engaged in farming there, to which vocation he had been reared, 
and followed it continuously until he removed to California, where he 
engaged in mining. At the expiration of two years, he returned to 
Michigan and engaged in merchandising, and continued in this busi- 
ness until his removal to Missouri in 1865. Here he bought a farm 
of 240 acres in Shelby county, which he still owns. He remained 
eno;ao;ed in farminir, breedino; and handlino; fine stock, until 1883, 
when he became a member of the present firm of Leland & Clark. 
He still carries on the stock business on his place and is particularly 
eno;aoi:ed in breedino; fine horses of the Canada "Dart" stock. He 
also deals some in real estate. Mr. Clark removed to Shelbina upon 
becoming connected with Mr. Leland in the furniture and undertak- 
ing business. He has a handsome residence here, probably the finest 
in the place. Messrs. Leland & Clark carry an excellent stock of 
goods and are prepared to furnish houses in the latest styles, and 
conduct funerals in the most satisfactory manner. October 26, 1854, 
Mr. Clark was married to Miss Emily Smith, formerly of Vermont. 
They have reared two children : Minnie, now Mrs. William D. Devaul, 
and Mattie, a young lady at home. Mr. Clark has been for 30 years 
a Royal Arch Mason. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 965 

THOMAS J. CLEEK 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Shelbina). 

The seventh in a family of 10 children, Mr. Cleek was born in 
Kentucky, March 4, 1845. Reared in Kentucky, he was married 
in 18GH to Miss Fannie Willhoit, a daughter of Allen and Lucinda 
Willhoit, of that State. He continued to reside in Kentucky af- 
ter his marriage until 1881, when he came to Missouri and settled 
in Shelby county. Here he has a farm of 360 acres, all under fence 
and in a good state of improvement. Mr. Cleek raises stock and 
feeds cattle and hogs for the markets. He is one of the energetic 
and prosperous farmers of Salt River township. Mr. and Mrs. Cleek 
have six children : John, Robert, Carrie, Jessie, Ludley and Willie. 
He and wife are members of the M. E. Church, and he is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. 

ALONZO W. COMBS 

(Of Towsen & Combs, Real Estate, Loan and Insurance Agents, Shelbina). 

Born and reared in Shelby county, Mr. Combs, although still quite 
a young man, by his own enterprise and personal worth has placed 
himself in a position of one of the recognized business men of Shel- 
bina, a member of one of the prominent real estate and insurance 
firms of the county. His parents were comparatively early settlers 
in this county. His father, Robert Combs, came here from Scott 
county, Ky., in about 1845. Afterwards he was married to Miss Mary 
Worland. She was of Monroe county. Her father, Bariiaby Worland, 
settled near Clinton in 1840. He died there two years afterwards. 
Mr. Combs' father died September 24, 1864. He left two children: 
Maggie, now Mrs. Thomas Hume, and Alonzo W. Their mother 
makes her home with her daughter, Mrs. Thomas Hume, at Shelbina. 
She is now in the sixty-third year of her age. Alonzo W. was born 
on his father's farm, south-west of Shelbina, December 30, 1860. 
He continued on the farm until 1878, and then took a course at the 
Shelbina Collegiate Institute, having previously attended the com- 
mon schools as he grew up. In 1881 he entered the office of J. 
William Towson, and after working for him as a clerk for 18 months, 
he went to Dakota, and in 1883 became partner with Mr. Towson in 
business. In the meantime, however, he had attended the Commercial 
School at Kansas City. Mr. Combs is a member of the Catholic 
Church. 

CHESTER COTTON 

(Of Cotton & Bates, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, Fur- 
nishing Goods, and Bayers and Shippers of Wool, Shelbina). 

Mr. Cotton, the senior member of the above-named firm, who have 
one of the old and established business houses of Shelbina, is a native of 
Maryland, born in Baltimore, June 1, 1833. When he was about six 



966 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

years of age his parents, Chester K. and Catherine T. (Cowling), came to 
Missouri, and made their home at Shelbyville. The father, Chester K. 
Cotton, was a native of Connecticut, born at East Hartford, Novem- 
ber 18, 1802. His father, Allen Cotton, was likewise a native of 
Connecticut, but his mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Ware, 
was originally from Boston, Mass. Allen Cotton was a sea captain, 
engaged in the West India trade, and died at sea while on a voyage. 
Chester K. Cotton, the father of the subject of this sketch, was reared 
at Hartford, Conn., and learned the gilder's trade. He subsequently 
went to New York, where he worked four years. In 1828 he went to 
Pittsburg, where he resided three years and was married. He then 
went to Baltimore, Md., and was engaged in gilding looking-glass 
frames until 1837, when he came to Missouri. In this State he 
engaged in general merchandising at Hannibal, and two years later 
removed to Shelbyville, where he was engaged in merchandising for 
about 16 years, being one of the pioneer merchants of that place. 
Since then he has been in no active business. He was a business col- 
league with James C. Hawkins, another old and well known citizen at 
Shelbyville, though not a partner. Mr. Cotton was quite successful 
in business, and had one of the largest houses in the county. In 1855, 
as stated above, he retired, and after that his sons carried on the busi- 
ness. In 1858 he was elected county treasurer and held the office for 
over four years, having been re-elected in 1860. He was married, as 
already stated, at Pittsburg, Penn., the date being March 22, 1830. 
His wife survived her marriage for nearly half a century, dying at last, 
January 29, 1875, at Shelbina, to which place he had removed the 
year before. They reared four children, namely : Chester, the subject 
of this sketch; William B., who died at Shelbyville in 1870; Mary 
E., the wife of Robert Armstrong, and Catherine, who died in 1874, 
having previously married John Dickerson. Mr. Cotton is a member 
of the M. E. Church South, and a prominent Odd Fellow. 

Chester Cotton was reared at Shelbyville, and educated at the 
Masonic College of Philadelphia, in Marion county. He then began 
selling goods with his father at Shelbyville, and he continued at Shel- 
byville until 1868, when he came to Shelbina. Here he has since 
been engaged in business (but with different partners) since 1855. 
For a period of nearly 30 years he has been out of merchandising but 
one year. Messrs. Cotton & Bates carry a large and well selected 
stock of goods and have a heavy trade. Mr. Cotton has been known 
to the people of this county from boyhood, and no man is more highly 
esteemed by them than he. Messrs. Cotton & Bates buy large quan- 
tities of wool — from 40,000 to 50,000 pounds annually. Mr. Cot- 
ton was married on the 30th day of September, 1853, to Miss Virginia 
C. Durrett, a daughter of Dr. Durrett, of Marion county. Mo., 
formery of Virginia.^ They had five children, only one of whom sur- 
vives, Mary T. (Cotton) Scarce. His second marriage occurred April 



She died November 2, 1873. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 967 

28, 1875, to Miss Nettie E. Banter, who died February 27, 1880. He 
was again married June 25. 1884, to Miss M. E. Christie, of Monti- 
celk), Lewis county, Mo. Mr. Cotton is a member of the Methodist 
Church. 

DEAN & McCLELLAN 

(Dealers in Dry Goods aud Groceries, Slielbiua). 

This firm was formed in June, 1882, by Mr. McClellan purchasing a 
half interest in the store from Mr. Dean, who a short time previously 
had succeeded the Grange Company in this business. Messrs. Dean 
& McClellan carry a stock of about $5,000 and do a large business, 
aggregating some $30,000 annually. They also handle all sorts of 
produce, wool, etc., Mr. Dean is a man of long business experience 
and is well and favorably known to the people of this community. He 
was born in Marion county, January 22, 1834, and while he was yet 
in infancy his parents removed to Monroe county, in the vicinity of 
Lakenan, where they settled on a farm. William T. grew up on the 
farm near Lakenan and received a good common school education. At 
the age of 18 he began teaching school, which he continued for about 
three years. In 1855 he engaged in merchandising at Lakenan, nnd 
he built the first business house that was erected in that place. The 
pioneer merchant there, he continued selling goods at Lakenan with 
gratifying success until after the outl)reak of the war. He was then 
made the victim of a series of robberies and outrages in his business 
by depredating bands of so-called soldiers, until his losses became so 
heavy that he was comi)elled to close out. He then engaged in farm- 
ing and continued it until 1873, when he came to Shell^ina, and for 
the year following was engaged in trading in stock. The next year 
he ran a livery stable at this place, and in January, 1876, he took 
charge of the Grange store as ao;ent and manao-er. He continued at 
the head of this store until March, 1882, when he became sole propri- 
etor. About three years prior to this, he and Mr. A. M. Reveley 
formed a partnership for handling leaf tobacco, and they are still in 
that business, although other parties have since been admitted to the 
firm. They ship from 100,000 to 200,000 pounds directly to Liver- 
pool, England, annually, and pay out from $30,000 to $40,000 each 
year. Mr. Dean was the first mayor of Shelbina under the city-of- 
the-fourth-class law and was elected three times in succession. He 
refused a nomination for the ofiice in 1884. He was also a member 
of the school board for about eight years. He was also a member of 
the town board before the city re-organized, and has served as secre- 
tary for both the town and school boards. On the 10th day of August, 
1859, he was married to Miss Susan C. B., a daughter of William 
Saunders, formerly of Smythe county, Va. They have a family of five 
children: Blanche A., a popular and accomplished teacher in the 
county; James M., who is in the store with his father; Jennie N., 
Kate S. and Willie McW. Mr. Dean is a man in comfortable circum- 

' 56 



968 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

stances and has considerable property in Shelhina, inclnding a hand- 
some homestead. He is a prominent Mason and an A. O. U. W. 

Lewis McCleHan, the junior member of the above named firm, was 
born near Monmouth, in Warren county. 111., April 18, 1846. His 
parents were Samuel R. and Charlotte (Osborn) McClellan, both 
originally of Ohio. His father was a farmer l)y occupation, and came 
to Missouri in 1866, locating at first in Chariton county, but two years 
afterwards at Sedalia, where he died in 1872, and where the mother is 
still residing. Lewis McClellan also came to Missouri in 1866, and for 
eight months following drove a stage between Shelbina and Shelby- 
ville. He then learned the blacksmith's trade at Bucklin, in Linn 
county, and worked at it for about two j^ears, the last six months at 
Shelbyville. In 1870 he quit the trade and followed farming for 
nearly two years on Salt river. From the farm he removed to Shelby- 
ville and engaged in clerking in a mercantile house. In 1873 Mr. 
McClellan came to Shelbina, where he continued merchant clerking 
until he became partner with Mr. Dean in the present firm. Septem- 
ber 23, 1870, he was married to Mrs. Sarah E. Sherwood, widow of 
Lee Sherwood, deceased, who was killed in the fight at Centralia, 
during the war. She was a Miss Whitekar. She has a son by her 
first marriage, now a young man residing at Oak Dale. Mr. McClellan 
is a member of the I, O. O. F., and Mrs. McC. is a member of the 
Daughters of Rebecca. Mr. McClellan is an energetic, self-made busi- 
ness man and is entitled to no ordinary credit for the successful and 
irreproachable manner in which he has made his way up in life. 

A. DESSERT 

(Dealer in Groceries, Canned Goods, Bread, Cakes, Candies, Nuts, Tobacco, 

Shelbina). 

Mr. Dessert's parents, Joseph and Sophie (Wright) Dessert, were 
both born and reared in Alsace, France, and afterwards came to 
America, and made their home at Cincinnati for a time. Mr. D. was 
born at the "Paris of America," March 17, 1853. While he was yet in 
infancy the family removed to Mount Sterling, 111., and there young 
Dessert grew to manhood. He learned the carpenter's trade in Illinois, 
and worked at it until he came to Shelhina. Meanwhile, on the 20th 
of December, 1879, he was married to Miss Vinnie Lloyd, a daughter 
of L. J. Lloyd, of near Clarence, in this county. He and his brother, 
Louis C, came to Shelbina in 1878. Here they established their 
present business, and afterwards Alphonse bought out his brother's 
interest. He has had good success at Shelbina, and has a large and 
increasing trade. He has two store rooms, or rather two houses 
which he occupies, one a two-story and the other a one-story brick, 
both of which he owns. Before coming to Shelbina, however, Mr. 
Dessert had resided in St. Louis for aI)out five years, and came di- 
rectly from that city to this place. He and family have one child. Ruby. 
They have lost two in infancy. Both parents are members of the 
Catholic Church. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 969 

HON. BENJAMIN F. DOBYNS 

(Shelbina). 

Among the early and highly respected families to settle in Marion 
county, this State, was the one of which the subject of the present 
sketch is a worthy and prominent representative. Mr. Dobyns' 
parents settled in Marion county from Virginia as early as 1835. His 
father, Thomas W. Dobyns, was a native of Richmond county, Va., 
as was also his mother, who was a Miss Ann C. T. Durrett before her 
marriage. Both were of well-to-do and respected families of Rich- 
mond county. They were married there in the fall of 1833. After 
their marriage they continued to reside in their native county, where 
Mr. Dobyns, Sr., was engaged in merchandising, until their removal 
to Missouri. In Marion county he improved a farm and enoaoed in 
farming and stock-raising. He became quite successful in thet«e 
industries and soon took a prominent position among the leadino- 
farmers and stock-raisers of the county. He was busily and success- 
fully occupied with these interests when the war broke out, but times 
soon became so unsettled and affairs generally so disorganized that he 
concluded to quit the State. He, therefore, moved to Indiana, where 
he engaged once again in merchandising. After the war he did not 
return to Missouri, but is now a resident of Clark county. 111., to 
which he removed from Indiana in 1872, and where he has resumed 
the occupation of farming. His first wife, the mother of the subject 
of this sketch, died before his removal to Indiana, at the old family 
residence in Marion county, on the 7th of April, 1862. She was a 
lady of marked intelligence and a most amiable disposition, and was 
not only regarded with more than ordinary affection by her own loved 
ones, but was greatly esteemed by her friends and neighbors and by 
all who knew her. Ten children were the fruits of her long and happy 
married life, seven of whom are living: Benjamin F., William T., 
Mary C, novv the widow of Samuel G. Muldrow, deceased ; Virginia 
A., now the widow of William B. Cotton, deceased ; George W., at 
present of Los Angelos county, Cal. ; John D., now of Cheyenne, W. 
T. ; and Samuel J., now residing with his father in Clark county, 
III. The deceased of the family were Richard H., Elizabeth L., and 
Thomas J. To his present wife Mr. Dobyns, Sr., was married in 
Indiana in 1864. She was previously a Miss Lyda Gynn. There are 
no children by this union. Mr, Dobyns, Sr., is a man who is always 
and justly esteemed a valued citizen of any community in which he 
makes his home. A man of sterling inteority and generous in all his 
impulses, taking a conservative, sober view of the affairs of life, and 
liberal and public-spirited in matters that affect the common good, he 
has generally been successful in his own private business, and has at 
the same time been a useful citizen in aiding, by his counsel and sup- 
port and by his means, to the extent of his ability to contribute to all 
movements and enterprises, social, moral and material, calculated to 



970 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

promote the best interests of the public. A man of liberal education 
himself, he has ever been a stanch friend to all educational interests, 
and has worthily illustrated the high value he places on mental cul- 
ture by his zeal and liberality in the education of his own children. 
One of his most marked characteristics is his inexorable firmness in 
whatever he undertakes and the thoroughness with which he does 
everything that he esteems worth doing at all. His motto has ever 
been, that " What is worth doing at all is worth doing well." He is 
a man who has given much attention to the cultivation of his own 
mind and the acquirement of a wide range of information in general 
affairs, and on subjects that usually attract the attention of intelligent 
and thoughtful minds. For over 30 3'ears he has been an earnest 
member of the church, formerly of the Missionary Baptist but latterly 
of the Christian, and he takes a deep interest in the affairs of the 
church and the cause of religion. Politically, though never an 
extreme partisan or personally interested as an asi)irant for office, he 
is an active Democrat and has acted with that party ever since the 
disorganization of the Whig party. During the organization of the 
Whig party he was a faithful old-line Whig, believing it to be the 
party of old-fashioned honesty and conservative policies in the admin- 
istration of the affairs of the country. No citizen of the county where 
he resides is more highly esteemed than he. Coming of such a father 
{is this, of such parents as he did, and reared by them as he was, it is 
perhaps not more than ought to be expected that Hon. Benjamin F. 
Dobyns, the subject of this sketch, has led a successful career in life 
and has attained to an enviable prominence in affairs. His career 
since the war has been one of steady advancement in business matters 
and of unbroken progress in winning and retaining public confidence. 
He was born on the old family homestead in Marion county, Septem- 
ber 18, 1837. His earl}"^ education was acquired in the public schools 
of the neighborhood, and later along he was sent to Bethel College, at 
Palmyra, where he took a somewhat extended course in the higher 
branches. Brought up to the occupation of farming and handling 
stock, when he reached the age that it was proper for him to start out 
for himself that industry, not unnaturally, became his regular calling; 
and he followed it with energy and success until the outbreak of the 
late war. Young and full of zeal and enthusiasm for the cause of the 
South, which enlisted his convictions and sympathies, he promptly 
enrolled himself among the volunteers from Marion county to defend 
his native State against Northern invasion and to protect the rights 
and institutions of his Section. He first enlisted in the State Guard 
under Gen. Price, and, after the expiration of that term of service, in 
the regular Confederate service, in which he continued with courage 
and fidelity until the close of the war. He was under Gen. Frank 
Cockrell, of the First Missouri Brigade, during most of his term of 
service, and in the course of the war, among other engagements, par- 
ticipated in the following principal battles : Pea Ridge, luka. Port 
Gibson, Champion's Hill, Big Black and Vicksburg, and in the prelim- 
nary fighting preceding the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. He was 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 971 

twice wounded, once while resisting Sherman's march to the sea, 
when he was struck by a ball in the right hip, receiving a serious 
wound, and in the charge of the Federal line of battle upon the Confed- 
erate chain of rifle-pits was captured. His first wound was in the breast 
immediately over the heart, where he was struck by a piece of shell 
during the siege of Vicksburg. Mr. Dobyns was three times a pris- 
oner. After the war he returned to Missouri and for several years 
was engaged in teaching school in Marion and Shelby counties. Hav- 
ing formed the purpose to devote himself to the legal profession, 
while he taught school he also studied law and in 1870, at the fall 
term of the Shelby circuit court, he was by that court admitted to the 
bar. The following spring he opened an office at Shelbina and 
entered actively into the practice of his profession. In 1872 he 
removed to Shelbyville, where he remained engaged in the practice 
for 10 years, returning thence to Shell)ina. A young lawyer of good 
general education and thorough legal training, and a young man of 
good natural ability and sterling character, industrious and of good 
habits, he earh' recommended himself to the confidence of the pul^lic 
as an attorney, and readily acquired a respectable practice. In 1872 
he was nominated for the office of prosecuting attorney of the county 
by his party, the Democracy, and at the November election was 
elected without opposition, a vote highly complimentary to his per- 
sonal popularity. In this office it is but the statement of a fact to say 
that he made an efficient and able prosecutor. In proof of this was 
his re-election for a second term. He occupied the office of prosecut- 
ing attorney for four years, and was no longer a candidate for 
re-election. Continuing the practice of his profession, in which his 
success was unquestioned and his progress to the front uninterrupted, 
in 1880 he was again called into the public service. He was then 
nominated for, and elected to the office of State Senator from this, 
the Thirteenth Senatorial District, the position he still holds. In the 
Tliirty-first General Assembly Mr. Dobyns was chairman of the 
senate committee on constitutional amendments, and in the Thirt}'^- 
second General Assembly he was chairman of the senate judiciary 
committee. These positions show more plainly and fairly the stand- 
ing he had in the senate than any assurance that could be given here. 
They are the two leading positions on the floor of the senate, and, 
indeed, the chairman of the judiciary committee is considered ex-offi,cio 
the leader of his party on the floor. At the time he was chairman of 
the committee on constitutional amendments it was a position of more 
than ordinary importance, on account of several radical changes in 
the organic law of the State then advocated, and it was hardly second 
to that of the chairmanship of the judiciary committee. In the 
Senate Mr. Dobyns acquitted himself with marked abilit}' and greatly 
to the credit of his district and the State. A short time ago, on 
account of failing health he was compelled to relinquish to a great 
extent the practice of law, but too energetic to remain idle, he 
engaged in business the requirements of which are less severe on his 
health than the duties of his profession. His principal business inter- 



972 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ests at present are in the Empire Lumber Co., of Eau Claire, Wis., 
which is doing a hirge business in the manufacture and sale of lumber, 
it being one of the leading lumber companies of the North-west. Mr. 
Dobyns is also a member of the firm of Bragg & Dobjns, of Shel- 
bina, prominent dealers in luml)er and agricultural implements. Such 
is the professional, public and business record of a man who began 
after the war as a district school-teacher, and without a dollar. 
Certainly it is one, the publication of which he has no just reason to 
deprecate. On the 5th of December, 1872, Mr. Dobyns was married, 
at Hannibal, to Miss Cordelia P. Williams, a daughter of Dr. Samuel 
Perry Williams, of Monroe county, now deceased. Dr. Williams was 
a brother to Gen. John S. Williams, present member of the United 
States Senate from Kentucky, and known all over the country as 
" Cerro Gordo Williams," the hero of the battle of Cerro Gordo, in 
the Mexican War. Mrs. Dobyns' mother was a Miss Mary Burgess, 
of Monroe county, before her first marriage, and is now the wife of 
Col. D. M. Dulany, of Hannibal. Mr. and Mrs. Dobjnis have been 
blessed with five children, namely : Edwin, now deceased ; and Mary 
M., Gertrude A., Ida D. and Benjamin F., Jr. Mr. and Mrs". 
Dobyns are both church members ; he of the Missionary Baptist and 
she of the Christian. 

WILLIAM T. DOBYNS 

(Ovvner and Proprietor of Dobyns' Livery and Sale Stables, Shelbina). 

Mr. Dobyns has had aliont eight years' experience in his present 
line of business and sufficient time therefore has elapsed to de- 
termine his success. He now has an excellent stable with about 
$5,000 invested, and is doing a very satisfactory business in the 
livery line. His buggies and other vehicles are first-class, both in 
style and quality, and his riding and driving stock are all that 
could be desired. He is exceedingly accommodating in business and 
personally pleasant to all, and, being attentive to his customers, he 
has justly become popular both locally and with the traveling pub- 
lic. Born in Marion county, September 15, 1844, he was a son of 
Thomas W. and Mary A. (Durrett) Dobyns, respected residents of 
that countv and early settlers there from Virginia. Reared there, 
with most of the young men of Marion county his symp;ithies were 
with the South during the late war, and in 1862 he joined Col. Porter 
on the hitter's raid through North Missouri. He was in the fight at 
Kirksville, and after the scattering of his command, he, trying to make 
his way South, was taken prisoner and confined at Macon City. There 
he was taken sick and through the influence of his father was released 
on oath and a bond of $5,000 not to enter the Southern service again, 
a further condition being that he should stay in one of the Northern 
States until the close of the war. He therefore went to Indiana, where he 
had relatives, and during the progress of the war attended school at 
Greensburg. In 1864, however, becoming pretty well loyalized by 
this time, as the authorities thought, he was permitted to return home. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 973 

Here he resumed work at farmiuo; in Shelby county with au uncle, in 
which he continued for about nine years. In 1873 he came to Shel- 
bina and formed a partnership with Sam. G. Muldrow in baling and 
shipping hay. He followed this business for three years, and then he 
antl Mr. Muldrow built a stable and engaged in the livery business. 
The next year Muldrow sold out to Taylor, and afterwards Taylor to 
Worland, but for the last four years Mr. Dobyns has l)een in bus- 
iness alone. December 15, 1880, he was married to Miss M. L. 
Moremen, a daughter of Augustiu Moremen, formerly of Kentucky, 
but now in Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Dobyns have two children, Vivian 
E. and Thcnnas A. 

EZRA A. DOUGHERTY 

(^Post-ofRce, Shelbiua, Mo.). 

Mr. Dougherty was originally from Pendleton county, Ky., a son 
of Jonathan Dougherty and wife, Sarah, who was a daughter of Col. 
Thrasher, a prominent and influential citizen of Pendleton county. 
There were nine other children in the family of which the subject of 
this sketch was a member ; but seven of the family, however, are now 
living. Two of those deceased left families. The deceased were 
Mary, Mrs. Orr ; Nancy, Mrs. Oldham, and Cynthia McNeil. The 
living are Jane, Mrs. Mullins ; Sarah, now Mrs. Mullins ; Malinda, 
now Mrs. Moore; Susan, now Mrs. Thrasher; Arabel, now Mrs. 
Gosney, and Ezra A., the subject of this sketch. Ezra A. Dougherty 
was born in Pendleton county, Ky., November 11, 1843, and on ac- 
count of his father's death made his home when young principally 
with his sister, Mrs. Sarah Mullins. He learned the cabinet maker's 
trade, at which he worked for a time. In 1876 he was married to Mrs. 
Sarah E. Mullins, a daughter of Stephen Mullins, of Pendleton 
county. Subsequently he removed to Shelby county. Mo., and set- 
tled about a mile north-east of Shelbina, where he has a farm of 200 
acres. Mr. Dougherty is a thoroughly industrious farmer and has 
made practically all he has by his own energy and close attention to 
farming. In 1872 he had the misfortune to lose his first wife. Sub- 
sequently he was married to Miss Matilda Harrison, a daughter of Lee 
Harrison, of Shelby county. They have four children, namely : Will- 
iam A., Samuel K., Zelina P. and James W. Mr. D. is a member 
of the Christian Church, and his wife of the Baptist denomination. 
Politically he is a Greenbacker, with strong Democratic antecedents 
and leaning. During the war Mr. D. served in the Confederate army 
in Co. D, under Capt. Ben B. Mullins, of the First Kentucky Mounted 
Riflemen, under Col. Clay. He served until the close of the war, 
and among other engagements participated in the battles of Perry- 
ville, Ky., Athens, Tenn., Chickamauga and Farmington. In the last 
named, one of the severest hand to hand engagements that he was in, 
he was taken prisoner and sent to Camp Morton, in Indiana, where he 
was confined until March, 1865. 



974 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



SIMEON DOWNING 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Books, Wall Paper, etc., etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Downing is the oldest druggist in continuous business at Shel- 
bina, and has one of the leading drug stores of the county. He has 
had a long and successful experience in the drug business, and has an 
extensive and thoroughly established trade. His stock is large and 
is complete in every particular, and everything is kept in neaf, busi- 
ness-like and presentable order. Mr. Downing is a native of Ohio, 
born in Madison county, April 11, 1822. His father was a farmer by 
occupation, and the son was reared to a farm up to the age of 14. 
He then engaged in clerking in a general store at Springfield, Ohio, 
and remained there several years. In 1841 he changed his location to 
Burlington, Iowa, and clerked there for the following five years. 
From Burlington he came to St. Louis, in which city he made his 
home for about 17 years. A part of this time he was in business on 
his own account, in connection with a partner. In 1862, Mr. Down- 
ing, who had married soon after locating at St. Louis, moved to Shel- 
bina with his family, and formed a partnership with Dr. Gerard in 
the drug business. They continued together for four years. Since 
then Mr. D. has had different partners, but is now alone in business. 
He has been here for nearly 22 years, and is therefore well known to 
the people of the communit3^ No man in Shelbina stands higher in 
general esteem than he. Octol)er 30, 1849, Mr. Downing was married 
to Miss Anna Wishart, formerly of St. Clairsville, Ohio. They have 
reared five children: The first and third, Clara J. and Mary A., are 
deceased, and are interred in Bellefontaine cemetery; Anna, now the 
wife of C. H. Lasley ; and Simeon, Jr., a young man just past 18 
years of age, who is now in St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Downing are 
members of the M. E. Church South, and have been many years. 

NATHAN H. DOWNING 

(Of Downing & McCully, Editors and Proprietors of the Shelbina Index). 

Mr. Downing, a man who is entitled to more than ordinary credit 
for what he has accomplished in life, young as he still is, by reason of 
the unusual difficulties against whicli he has had to contend — the 
misfortune of deafness — is, like most of the younger men of Shelby 
county, a native Missourian. He w^as born near Newark, in Knox 
county, June 19, 1852. His father, A. R. Downing, was originally 
from Kentucky, born at Lexington June 20, 1808. He removed to 
Knox county. Mo., in 1830, and assisted to build the first house ever 
put up in that county, being therefore one of the pioneer settlers 
of the county. Mr. DoAvning's (Nathan H.'s) mother was a Miss 
Susan Fresh, before her marriage, originally of Baltimore, Md. He 
was reared on the farm in Knox county, and up to the age of 12 (since 
becoming of school age) had attended the district schools. But when 
12 years old he had the misfortune to lose his hearing and since then 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 975 

has liibored under the difficulties resulting from that misfortune. He 
was then unable to read writing and from that time had Imt little or 
no school instruction. His entire attendance at school since has not 
exceeded two or three terms during the winter months of a couple of 
years. Nor has he ever had any instruction at an institution for the 
deaf. What he has accomplished, therefore, in the way of an educa- 
tion, has been by his own industry, application and resolution. And 
it should be remarked that he has more than an average general prac- 
tical English education. It is but the truth to say that he is a man 
of superior information. Brought up a farmer, he continued to follow 
that occupation, and veith sul)stantial success, until a couple of years 
ago, finding time, meanwhile, as has been intimated above, to qualify 
himself for another field of usefulness. In the fall of 1882 Mr. Down- 
ing took charge of the Index and has since had control of it, recently 
in partnership with Dr. McCully. His career as a journalist has 
'been quite up to his expectations. He is firmly established in the 
newspaper business, one of the recognized representatives of jour- 
nalism in this county and this portion of the State. His strong points 
of success are — his industry, close attention to business and clear, 
level-headed, practical common sense. There is nothing flighty, 
eccentric, flashy, or experimental about him. He goes plainly forward 
in the even tenor of his way, with soberness of thought and manage- 
ment, and untiring industry, and of course succeeds. It would be an 
accident if such a man were to fail anywhere. He is a strong, intelligent 
writer, and is perfectly upright and sincereh' devoted to the best inter- 
ests of the community where he lives and of the country. April 17, 
1878, he was married to Miss Ida R. Drake, a daughter of Francis 
Drake, deceased, of Tiger Fork township, Shelby county, who was 
murdered by McNiel's cut-throats during the war. Mr. and Mrs. 
Downing have three children : a pair of fine twins, Bernie and Bertie, 
born June 24, 1879, and Carl Norton, a fine boy equal to four sets of 
twins of average stock, born December 2, 1881. 

REV. JOHN EATON 

("Baptist Minister and Farmer, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

The Eaton family of this country sprang originally from Gov. 
Theophilus Eaton of New Haven, Conn., a son of an eminent minister 
of Stony Stratford, Oxfordshire, England, where Gov. Eaton was 
born and reared. Subsequently he went to London and became 
largely interested in farm commerce at that city. Later along he was 
appointed the King's agent at the Court of Denmark. He immigrated 
to America in 1637 and was shortly afterwards chosen a judicial 
magistrate of Massachusetts. In a few years he became one of the 
founders of New Haven, and when he died in 1657 was the Governor 
of Massachusetts. A historian of his time speaks of him thus: " He 
was universally respected for his integrity in office, and his amiability 
in all the relations of life." A descendant of his was William Eaton 
of Woodstock, Conn., an officer of the American army, and who, 



976 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

about the beginning of the present centuiT, distinguished himself in 
the affair at Tripoli. A later descendant is Hon. William W. Eaton, 
for six years a member of the United States Senate from Connecticut, 
and now a member of the United States House of Representatives, 
one of the truest and best men who ever sat in the American Congress. 
From the time of the founding of the family in Connecticut, over 200 
years ago, its descendants have become widely distributed throughout 
the country, and are now found in nearly every State in the Union. 
Among others may be mentioned Hon. John H. Eaton, author of the 
" Life of Andrew Jackson," for twelve years a United States Senator 
from Tennessee, Secretary of War under President Jackson, Minister 
to Spain, and afterwards Governor of Florida. There was also Hon. 
Lewis Eaton, a distingnished member of Congress from New York; 
and in our own State we have Prof. James R. Eaton, a representative 
of the New York branch of the family, and recently professor of 
natural science and natnral theology in William Jewell College. Rev. 
John Eaton, the subject of this sketch, comes of the Kentucky branch 
of the family, which immigrated into the State from Tennessee. He 
was the second son of George and Rebecca (Anderson ) Eaton, who came 
to Missouri from Mason county, Ky., in 1831, and located at first' in 
Paliuyra, where Rev. John Eaton was born November 6, 1832. The 
following year the family removed to Shell)y county, where they made 
their permanent home and where Rev. John Eaton was reared. The 
father died here in 1871, and the mother in 1877. The family is of 
an old Baptist family, and its descendants have followed in the foot- 
steps of their fathers. Besides Rev. John Eaton, there are fonr other 
sons and there are four daughters living of the family of children. 
Rev. John Eaton had only the opportunity to obtain a common school 
education, which, however, he carried to more than ordinary pro- 
ficiency by his close studious habits and his improvement to the best 
advantage of all his leisure time by study at home. He early became a 
member of the Baptist Church and soon decided to devote himself to the 
ministry of the church. After a course of preparatory study with that 
object in view, he was licensed to preach in 1865, and was regularly 
ordained December 30, 1866, a minister of the Missionary Baptist 
Church by a presbytery composed of the following elders : Revs. 
George C. Brown, Milford Power and others. Since then Mr. Eaton 
has been mainly engaged in missionary work. He is also pastor of 
the North River Church, in Knox county. He is a man well known 
for his earnest piety, his zeal in the cause of religion, and his ability 
and success as an al)le, faithful preacher of the Gospel. Like John 
the Baptist, he relies not alone on his sacred calling for the mainte- 
nance of himself and family, but has a good farm of 156 acres and 
eats the bread which comes of the sweat of his own brow. He is also 
a worthy member of the Masonic order. Rev. Mr. Eaton was married 
in 1865, when Miss Nannie J. Dickerson became his wife. She was 
a daughter of Cosby D. and Mary J. (Gaines) Dickerson, formerly 
of Virginia. She died, however, the following year alter their mar- 
riage, leaving him one child, Nannie Y. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 977 



REV. GEORGE W. EATON 

(Minister of ttie Baptist Cliurchand Farmer, Post-office, Shelby ville). 

Rev. George W. Eaton is the youngest of five sons living of George 
Eaton and wife, Rebecca, formerly of Kentucky, mentioned in the 
sketch of his brother, Rev. John Eaton, and was born in this county, 
at his father's homestead, August 17, 1840. His primary education 
was received in the district schools in the neighborhood, and in 1861 
he enlisted in the Union service. He served in the army for about two 
and a fourth years, and until lie was honorably discharged on account 
of disability. In 1863 he was severely wounded and a long and 
serious illness resulted, finally disabling him from further service. 
After somewhat recovering his health, Mr. Eaton entered school again 
in 1866 at Emerson, in Marion county. The following year he 
entered La Grange College, and after a term spent in that institution, 
he enoa^ed in teachino; school as a resort to obtain means with which 
to further prosecute his education. Meanwhile he also studied for 
the ministry, to which he had previously decided to devote himself, 
and with which object in view he was educating himself. He had 
united with the Missionary Baptist Church in 1858, and in the spring 
•of 1867 he was licensed to preach. About two years later he entered 
upon a theological course at William Jewell College, in which he con- 
tinued for two terms. In 1871 he was regularly ordained a minister 
of the gospel by a presbytery of his church, composed of Revs. Caleb 
S. Tajdor, Harrison Eaton, Henderson Thomas and John Eaton. 
Entering actively into the work of the ministry, he continued it with 
zea] and without interruption until 1875, when he returned to William 
Jewell College to further prosecute his theological course in that 
institution. The following year he resumed the active work of the 
ministry, and has continued in it more or less ever since. He has 
been engaged more in farming for the past seven years than any other 
vocation. Rev. Mr. Eaton is a man of scholarly attainments, learned 
in theology and, withal, a pious, zealous minister of the gospel, and 
an al)le, eloquent preacher. He has been quite successful as a worker 
in the vineyard of the Lord, and has been the instrument of bringing 
many souls to seek that rest and comfort in this life and that safe 
assurance for the life to come which only faith in Christ and obedience 
to divine law, united with a contrite heart and mind, can give. He has a 
comfortable homestead in the country of about 150 acres. In 1867 
he was married to Miss Susan Z. Forsythe, a daughter of Lewis and 
Margaret (Williams) Forsythe, formerly of Pennsylvania. Mrs. 
Eaton is a lady of superior culture and refinement, and highly esteemed 
as a neighbor and acquaintance. She is a graduate of the State 
Normal School at Kirksville. Mr. and Mrs. E. have two children : 
Cassins V. and Maggie W. Two, besides, they have lost in infancy. 
Mrs. Eaton is a granddaughter of David Williams, one of the three 
captors of Maj. Andre during the War of the Revolution. Rev. Mr. 
Eaton is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. 



978 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



WINFIELD S. ESKRIDGE 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Wines, Liquors, Chemical Dye Stuffs, Paints, Oils, Sta- 
tionery, Notions, Wall Paper, Etc., Etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Eskridge's active life may be divided into four fields of activity 
— military service, railroading, farming and the drug business. In 
all these he has acquitted himself with credit, and by industry and per- 
sonal worth has succeeded in establishing himself in business life, and 
in winning general confidence and esteem. He was born in Shelby 
county, four miles north of Shelbyville, May 6, 1844. His father 
was Thomas O. Eskridge, for a number of years clerk of the county 
court in this county, and a highly respected citizen. Mr. Eskridge's 
mother was a Miss Mary P. Matson. Both came to Missouri in an 
early day, the father from Virginia and the mother from Kentucky. 
He is now deceased, but she is a resident of Excelsior Springs, in this 
State. In 1861 Winfield S. enlisted in the Third Missouri Militia, 
and the following year he became a member of the Second Missouri 
State Militia under Col. H. S. Lipscomb. He served until March 7, 
1865, and saw a great deal of hard service in this State. He was 
seriously disabled while in the service from the kick of a horse, and 
did not recover for some time. After quitting the service he became 
fireman of the Hannibal and St. Joe Railway, and worked in that 
capacity for nearly two years. He was then given charge of an engine 
and continued with the road until 1873 as enjjineer. He ran the first 
engine across the Kansas City bridge. From the railroad Mr. Esk- 
ridge engaged in farming near Shelbyville, which he continued until 
he bought his present drug store in 1884. He has a good stock of 
goods in the lines mentioned above, and having succeeded to an excel- 
lent trade, he is retaining and increasing it by his accommodating 
treatment of customers, his fair dealing and close attention to busi- 
ness. May 9, 1869, he was married to Miss Catherine L. Carothers, 
a daughter of John H. Carothers, an early settler of Shelby county. 
They have four children : Anna Belle, Richard, Mary L. and Olive. 
Mr. E. is a member of the A. O. U. W., of the Triple Alliance, the 
G. A. R. and the Select Knights. 

WILLIAM F. FIELDS 

(General Agent for North Missouri of the Phenix Insurance Co., of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
Farm and Commercial Departments, Post-offlce, Shelbina). 

Mr. Fields, who has attained considerable prominence in the insur- 
ance business, being the head representative of the Phenix Company, 
in the departments mentioned above, in this section of the State, with 
over 20 agents under him, was reared in Missouri and is all but a Mis- 
sourian by nativity, having been brought to this State by his parents 
while he was yet in infancy, in 1846. He was born in Kentucky on 
the 29th of April, of the same year. The family on coming to this 
State settled in Marion county, where the father, Benjamin E. Fields, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 979 

died in the spring of 1873. The mother, however, is still living, and 
in widowhood. She was a Miss Clarissa Pemberton, before her mar- 
riage, of the well-known Kentucky family of that name. They reared 
five children, besides William F., namely: Rachel W., Benjamin E., 
Belle, now Mrs. William M. Baker, of Sterling, Kan. ; Aggie, now 
Mrs. V. Taif, of Qiiincy, and Anna E., also of Qnincy, where their 
mother resides. William F. was reared on a farm, in Marion county, 
and began life for himself as a sewing machine agent. He then rep- 
resented a Quincy agricultural implement house for about two years. 
After this he became agent for the Rockford Insurance Company of 
Illinois, and located at Macon City, in Macon county. In 1880 he 
located at Shelbina, and such was his success and the reputation he 
made among insurance men as a capable agent and active business 
man, that some two years ago he received the appointment he now 
holds as general agent of the Phenix Compan3S of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
The duties of this position require all his time and attention, and he 
has so conducted his business as to make an enviable record as a 
special agent. He has a neat office on Walnut street, where he will 
always be found during business hours occupied with the duties of his 
position. Mr. Fields has been married some seven years. His wife 
was previously Miss Mattie E. Thompson, of Macon City. She is a 
daughter of Harvey Thompson, of that place. They were married 
March 1, 1877. They have one child, Pearl, aged five years. 

CHARLES A. FLETCHER 

eCoutractor and Builder, Shelbina). 

Mr» Fletcher is a native of Massachusetts, born at Upton, June 19, 
1826. When a small boy he went to Pennsylvania, and afterwards to 
Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin. He learned his trade in Ohio and has 
worked at it continuously ever since. Locating in Ft. Wajaie, Ind., 
he worked there for many years, and removed to Wisconsin and came 
to Shelbina in 1871. He has erected a large number of houses at 
Shelbina, business houses and dwellings, and keeps on an average 
about half a dozen hands employed. He also has an interest in a 
number of houses at this place. Mr. Fletcher is an energetic, 
go-ahead man and one of the substantial and highly respected citizens 
of Shelbina. May 20, 1868, he was married to Miss Rebecca Wilson, 
of Iowa, but originally of Pennsylvania. They have two children: 
Mary L. and Jessie J., both at home. Mrs. F. is a member of the 
Presbyterian Church and Mr. F. is a prominent Odd Fellow. 

ANDREW J. FLETCHER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

This stirring and energetic farmer, like many of the better citizens 
of Salt River township,"is a native of the Old Dominion, and was 
born in Frederick county on the 29th day of January, 1829. His 
father was Moses Fletcher, and his mother a Miss Lacy Gray before her 



980 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

maiTiage, both of old Virginia families. Mr. Fletcher was reared iii- 
Virginia and learned the milling business. At the age of 20 in 1849, 
he came to Missouri and settled in Marion county, and worked for 
Major Henderson for about four years. By this time they bought 
the mill property known as the Bay mills, and followed milling there 
and farn)ing until 1864, when, having married in the meantime, he 
went to Montana and mined out there for about three years. Return- 
ing to Missouri in 1867, he located near Barkley's Station, in Marion 
county, and followed farming there for two j^ears, when he removed 
to Shelby county, where he subsequently bought a farm. He was 
eno;ao;ed in farming in this countv until 1877, at which time he took 
charge of the county poor farm, which he conducted with success tor 
six years. He then returned to his farm where he has since resided. 
He has a good place of 116 acres, where he is engaged in farming in 
a general way and in raising cattle and hogs. He has good graded 
stock and his Poland-China hogs are of a superior quality. He also 
makes a specialty of raising grass and corn in which he has good suc- 
cess. In 1855 Mr. Fletcher was married to Miss Euth M.'Welton, 
a daughter of Manly and Marine Welton, of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. 
F. have three children : Annetta, Gustavus A. and Arlington W. 
They have lost two, both in infancy. Annetta is the wife of Theodore 
Bethards, farmer of this county. Mr. and Mrs. F. are members of 
the Christian Church, and he is a member of the I. O. O. F. 

JOSEPH H. FOX 

(Of Fox & SoQS, Livery, Feed and Sale Stables, Shelbina). 

Mr. Fox is a son of James C. Fox, a well known and respected 
citizen and an old and successful business man of Paris, in Monroe 
county, a sketch of whose life justly occupies a position of considera- 
tion in the history of that county, recently issued by the publishers 
of the present volume. Joseph H., the subject of this sketch, was 
born three miles east of Middle Grove, on his father's homestead, at 
that time, October 24, 1824. He was reared principally to mercan- 
tile life, for at an early age he began to assist in his father's store, in 
which he continued until after he was of full age. In May, 1845, he 
was married to Miss Mary McCann, and he then engaged in business 
for himself at Paris, Thomas McCrutcher being his partner. After 
remaining in business for about two years, he sold his interest in the 
store to his father, and went to Hannibal, where he opened a livery 
stable in partnership with Harvey Jordon. In 1849, however, he 
returned to Paris, and engaged in Iniying and shipping mules, becom- 
inff a leadino; mule driver to the South. In the course of his entire 
experience in handling mules he has made between 25 and 30 trips to 
the South. Mr, Fox located on a farm in Monroe county in 1851, 
and remained there for about 14 years. For about two years during 
the war he was dealing largely in government stock, buying horses, 
mules, etc., and selling to the government authorities. Mr. Fox came 
to Shelby county in 18<p7 and improved a farm here of 640 acres, two 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 981 

and a half miles south-west of Shelbina. He resided there for about 
10 years and then l)ought the Shelbina mill, which he ran for some 
four years in connection with others, under the firm name of Fox, Fry 
& Co. In February, 1882, he engaged in his present business, his 
son being his partner. They have, about $8,000 invested, and have 
one of the best stables, inclnding stock of vehicles, horses, etc., in 
all the surrounding country, not excepting counties. They keep about 
50 head of horses, and have as fine an assortment of handsome buggies, 
carriages, etc., as one would wish to see of a summer's day. Mr. Fox 
has been married three times. His first wife survived her nuptials 
less than a year. To his second wife he was married in 1848. She 
was a Miss Martha IMcKiiiney. She survived her marriage nearly 25 
years, dying in 1872. To his present wife Mr. Fox was married 
October 6, 1873. She was a daughter of James West, her maiden 
name being Lucy E. West. Mr. Fox, besides his livery business, has 
large land interests, aggregating over 700 acres of improved and 
unimproved land. By his first wife Mr. Fox reared a son, John R., 
who is now in California, and by his second wife he has had eight 
children, namely : James A., who is in Louisville, Ky., Mary M. is at 
home, as are also Allie, Walter L., Ann, Edward L., Marion, William 
S., Lou T. By his present wife are four children : Milton, Bennie, 
Thomas and Mable. 

PHILIP E. FREDERICK 

(Of p. E. Frederick, Settles & Co., Breeders and Dealers in Blooded Horses and 
Fine Cattle, and General Stock-raisers and Traders, Shelbina). 

Mr. Frederick is a Virginian by nativity, born in Shenandoah 
county, March 24, 1823. His father, however, John Frederick, was 
a native of Pennsylvania, but his mother, whose maiden name was 
Lydia Earhart, was originally from Maryland. While he was in boy- 
hood they removed to Ohio and after a residence of eight years in 
Tuscarawas county, and five years in Marion county, they settled per- 
manently in Knox county, where Philip E. grew to manhood. Receiv- 
ing only a limited common school education, about the time of reaching 
his majority he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for 
about ten years. During this time he became a large contractor and 
builder at Fredericktown. Such was the extent of his business that 
on deciding to engage in mercantile pursuits in 1851, he sold it for a 
consideration of $8,0"00 in cash. After this he was merchandising for 
two years, when he disposed of his store and commenced dealing in 
live stock. He was continuously engaged in this in Ohio until he came 
to Missouri in 1865. At first his live stock business was confined to 
handling horses, and his market shipping points were New York and 
Philadelphia, Pa. Even before the war he became a leading stock 
dealer of Central Ohio, and has achieved more than ordinary success. 
When the war began he became a government contractor, and, indeed, 
was awarded the'first contract for horses and mules made by the gov- 
ernment in Ohio. He became bv all odds the largest live stock 



982 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

contractor with the government in that State. During the war he 
supplied 19,000 horses and mules and 38,000 cattle. He continued 
in this business until the close of the war, and accumulated a large 
fortune, but in the wonderful fall of prices of stock that occurred 
about the close of the war, and soon afterwards, he suffered immense 
losses, and meeting with other reverses nearly all of what he had 
accumulated was swept away. He saved from the wreck of his for- 
tune, however, about $20,000, and with this came to Missouri. Here 
he bought a farm in Shelby county of 1,140 acres. He began the 
breeding and raising of fine stock, particularly horses. He introduced 
the first Norman stock ever brought into the county and made some- 
thing of a specialty of breeding fine draft horses. He also took a 
leading part in the improvement of the breeds of stock generally, and 
dealt largely in fat cattle. For a term he was president of the County 
Fair Association, and always took a public-spirited interest in the 
stock interests of the county. After a residence of three years on his 
farm he went to St. Louis and dealt in stock for the three succeeding 
years in that city. Returning to his place in Shelby county, he con- 
tinued the. stock business here and in 1878 he became the general 
Western agent of George Adams and Berke, one of the leading live 
stock commission firms of the country, located at Chicago. He has 
since had the general western agency of this firm, and has his head- 
quarters at Cheyenne, Wy., where he now spends about half of his 
time. From Wyoming alone he has controlled for his firm the ship- 
ment of nearly 25,000 head of cattle and over 7,000 head of sheep, 
and, indeed, controls the principal part of the shipments from that 
territory. Mr. Frederick commenced on a salary of $100 a month, 
but in three years' time it increased until it amounted to $5,000 a 
year. He now receives $500 a month while at work in the West. He 
devotes about half of his time to his agency and the balance to the 
business of the firm of P. E. Frederick, Settles & Co., at Shelbina. 
This firm is ena;ao;ed in breedino; fine horses and fine cattle, and deal- 
ing in cattle generally. For breeding purposes and raising their fine 
stock they have erected a handsome barn, an unusually large and con- 
veniently constructed building, tastily finished at a cost of about 
$4,000. They are making a specialty of breeding fine draft horses 
and have four handsome stallions — one a Norman horse, two im- 
ported Clydesdales, and one a handsome English shire draft horse, also 
imported, and all the finest representatives of their breeds that can be 
had in this country or Europe. They are also breeding fine Hereford 
cattle, a class of stock introduced into this county by Mr. Frederick 
some five years ago. On their farm, 16 miles north-east of Shelbina, 
they have a fine herd of Herefords, and all of this breed annually from 
50 to 75 head of young bulls and heifers, at an average price of about 
$75. They also ship about 7,000 head of young cattle of good grades 
to Wyoming and Montana each year, where Mr. Frederick disposes 
of tiiem while in that territory attending to the business of his agency. 
His two sons, John T. and Sherman D., constitute the "Co." in the 
company, and both are now absent, one in Iowa and the other in Indi- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 983 

ana, each shipping youns; stock to Wyoming and Montana. This is 
one of the most enterprising stock firms in North Missouri, and they 
are doing a great deal for this and surrounding counties in the improve- 
ment of the grade of stock raised and otherwise. They are all men 
of energy and business enterprise, and Mr. Frederick, himself, is one 
of the most thorough-going, progressive stock men in the country. 
As intimated above, he is a man of fjimily. He was married in Knox 
county, Ohio, June 22, 1843, when Miss Mar3^ A. Carager became his 
wife. Thev have two sons and three daughters, John T. and Sherman 
D., mentioned above ; Jeminda J., now the widow of J. N. Banning, 
lives in Chicago; Hattie, the wife of D. Howard, the agent of the 
Chicago and Alton Railroad at Chicago, and Miss Olive at home. Mr. 
and Mrs. F. are members of the M. E. Church. 

WILLIAM D. GARDNER 

(Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbiua) . 

Among the farmers of Shelby county, who are taking a commend- 
able interest in improving the grade of stock of the county, par- 
ticularly cattle, is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. Gardner. 
One of the substantial farmers of the county, he is at the same time 
a man of progressive ideas and enterprise. He believes in carrying 
on farming and whatever he may conduct on the most approved plan 
and methods, and according to the latest and best ideas. Mr. Gard- 
ner has a fine farm of 431 acres, one of the handsomest and best in the 
county, exceptionally well improved, including a commodious and 
tastily two-story residence of seven rooms, besides hall, veranda and 
porches, etc., a large and well built barn and other out-buildings, 
good fences, pastures, meadows, etc., and an abundant supply of 
water. Mr. Gardner is making a specialty of breeding and raising 
fine Hereford cattle, and has just imported a splendid representative of 
that breed from Europe, which stands at the head of his herd. He also 
has a good farm of nearly 200 acres in Monroe county, which he uses 
for pasture. Mr. Gardner was born in Henry county, Ky., July 19, 
1830, and was a son of Wesley and Abigail (Dawson) Gardner, who 
removed to Henry county from Clark county, of the same State, 
where the mother shortly died. The father was afterwards married 
and reared a second family of children. He died there in 1846. There 
was but one child by his first marriage — the subject of this sketch. 
Of the four by his second marriage two are living, uameh^: James G. 
and Sarah, now Mrs. Woodfield. William D. Gardner was reared in 
Kentucky, and in 1859 came to Missouri and settled on a farm five 
miles north-west of Granville. On the 10th of Jan lary, 1861, he was 
married to Miss Martha J. Sparks, a daughter of Henry J. Sparks, of 
Monroe county. In 1866 he removed to his present farm, one mile 
south of Shelbina, where he has since resided. He and wife are 
members of the Baptist Church. 

57 



984 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



JAMES GOUGH 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Ill the early tide of settlers in Monroe county, between 1830 and 
1840, were the parents of the subject of the present sketch — James H. 
and Cordelia (Jenkins) Gough, who came to that county from Scott 
county, Ky., in 1835. They settled near Clinton, where they resided 
for many years and reared their family of children. James Gongh was 
the second of the four children who lived to reach mature years, and 
after he grew up he was married January 9, 1872, to Miss Mary T. 
Worland, of Monroe county. They have two children, Ella May and 
James Guy. Mr. Gough has been a resident of Shelby county for a 
number of years, and is one of the substantial farmers of Salt River 
township. He has a good farm of 300 acres, and is engaged in farm- 
ing and feeding cattle for the markets. His place is largely in blue 
grass used for stock purposes. 

JAMES H. GOUGH 

(Fanner, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Gough' s grandfather, James Gough, was one of the pioneer 
settlers of Scott county, Ky., having settled there from Virginia prior 
to the close of the Revolutionary War. Agnatius Gough was born 
and reared in Scott county, and in 1812 was married to Miss Susan 
Beavin, a daughter of Henry Beavin, of Nelson county, Ky. Five of 
their family of six children lived to years of maturit3% namely : Susan 
R., Harriet E., George B., William M. and James H. James H. 
Gough, the subject of this sketch, had better school advantages by 
far than the generality of youths of Kentucky at that time. His father 
was a warm friend to education, and being in easy circumstances was 
not parsimonious with his means in the education of his children. 
James H. was taught by a private teacher, a Catholic priest of pro- 
found learning, and fine scholarly attainments, and then he was placed 
under the instruction of Rev. Benedict, the well known author of 
Benedict's Grammar. On the 13th of April, 1833, young Mr. Gough, 
for he was then young, was married to Miss Cordelia C. Jenkins, a 
daughter of Thomas C. Jenkins, of Scott county. After his marriage 
Mr. Gough followed teaching principally, but in connection with farm- 
ing, for about two 3^ears. He then came to Missouri with his family, 
and settled in Monroe county, near Clinton, where he bought land 
and improved a farm. He followed farming and teaching for four 
years, and then devoted his whole time and attention to farming and 
handling stock. He bought and shipped stock to St. Louis and after- 
wards to Chicago, and traded in stock generally. In 1862 he bought 
the farm where he now resides. He has ever since continued the 
stock business, and has long held the position of one of the leading 
stock-traders of this part of the county. For a number of years he 
has been engaged in raising and improving the breeds of his stock, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



985 



and he takes a special part in having first-class stock all the time. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gough arc members of the Catholic Church. However, 
his'first wife died in 1864, and he was married to his present wife two 
jears afterwards. She was a Miss Winifred J. Kendrick. Mr. G. 
has reared a family of six children, four of whom are living: James 
A., Sarah I., Susan E. and Nancy E. 

E. N. GERARD, M.D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Shelbiua). 

Dr. Gerard is well known throughout Shelby and in neighboring 
counties as an able and successful physician, and in surgery he has an 
especially enviable reputation. Having been in the practice for nearly 
25 years, his career has been one of great usefulness and more than 
ordinary' prominence in his profession. Possessed of a marked natural 
aptitude for the practice of medicine and surgery, and thoroughly devoted 
to his profession, he has been from the beginning not less diligent and 
industrious as a student than faithful and untiring in the practice. 
Thus by constant study and investigation and long and active experi- 
ence, he has placed himself in the front rank of his profession in this 
section of the State. In surgery he has performed a number of oper- 
ations which have attracted the attention and commendation of leading 
physicians throughout this entire section of country. It is but the 
statement of a plain fact, which simple justice demands that should 
be made, to say that he is looked upon by the profession generally as 
one of the able, progressive practitioners of this part of the State. Dr. 
Gerard was a son ^of Hon. William Gerard, of Ralls county, a man 
well and favorably known in North Missouri. He was originally from 
Viro-inia, but in early life came to Kentucky, where he married and 
resided a number of years. He was a journalist by profession and 
was contemporary with Frank P. Blair, Sr., Amos Kendall and other 
well known journalists of Kentucky. Indeed, he was associated with 
Blair and Kendall in the publication of the Frankfort (Ky.) Argus 
at that time the leading Whig organ of the State. However, in 1830 
he came to Missouri, having been a member of the Kentucky Legisla- 
ture before coming, and soon afterwards located in Ralls county, 
where he became a leading citizen of that county. He was for a 
number of years a prominent and able member of the Legislature 
from Ralls county, and occupied a commanding position in that body 
by reason of his thorough knowledge of public affairs, liis^^j^il^ty oiid 
unquestioned high character. He died in Ralls county in 1860. His 
second wife was^Miss Elizabeth Ayres, also from Virginia, and of the 
well known fVimily of that name of the Old Dominion a promment 
representative of which is Col. E. W. Avres, of Washington City, 
at present the representative of the Kansas City (Mo.) Times, 
at the National Capital, and during the late war a Confederate 
cavalry officer under Stonewall Jackson, noted for his dash and brill- 
iant success in difficult and hazardous expeditions. Div Gerard, the 
fourth of his parents' family of children, was born at Rensselaer, in 



986 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Ralls county, August 29, 1834, and was educated at the Van Rens- 
selaer Academy. Of a bright, quick mind, at the age of 20 he was 
qualified to teach school and engaged in teaching in that county. He 
taught school for several years and in 1857 began the study of medi- 
cine at West Ely under Dr. J. B. Hayes. Continuing his studies with 
diligence, he was soon prepared to enter medical college, and accord- 
ingly matriculated at the Medical Department of the University of 
Iowa, from which he graduated in 1861. He then began the practice in 
Monroe county, where he practiced until his location at Shelbina in 1864. 
He has since continuously been in the practice at this place. During 
the first year of the Shelbina Institute he delivered a course of lectures 
on physiology for the institution, which attracted general attention 
and very favorable comment from the profession. He is a prominent 
member of the County, District and State Medical Societies. June 
18, 1857, Dr. Gerard was married to Miss P. E. Drane, of Monroe 
county. They have been blessed with eight children : Walter, a 
graduate of Shelbina Institute, is now principal of the public schools 
of Fort Worth, Texas; his oldest daughter, Susie, died January 15, 
1884 ; she was an accomplished lady and a devout member of the P. 
E. Church ; she was 23 years old. Mamie is also a graduate from 
Shelbina, as is her sister, Nellie. The others are Edward, Richard, 
William and Harry. The Doctor and wife are members of the Epis- 
copal Church, and he is a member of the Masonic and A. O. U. W. 
orders. Dr. Gerard is a man of fine culture and extensive general 
information, one of the best informed men, in fact, in the county, 
and, withal, an entertaining conversationalist of pleasant address. 

RICHARD P. GILES 

(Attorney at Law and Prosecuting Attorney, Shelbina). 

Mr. Giles descended from a branch of an old Virginia family by 
that name, though he himself was born in Kentucky and reared in 
Missouri. His parents, Dr. Granville T. and Rosanna (Duncan) 
Giles, the father from Wythe county, Va., l)ut the mother born and 
reared in Kentucky, came to Missouri in 1848, and located at Paris, 
in Monroe county. Four years afterwards, however, they settled on 
a farm near the present site of Granville, where they resided for about 
12 years, until 1865. They then went to Palmyra, where they re- 
sided until their removal to Shelbina in 1877. Dr. Giles, a son of 
Harvey and Elizabeth (Ganaway) Giles, was born in Wythe county, 
Va., September 11, 1820. While he was in infancy his parents 
removed to Kentucky. Reared in Hardin county, of that State, he 
studied medicine under Dr. Philip J. McMahon, afterwards an eminent 
physician and wealthy citizen of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Dr. Giles 
attended the Institute of Medicine in Kentucky and afterwards gradu- 
ated at the Kentucky School of Medicine, the successor to the old 
"Institute." He has been in the active practice of medicine for 
nearly 40 years. Besides Richard P. he has reared two other chil- 
dren, namely: Granville T. and Howsen D., the latter a pharmacist 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 987 

of Fort Worth, Texas. Richard P. Giles was born at Stephensbiirg, 
Hardin county, Ky., June 20, 1846. Educated at St. Paul's College, 
he subsequently read law under Redd & McCabe, at Palmyra, Mo., 
and was admitted to the bar by Judge Harrison in 18G8. He prac- 
ticed law at St. Joe for three years and then in Palmyra two years 
longer. In 1873 he located at Shelbina, but quit the practice for 
about two years, during which he was engaged in the grocery business. 
He then resumed the practice and has continued in it ever since, 
devoting his whole time to the duties of his profession. In 1880 he 
was elected prosecuting attorney of the county. Two years after- 
wards he was re-elected, and still holds the office. November 19, 
1869, Mr. Giles was married to Miss Annis Logan, of Palmyra, who 
died June 13, 1874. 

JAMES G. GLENN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leutuer). 

Mr. Glenn, an old citizen of Shell>y county and one of its pioneer 
settlers, is a native of Kentucky, born in Mason county on the 9th 
day of October, 1810. He was the seventh in a family of 10 children 
of Robert and Ruth Glenn, his father originally of Virginia, but his 
mother born in New Jersey. They were married in Kentucky and 
lived there until their deaths. James G. was reared to the occupation 
of a farmer and in 1833 was married to Miss Angeline Prather, a 
daughter of Thomas Prather, of the same family from which Griff 
Prather, of St. Louis came. The same year of his marriage Mr. 
Glenn struck out for the West to seek his fortune in the wilds of 
Missouri, and settled in Shelby county on what is known to this day as 
the " Old Camp Ground." In 1837 he sold his place there and moved 
a mile and a half east, where he resided for seven years. "While at 
the latter place his wife died in 1841, and the following year he was 
married to Miss Mary, a daughter of Robert and Sarah McKathen, 
formerly of Tennessee. During the year of the high water in 1844, 
Mr. Glenn went to Marion county, but afterwards returned and im- 
proved a farm on North river. In 1857 he sold that place and settled 
on his present farm, near Beacon's Chapel, where he has since resided. 
This was previously known as the Duncan farm, and contains 180 
acres. Mr. Glenn is engaged in raising stock and farming in a gen- 
eral way. Daring the war he served a year in the militia, and is now 
a member of the G. A. R. 

CAPT. ALEXANDER R. GRAHAM 

(Shelbina). 

Among the prominent citizens and leading, wealthy agriculturists 
of Shelby county, Capt. Graham occupies an enviable and well merited 
position. He is as largely interested in the agricultural affairs of the 
county as perhaps any man in it, and is one of its progressive, public- 
spirited and enterprising citizens, always found ready to do anything 



988 HISTORY or shelby county. 

in his power for the best interests of the county — its growth and 
development, its increase in wealth and population, and its general 
prosperity. He is either the owner of, or largely interested in farms 
in the county, aggregating nearly 2,700 acres, one of which, contain- 
ing 1,350 acres, is one of the finest stock farms and best improved 
places throughout this whole region of country, the dwelling alone 
costing over $6,000. Capt. Graham leases his farms, but reserves a 
general superintendence over them, and sees to it that they are 
managed to the best advantage, both for the proper care of the places 
and as sources of profit to the lessor and lessee. Capt. Graham, of 
Scotch-Irish descent on his father's side, is a native of Pennsylvania, 
born at Pittsl)urg, June 10, 1835. His father, John Graham, was one 
of the wealthy and prominent citizens of that place. He was for over 
40 3^ears a leading banker of Pittsburg, Capt. Graham's mother was a 
Miss Agnes Roseburg, of English descent, a lady of marked intelligence 
and strength of character. Alexander R., as was the case with the 
other children of his father's family, was given the best educational 
advantages the country afforded. After passing through the prepar- 
atory schools, he took a general collegiate course at Kenyon College, 
in Ohio. From Ohio he went to Kentucky, and matriculated at the 
Military Institute of that State, but did not continue there to graduate. 
He quit the institute in 1856, and at the time stood among the first 
in the senior class. Meanwhile his father had become largely inter- 
ested in real estate in the West, and particularly in Missouri. Among 
other tracts he owned considerable bodies of land in Ralls and Shelby 
counties. Alexander R. and his two brothers, John and Stafford, 
concluded to come to this section of the country and engage in stock- 
raising. They accordingly -came to Missouri in 1857, and located in 
Ralls county, but in the summer of the following year Alexander and 
Stafford came over to Shelby county and settled on a tract of about 
800 acres, near Shelbyville, which their father had previously pur- 
chased. Here they began the improvement of a farm, and Stafford 
resided on the place until his death, which occurred in 1868. Mean- 
while he had married, Miss Anna Maupin, of Monroe county, having 
become his wife. She is now the wife of James Farris, of San 
Francisco, Cal. The other brother, John, remained in Ralls county 
until 1865, when he returned to Pennsylvania, where he now resides. 
Alexander R., the subject of this sketch, was married February 5, 
1861, to Miss Cecilia McMurtry, a daughter of Alexander McMurtry, 
one of the first residents of Shelbyville, The war coming on in a 
short time, Mr. Graham removed to Shelbj^ville, and in January, 1862, 
enlisted in the Union service under Capt, Benjamine, becoming orderly 
sergeant. Subsequently he was elected captain of the company, after 
Priest's resignation. He served until nearly the close of 1863, 
when he was compelled to resign his command and retire from the 
service, on account of ill health, resulting from hard service and 
severe exposures in the rough and tumble cam})aigns of Missouri. 
Returning home to Shelbyville, he remained until the summer of 1864, 
when he went to Parke county, Ind., and remained there until the fall 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 989 

of 1805 He then came back to Missouri and located in Ralls county, 
where he followed farming for about four years, coming thence to 
Shelby county. Here Capt. Graham began the improvement of 
another farm - his present phice, two miles east of Shelbma - con- 
tammo- over 1,300 acres. He remained on that place unti 1872 
when he came to Shelbina, where he has since resided. Herehebnilt 
a fine 11-room, two-storv brick residence, at a cost of over $8,0UU, 
which has since been his^home. Capt. and Mrs. Graham ^'^ve seven 
children: John, now married, and a resident ot Ralls county; Nettie, 
now Mrs. William A. Google, of Cameron; Fannie, a young lady soon 
to complete her collegiate course. All the rest are at home : Rose- 
buro-, William, Stafford, and an infant. Capt. Graham is a prominent 
and"active member of the Grand Army of the Repubhc, and i^pre- 
sents his local post in all the general meetings of the order. He i^ 
a o a prominent member of the A. O U. W. and Select Knighs and 
takes an equally active interest in these orders. A Republ can in 
politics, he is one of the leading men of the county in his P^rty, and 
is almost invariablv chosen a delegate to represent the county n 
State, comrressionai and other conventions. He and wife are membei s 
of the Presbyterian Church, and are earnest and liberal supporte . of 
their local church organization. Capt. Graham is justly esteemed one 
of the best and most useful citizens ot the county. 

REV. JAMES B. GRIFFITH 

(Minister of the Walkersville Church, Post-office, Shelbina). 
Rev Mr. Griffith is a native of Virginia, born in Franklin county, 
on the' 26th day of June, 1845. Reared on the farm and educated in 
V rc^ nia, at the age of 18 he entered the Southern army and served 
untU he was taken prisoner in the fall of 1864. He was held a pm- 
oner until the summer of the following year and upon ^^^-^S ^-^^^^^f 
returned home. In 1867 his parents moved to Missouri settling in 
Lt\s county , and he came with them Here he eng^K^ed ^^^^^ 
and on the 1st of September, 1867 was married /« M- H^-^-^^^E^ 
a daughter of WiUiam and Abigail Jones, formerly ot I^ loyd c( un y , 
Va After his marriage Mr. Griffith continued farming and also 
St died dilicrently to qualify himself for the ministry of he Baptist 
Chu c w fch he had\lecided to enter. After a thorough course of 
^p^l^^^nlin 1871, he was <^uly ordained, and .^once^W^^ 
entered upon the work of his sacred calling. In 18 ib he moveti to 
Shelby county, locating in Bethel township. Here he continued he 
w^k of the mi. istry and was very active in organizing new churches 
::^1^ new life^^nto those which had ^econie ^v^ak and ll^^^u•l^ 
Rev Mr. Griffith worked with untiring zeal and cneigy oi the cau.e 
fo wh ch he had devoted his life, and, indeed, took upon himself n o e 
than he was able to bear. In January, 1881, - -rioi.s s roke o . po- 
p^exy was brought ^^^^^trZ^^Z::':^ ^om« 
pS;:S:d^^^ t^meIfte^rds,andM apoplexy resulted in the 



990 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

paralysis of his entire left side, which has disabled him from further 
active work. However, even in this condition, he preaches an occa- 
sional funeral, and does not a little church work, for his heart is so set 
on the work of the ministry that he feels that he camiot entirely 
give it up. Durin<^ his ministry Rev. Mr. Griffith was a very success- 
ful and popular clergyman. In the nine years of his ministry he 
baptized over 300 converts, and on several occasions had as many as 
50 additions to the church. Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith have three 
children: Maude M., India and Wallace. They have lost four, all in 
infancy. One remarkable fact about the respective ancestral families 
of Rev. Mr. Griffith's parents is their longevity. His grandparents, 
on both sides, lived to reach nearly the age of 100 years. The 
Griffiths are of Welsh descent, and came to this country from Wales 
in 1616, nine years after the tirst settlement of Jamestown, and nearly 
five years before the settlement of Plymouth, so that they were among 
the very first settlers of America. 

P. M. HANGER 

(Of Hanger & Sparks, Dealers in Drugs, Medicines, Books, Stationery, "Wall Paper, 

Etc., Etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Hanger is a brother-in-law to Dr. Kennerly, whose sketch 
appears on a subsequent page, and was born in Augusta county, Va., 
November 20, 1830. His father, Dr. John Hanger, was a prominent 
physician of that county, and a man of marked ability and high stand- 
ing. The mother was a Miss Mary Allen before her marriage, who 
came of an old and respected family in that county. P. M. was 
reared on the farm near Staunton, and when 21 years of age, in 1851, 
came to Missouri. Here he located on Crooked creek, in Monroe 
county, where he rented land and engaged in farmino-. He continued 
larnnng tor seven years and, in the meantime, was married, January 
30, 1853. Miss Harriet K. Maupin then became his wife. She is a 
daughter of James D. Maupin, formerly of Augusta countj^, Va., but 
now of Shelby county. Mo. In 1858 Mr. Hanger engaged in school 
teaching in Monroe county and followed it there until 1863, when he 
came to Shelbina and began clerking here in the dry goods store of 
List & Sparks. He continued clerking for about 12 years, the last six 
of which were in the store with Chester Cotton. In 1875 he engaged 
in the drug business, and has since continued in this business. Mr. 
T. M. Sparks became his partner in June, 1880. They carry a stock 
of about $2,500 and have a neat and tastily arranged store. They do 
the leading business in the drug line at this place, and are not less 
popular personally than they are in business. Mrs. Hanger is a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church South, and he is a member of the A! O. U. W. 

CHARLES W. HANGER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina.) 

In 1861, when the war broke out, Mr. Hanger was a young man 20 
years of age, and being a Virginian by nativity, as well as strongly 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 991 

Southern in all of his feelings and opinions, he promptly enlisted in 
the service of the South, becoming a menil)er of Co. G, Second Mis- 
souri Volunteer Infantry, First brigade, under Gen. Price. Young 
Hanger followed the banner of the Confederacy through hardships 
and dangers for more than four long years, undergoing sufferings 
untold and indescribable on the march, in the bivouac, on the field of 
battle, wounded and with his life blood fast ebbing away, and in the 
prisons of the enemy — until at last the meteor-like ensign, which he 
had followed so long and faithfully, dearer to him than life itself, went 
down to rise no more for generations. But let it not for a moment be 
doubted that : — 

"Another haud thy sword shall wield, 

Another hand the standard wave, 
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed 
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave." 

After the war he returned, battle-scarred and broken in health, to 
resume the duties and responsibilities of life. He had been wounded 
several times, and twice nigh unto death. At Baker's Creek, Ga., 
he was struck on the head with a bombshell, and was left on the field 
for dead, but reviving a little some hours afterwards, he was taken in 
charge by Federal soldiers and placed in a .hospital where he was 
treated for three months and finally recovered. He was then exchanged 
and resumed his place in the Southern ranks at Demopolis, Ala., 
under Gen. Pemberton. At Franklin, Tenn., he was again severely 
wounded, being shot through both legs, and was in the hospital for 
six months, or until after the close of the war. Several other scars 
mark the places of less severe wounds received while fighting for what 
he believed to be right, and for what was right unless both Washing- 
ton and Lee were bad-hearted, blood-thirsty traitors. Mr. Hanger 
resumed farming after his return to Monroe county, and in 1876 was 
married to Miss Mary J. Sparks-, a daughter of F. C. Sparks, a lead- 
ing farmer of that county. They have three children: Anna B., 
Ada B. and an infant. Mr. Hanger settled on his present farm in 
Shelby county in 1882. Here he has a fine place of 160 acres a mile 
and a half west of Shell)ina, one of the choice farms of the township. 
Mr. Hanger was a son of Robertson and Virginia T. (Kennerly) Han- 
ger, of A^igusta county, Va., and was born there September 16, 1840. 
In 1851 his parents removed to Missouri and settled in Monroe county, 
where he joined the Southern army, and where they still reside, the 
father at the age of 80 years. His father was originally of Ohio, 
and his mother was of the old and wealthy Kennerly family of Vir- 
ginia, one of the leading families of the State. 

WILLIAM M. HANLY 

(Dealer in Dry Goods, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, Etc., Etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Hanly, a young business man of Shelbina of thorough expe- 
rience and superior qualifications, established his present store at this 



992 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUMTY. 

place in the fall of 1883. He opened out an excellent stock of goods 
in his several lines, and being already well and favorably known to 
the people, he was favored with a good trade from the beginning. 
The snccess of his business is now firmly established, for he has a 
gratifying trade, and his custom is steadily and rapidly increasing. 
Unquestionably he has every promise of becoming one of the leading 
merchants of Shelliina. Mr. Hanly is a native of Illinois, born in 
Bloomington, April 27, 1854. He is a son of James Hanly, whose 
sketch appears in this volume, the family coming to Missouri in 1861. 
At the age of 14 he entered the office of the Democrat, at Shelbina, 
Shelby county, to learn the printer's trade, where he worked for 
two years. He then began clerking for Hurani Miller, but six months 
later was employed by Mr. Chester Cotton, of Shelbina, in whose 
store he clerked for some 11 years, establishing a reputation of 
being one of the most capable, efficient and popnlar clerks in the 
county. Meanwhile, being a young man of steady habits and prac- 
tical economy, he saved up some little means from his salary, so 
that he was able to engage in business. He then established his 
present store. September 30, 1879, he was married to Miss Ellen 
B. Finley, a daughter of Thompson and Ellen (Bryan) Finley. They 
have one child, Hunter. Mr. and Mrs. Hanly are members of the 
Christian Church. 

JAMES L. HARDY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina). 

As Ralls county was first settled prior to the settlement of Shelby 
county, it is, therefore, surprising that in this county we find many 
of its residents who are from Ralls, for as that county settled up, 
numbers of its settlers, and especially the sons of its early settlers, 
pushed into Shelby. So it was with the subject of this sketch. Mr. 
Hardy was a son of Judge George L. Hardy, an early settler of 
Ralls county, from Scott county, Ky. Judge Hardy was a son of 
Casper Hardy, of Scott county, and after he grew up he came to 
Missouri in about 1832. He was married .in Ralls county to Miss 
Theresa Leak, a daughter of James Leak, also of Scott county, Ky. 
Judge Hardy settled near Cincinnati, where he engaged in farming, 
and also worked at the carpenter's trade, which he had previously 
learned. He resided in that county until 1858, when he removed to 
his present farm in Shelby county. He is still living, at the age of 
72, and in the enjoyment of good health and mental vigor. He has 
been quite successful as a farmer, and risen to a position of promi- 
nence and influence as a citizen. He was, for a number of terms, a 
judge of the county court, and has held other positions of official 
trust. He was twice married, and six of his nine children by his 
first wife are living. Of these James L. was the eldest. James L. 
Hardy was born in Ralls county August 26, 1836, and was reared on 
his father's farm near Cincinnati, in that county. On the 11th of 
February, 1868, he was married to Miss Susan E. Gough, of Shelby 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, 993 

county. Nearly ever since his mnrrijige Mr. Hardy has been a con- 
tinuous resident of Shelby county. He has a good farm here of 240 
acres. Mr. and Mrs. H. have seven children, namely: Albert L., 
Marcus H., Anna T., Mary C, James W., John R. and George A. 
He and wife are members of the Catholic Church. Politically, Mr. 
H. is a member of the Democratic party. 

CHARLES HARRISON 

(Residence, Walkersville ; Post-office, Shelbina). 

It was away back in 1832, when the subject of this sketch was only 
nine years of age, that his parents, Francis and Frances Harrison, 
came to Missouri from Virginia. After stopping for a time in Marion 
county they settled permanently in Monroe county, where they lived 
worthy and respected lives until their deaths. Charles Harrison, the 
subject of this sketch, was the second of their family of children, and 
was born in Virginia, October IG, 1823. Reared in Monroe county, 
he remained there until he was about 22 years of as^e, when he came 
to Shelby county, where he has since resided, for a period now of 40 
years. In 1853 he was married to Miss Rebecca Fitzpatrick, formerly 
of Kentucky. They have eight children living : Martha F., Nancy, 
Robert L., William, Susie, Mary Estella, Charles and Arthur. Mr. 
Harrison followed farming in this county for many years, but now re- 
sides in Walkersville, where he has a comfortable residence [)roperty. 
He is one of the worthy citizens of this vicinity, and he and his wife 
are members of the Primitive Baptist Church. 

FRANK M. HARRISON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Shelbina). 

Married in 1847 to Miss Nancy M. Collins, a daughter of James Col- 
lins, of Monroe county, Mr. Harrison, then a young man of about 21 
years of age, started out in life to lay the foundations of a future com- 
petency. He had been reared a farmer and he has since followed this 
occupation with little or no interruption. The success he has had is 
shown by his surroundings. He has a fine farm of 710 acres, which 
is excellently improved and is well stocked. Mr. Harrison has long 
been engaged in raising and handling stock and this branch of industry 
has contributed largely to his success. Mr. Harrison, a man of ster- 
ling intelligence, good business qualifications and unquestioned char- 
acter, has become well known over the county as one of its influential 
and popular citizens. Indeed, he has served as sherifi" of the county 
for two terms, to which office he was elected in 1876 and in 1878, and 
the duties of which he discharged with thorough efficiency and general 
satisfaction to the public. Mr. Harrison, though reared in this county 
is a native of Kentucky, l)orn in Boyle county, June 18, 1826. His 
parents were Frank and Frances (Crutcher) Harrison, who came to 
Missouri in al)out 1831, settling in Monroe county, where they made 
their permanent home. His father died there in 1840. They reared 



994 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

a family of eiglit children, four of whom are living: Lee, Nicholas, 
Charles and Frank M. The four deceased were Mrs. Martha Davis, 
Mrs. Sophia Packvvood, and Matilda and Mary. Frank M. was reared 
on the farm in Monroe county, two miles north of Clinton. After his 
marriage he resided on rented farms from year to year until 1856, 
when he located on his present place. Besides this farm he has other 
valuable real estate in the county, and indeed, is in comparatively 
easy circumstances. Mr. and Mrs. H. have five children, namely: 
Josie, now Mrs. Taylor ; Charles, Mary, now Mrs. Gatewood ; James 
and Nora. Mr. H. and his wife and family belong to the M. E. Church 
South. 

JAMES F. HARRISON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbiua). 

Mr. Harrison is a representative of the old Harrison family of Vir- 
ginia, from which sprang President Harrison, and numerous other 
distinguished men in different States of the Union. A full history of 
this famil}^ is given in the " History of Audrain County," commenc- 
ing on page 768, and as it is quite lengthy the want of space prevents 
it being inserted here. Mr. Harrison, the subject of this sketch, 
comes of the Kentucky branch of the family, and was a son of Fran- 
cis M. and Nancy Harrison, formerly of that State. The}'' early came 
to Missouri, however, and settled in Monroe county, where James F. 
was born April 18, 1856. He received a good education as he grew 
up and had considerable experience in mercantile life and public 
affairs. He was a clerk in a store for some time at Shelbiua, and 
was deputy sheriff for about four years. In 1878, on the 18th of 
April, he was married to Miss Laura B., a daughter of Rev. William 
and Mrs. Maria Penn, of Randolph county. Mr. Harrison settled on 
his present farm in Shelby county in 1883. He has a good place of 
320 acres and is quite extensively engaged in handling stock, including 
horses, mules and cattle. He fattens cattle for the wholesale markets 
and now has about $6,000 invested in stock. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison 
have one child : Ernest E. A little daughter, Mabel, died on April 
15, 1884, of scarlet fever. He and wife are members of the M. E 
Church South. 

SAMUEL HARRISON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Harrison is another worthy representative of that old, respected 
and widely distributed family, originally of Virginia, whose name he 
bears. He was a son of Lee Harrison, who in turn was a son of 
Francis B. Harrison, of Patrick county, Va., and he (Francis B.) 
was a son of Richard Harrison, of the same county. Lee Harrison 
was born in Virginia, June 15, 1806, and after he grew up was mar- 
ried to Sallie Reynolds, March 13, 1828. Subsequently he came to 
Missouri and settled in Shelby county. His wife dying left him 
two children, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Fitzi:^atrick, and Martha A., now 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 995 

Mrs. Deach. Lee Harrison's second wife was a Miss Mary J. Smith, 
a daughter of Charles Smith, of Marion county. It wasl>y this union 
that Samuel Harrison, the subject of this sketcli, was born. He was 
one of six children, namely : Samuel, Catherine, Matilda, Charles F., 
Mary A. and R. E. Lee. The mother of these died May 3, 1865. 
The father a few years afterwards broke up housekeeping and has 
since made his home with his son Samuel. Samuel Harrison was 
married December 25, 1862, to Miss Virginia, a daughter of Elias 
Bragg, of Marion county. She died May 11, 18G5, without issue. 
To his present wife, formerly Miss Mary H. Bragg, a sister to his first 
wife, Mr. Harrison was married March 21, 1866. Mr. H. resides on 
a good farm which he owns, situated two miles north-east of Shell)ina, 
containins: 145 acres, and near his father's old homestead. Mr. Har- 
rison's place is exceptionally well improved. His dwelling, built in 
the cottage style, and containing seven rooms, with porches, etc., is one 
of the best in the township. It is two stories high, and is constructed 
with excellent taste. Mr. Harrison also has another good farm of 175 
acres north-west of the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. H. have no 
children ; their family consists of himself and wife, his father, a 
nephew of his wife, James Bragg, and his youngest brother. He and 
wife are members of the M. E. Church South. 

THOMAS E. HAWKINS 

(Of Hawkins Bros., Dealers in Harness, Saddlery, etc., and Farmers, Stock-raisers and 

Stock-dealers, Shelbina). 

Mr. Hawkins, the subject of this sketch, is a son of William H. 
Hawkins, deceased, an outline of whose life is elsewhere given. 
Thomas E. w^as born on the farm in Monroe county, April 10, 1853. 
Reared on the farm, he received a goocl common school education in 
the district schools. He early engaged in farming and the stock 
business in partnership with his brother, James W. They have since 
continued in business together, and deal largely in horses and mules 
as well as shipping stock generally to the wholesale markets. They 
are among the leading firms in this line in the county. Januarj' 21, 
1884, they also engaged in the saddle and harness business at Shel- 
bina, which they have since continued. They carry a stock of about 
$25,000 and keep three hands constantly employed. They have a 
large trade and are doing a flourishing business. September 19, 
1883, Mr. Hawkins was married to Miss Mollie E. Crow, a daughter 
of Jacob L. Crow, of Monroe county. She is a member of the Bap- 
tist Church. Mr. H. is a thorough-going, enterprising man, and has 
already attained to an enviahle position in business affairs. He is 
highly respected by all who know him. 

JOHN T. HOPKINS 

(Of Hopkins & Taylor, Eeal Estate, Loan and Insurance Agents, Shelbina). 

Mr. Hopkins, a popular business man and highly respected citizen 
of Shelbina, is a native of Kentucky, born in Campbell county, 



996 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

November 15, 1843. While he was j^et in boyhood, his parents, 
Gennethen and Nancy (Armstrong) Hopkins, both originally of Ohio, 
removed from Kentucky to Hancock county, 111., where they resided 
until their deaths. The father having been a farmer by occupation, J. 
T. was reared to a farm life in Hancock county, and received a good gen- 
eral education in the common schools. At the age of 20 he began teach- 
ing school and followed teaching for 16 years, establishing an enviable 
reputation as a teacher. He taught both in Illinois and Missouri, and 
in country schools and in college. In the fall of 1869 he came to 
Missouri, and after teaching here seven years, settled on a farm two 
miles east of Shelbina. He followed farming for five years, and then 
began merchandising at Shelbina in the dry goods and grocery trade. 
In less than a year, however, he withdrew from merchandising and 
entered the real estate business, which he has since continued with 
sood success. He and his partner constitute one of the leading real 
estate firms of the county, and have a large schedule of property in 
that line for sale — farms, raw land and town property. They are 
also doing a good insurance business, representing some of the best 
companies in the country. Men of established reputation, they are 
able to control capital on the most reasonable terms, and therefore, 
in the loan business, they put out money at fair and living rates of 
interest. All in all, they have a good business and are doing well. 
September 13, 1865, Mr, Hopkins was married to Miss Maria P. 
Libby, formerly of Campbell county, Ky. She was taken from him by 
death the 6th of last January. She left five children : Elmore E., 
Mary E., John P., Lula P. and Charles W. Mr. H. is a member of 
the Christian Church, as was also Mrs. Hopkins. 

E. D. HOSELTON 

(Shelbina). 

E. D. Hoselton, one of the publishers of the Shelbina Democrat^ 
has worked long and faithfully at his business in the county, entering 
the field at a time when country journalism was making experimental 
trials. From an early age his career has been one of faithful, earnest 
efforts to accomplish something worthy of consideration in life — to 
achieve an honorable success and to rise to a position of usefulness 
and influence among those around him. Unfavored with early advan- 
tages, indeed, having every difficulty to overcome that besets the 
paths of those who are without means and influential friends, he has 
had a hard struggle to make his way up in the world. But he has 
proved by the substantial success he has achieved, and by the place 
he holds in the esteem and confidence of this community, that he 
has possessed from the first the qualities which go to make up the 
characters of useful, successful men — sterling integrity, untiring 
energy and intelligence, all combined with a fixed determination to 
succeed. Emery D. Hoselton, the subject of this brief sketch, was 
born in Chemung county, N. Y., May 21, 1840. When but a boy of 
three years his father died. His mother subsequently married a second 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 997 

time and removed to Illinois, where Emery grew to manhood. His 
educational advantages were only such as he himself made them. 
But, possessed of a fondness for study, he managed by his own efforts 
to take a course in the common schools. He worked his own way up 
through these schools, providing for himself almost altogether as he 
went along. By hard study, at the age of 16 he had succeeded in 
obtaining a knowledge of books much in advance of his years, having, 
in fact, a good, practical, general English education. At the breaking 
out of the war he entered the Federal service, marched with the boys 
for three years and saw the octopus of war at its grim work on sev- 
eral fields of battle. He was made prisoner and served a short term in 
LibbjqDrison, at Richmond, and came to Shelbina in February, 1865, two 
years later, and was married to Miss Clara M. Muldrow. In the spring of 
1868 he founded the Shelbina Democrat, of which he is still part propri- 
etor and editor. It is now one of the best country printing offices in 
the interior of the State. As its name implies, it is Democratic in poli- 
tics, but is by no means a one-wheel or narrow-gauge party organ. 
It speaks for Democracy, because it believes that Democracy means 
pure and wise and economical government, by the people and for the 
people, and not because it wants to get Tom, Dick or Harry into 
office, or any little hungry clique of public crumb-pickers. It is for 
the interests of the people first, last and all the time, regardless of 
anybody's ax that may be corroding for the want of a ride on an offi- 
cial grindstone. Mr, Hoselton is an equal partner with W. O. L. 
Jewett and R. B. Taylor in the ownership of the Democrat block, the 
upper story of which he occupies for his printing office, the lower 
being rented for store rooms. 

GEORGE A. JENKS 

(Contractor and Builder, Shelbina). 

Mr. Jenks, an old and established contractor and builder of Shel- 
bina, and one of the highly respected citizens of the place, as well as 
one of its substantial property holders, came to Shelby county as 
far back as 1858. He is a native of New York, born near Copenha- 
gen, in Lewis, county, August 28, 1833. At the age of 16 he began 
to learn the carpenter's trade and, following, served an apprentice- 
ship for three years. He then went to Antwerp, in Jefi'erson county, 
N. Y., where he worked two years, coming thence West and locating 
at Prairie du Chien, in Crawford county, Wis., where he worked until 
1858. From Prairie du Chien, Mr. Jenks came directly to Shelby 
county, stopping first at Shelbyville, but soon afterwards, the same 
year, located at Shelbina. A young man 25 years of age when he 
came to Shelbina, he has been continuously engaged at his trade at 
this place, either as workman or contractor, or both, from that time 
to the present, for a period, now, of 24 years. He is the oldest resi- 
dent carpenter at Shelbina and has built many of the best frame and 
brick houses at this place. Mr. Jenks has been substantially success- 
ful and though not what may be called a wealthy man, is in comfort- 



998 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

able circumstances. He has served as member of the city council 
for a number of years and is also a member of the school board. 
He has been a m;irried man since 1860. The 18th of September of 
that year Miss Rel)ecca M. Cochran became his wife. She was a 
dauMiter of William and Isabella Cochran, early settlers in this 
county from New York. Mr. and Mrs. Jenks have three children : 
William F., Alonzo L. and Mary B. 

WILLIAM O. L. JEWETT 

(Attorney and Journalist, Shelbiua). 

Among the citizens of Shelbina well and favorably known in Shelby 
county, and, indeed, in most of North-east Missouri, the subject of 
the present sketch occupies a prominent and enviable position. A 
lawyer of established reputation, and a journalist who is widely known 
for his ability as a writer, he is at the same time a man of more than 
local prominence as a political speaker and a leader in public affairs. 
Mr. Jewett is a native of Maine, born in Bowdoinham, December 27, 
1837. On both sides of his parental family he is of sturdy, respected 
old New England stock. His father. Rev. Samuel Jewett, an able 
minister of the M. E. Church, was originally from Ipswich, Mass., 
and a son of a gallant old Revolutionary soldier. In politics he was, 
however, a Jackson Democrat. Mr. Jewett's mother, Avho was a Miss 
Sophronia Huckins, was from New Hampshire, her father being also 
a soldier of the Revolution. They were married in Maine, and when 
William O. L. was yet in infancy they removed to Illinois, locating in 
Will county. There the subject of the present sketch grew to man- 
hood, on a farm. The country was new and educational advantages 
then poor. But, as a boy he had a thirst for knowledge, and studied 
hard nights and at all spare moments. He acquired much of his edu- 
cation at home, but finally completed it at Aurora Seminary. He was 
educated for the law, but the war coming on early in 1861, he enlisted 
in the Union service, becoming a member of the Thirty-ninth Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry. Young Jewett served in the Thirty-ninth, being 
in the Department of the East under Gens. Shields and McClelland, 
until 1863, when, on account of the hardships and exposures endured, 
his health failed him and he was given an honorable discharge on 
account of disability. He then returned home and soon afterwards 
engaged in teaching, taking up also the study of law under Judge 
Parks, of Joliet, at the same time. Continuing teaching and the study 
of law until the fall of 1864, he again became impatient to parti- 
cipate in the war. He therefore re-enlisted in the service at Camp 
Butler and was detailed as sergeant, the capacity in which he had pre- 
viously served, to command a squad of 30 other veterans to take about 
500 substitutes to Memphis. Returning from Memphis, he was then 
sent to New York and from there ordered to Savannah, being attached 
to the First Illinois Artillery, where he joined Sherman. From New 
York to Savannah he was on the same boat with Gen. Logan, which 
was chased in a race for life or death by the famous Tallahasse. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 999 

He was with Sherman until Johnson's surrender, and finally partici- 
pated in the grand review at Washington City after the close of the 
war. Returning home in 1865, the same year he went to Ann Arl)or 
University, where he took a course at law school, and in 1866 was 
admitted to practice in Michigan, and also admitted to the bar by the 
Supreme Court of Illinois. He practiced at Mt. Sterling, 111., until 
1867, when he came to Shelbina, where he has since resided. How- 
ever, during the first j^ear of his residence in this county, he taught 
school at Hunnewell, but has since been actively engaged in the prac- 
tice of law. In 1876 he was elected to the office of prosecuting 
attorney, and two years later was re-elected. He has also served as 
city attorney for several years, and as a member of the school board. 
He is now one of the board of curators of ShelMiia Collegiate Insti- 
tute, and has been a member of the board since the oriranization of 
that institution. In 1881 he became associated with Mr. Hoselton as 
editor of the Democrat, and has established a wide reputation as a 
vigorous, able writer. In 1870 he stumped the county for the Liberal 
Republican ticket and enfranchisement, and contributed his full share 
to strike the shackles of civil disability from the white men of Mis- 
souri, as he had contributed his services towards sustaining the Union, 
to crush out rebellion. Politically he is a worthy son of New Eng- 
land, as he is in every other respect, in favor of personal liberty and 
human rights above and before everything else, regardless of race, 
color, previous condition of servitude, or previous partici[)ation in rebel- 
lion. He has always had strong convictions on political questions, 
especially on the tariff, being utterly opposed to the idea of protection, 
believing that American genius and labor can take care of itself. Such is 
the grand political character, loyal, liberal and patriotic, of the genuine 
typical Yankee — no race, no section when human rights are involved. 
He has regard to the mind and the heart rather than the accident of 
birth. June 3, 1869, Mr. Jewett was married to Miss Ella Cox, a 
daughter of John V. Cox, of Himnewell. They have six children: 
John C, Oriella, Howell H., Mattie S., Samuel E. W. and Ida. One, 
besides, died in infsmcy. Mr. Jewett is a church member, and a prom- 
inent member of the I. O. O. F. He has filled all the chairs in the lodge 
and has repeatedly been a delegate to the Grand Lodge and Grand 
Encampment. He is also a Past Master in the A. O. U. W. organ- 
ization. His brother, S. A. W. Jewett, D. D., was for many years a 
leading minister of the M. E. Church in the Rock River conference. 
The subject of this sketch is now in the prime of life, industrious and 
painstaking in his avocations ; consequently he is crowded with work, 
and leads a busy life ; having a thought also to be useful in all his 
labors, as amid his toils he seeks to be a benefit to those about him. 

PAYTON HARRISON JONES 

CShelbiua). 
Mr. Jones is a native of Kentucky, born in Spencer county, 
February 29, 1830. His parents were Enoch and Polly (Wiggeu- 

58 



1000 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

dean) Jones, both originally from Virginia. His father was a farmer 
and merchant and Payton was reared to both of these occupations. 
After he grew up, Payton H. was married, October 21, 1858, to Miss 
Sarah Farmer, of Union county, the same State. She was a daughter 
of Green B. and Louisa (Curry) Farmer. At the outbreak of the 
war Mr. Jones was arrested 1)}^ the Federal authorities, on the ground 
that he sympathized with the South, which was probably true, for his 
kindred and all his interests were identified with the land of sunshine, 
patriotism and heroic chivalry. He was confined in Johnson's Island 
prison for about six months, and then ouly released on an oath not to 
do this and to do that and forty other adjurations solemn, and awful, 
and deep sounding enough to make one's hair stand on end like the 
quills of the fretful porcupine. After his release he returned to Ken- 
tucky and later along engaged in the hotel business at Dixon, which 
he continued up to 1875. Coming to Shelbina in January, 1876, he 
took charge of the American House, which he carried on until March, 
1884. Meanwhile he had had a farm, in Kentucky, which he rented out, 
but a few years ago he sold his Kentucky property. He owns a farm in 
this county of 240 acres, one mile north-west of Shelbina. Mr. Jones 
also has a nice residence property in Shelbina, his dwelling, a tastily 
constructed, commodious building, being situated on one of the hand- 
somest sites in town, containing four lots in a block. Mr. and Mrs. 
Jones have reared but one son, Enoch, who is married, his v/ife hav- 
ing been a Miss Mary Pippin and who resides on his father's farm 
near Shelbina. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. 

JOHN THORNTON KEITH 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina) . 

The Keith family were early settlers in Ralls county. From that 
county Mr. Keith's grandfather, John Keith, removed with his family 
to Marion county, where he resided for many years. He is now and 
long has been deceased. He was an enterprising pioneer settler and 
well and favorably known among the early residents of this part of the 
State. His son. Dr. William T. Keith, grew to manhood principally 
in Marion county, and in early life read medicine and became a physi- 
cian. He is still living, and has been quite successful in the practice 
of medicine. He was married twice: first, October 22, 1846, to a 
Miss Smith, a daughter of Thornton Smith, of Monroe county, and of 
this union, John Thornton Keith, the subject of this sketch, was the 
eldest born, his natal day being August 13, 1847. Dr. K's first wife 
died within a year or two after their marriage, and he was subse- 
quently married, April 17, 1851, to Miss Mary A. Lipscomb, who, 
however, was also taken from him by death. She left him one child, 
now deceased. John Thornton Keith, being reared on the. farm, very 
naturally became a farmer on reaching an age when it was proper to 
start out for himself. He located on the farm, where he now resides, 
in the winter of 1868-69. Mr. Keith has a comfortable homestead 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1001 

He was married November 12, 1868, to Miss Martha E. Maddox, a 
dauuliter of Mark Maddox. He and his good wife are blessed with six 
children, ranging- in ages from one to thirteen years. Mr. and Mrs. 
Keith are members of the M. E. Church South. 

SAMUEL KENNERLY, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Shelbina). 

Dr. Kennerly has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine 
for nearly 35 years. He has been located at Shelbina for the past 
eight years, and has succeeded in building u[) a rcnmnerative practice, 
a reward justly due to his ability and attainments as a physician, and 
his zeal and industry in his profession. Dr. Kennerly previously 
practiced in Virginia, the State of his nativity. He was born in Fred- 
erick, now Clarke county, in the Old Dominion, February 1, 1828, and 
was a son of Rev. Samuel Kennerly and wife, nee Anna A. Durham. 
His father was born and reared in Augusta county, l)ut his mother 
was from Leesburg, in Loudoun county. Rev. Samuel Kennerly was 
a minister of the M. E. Church South, widely known and esteemed 
for his ability, and earnest piety. Dr. Kennerly was reared in Au- 
gusta county, and at an early age became a teacher in the schools 
of that county. He continued teaching until he began the study of 
medicine, which was in 1848. He read under Dr. John Hanger, of 
the same county, and in due time entered the Medical College of 
Virginia, from which he graduated in the class of 1850. Dr. R. H. 
Robertson, of Jameson, Mo., graduated in the same class. After 
his graduation, Dr. Kennerly entered upon the practice of medicine, 
near Staunton, Va., becoming a partner with Dr. John Hanger, his 
old preceptor. They practiced together, to the advantage of both, 
until after the outbreak of the war. Dr. Hanger died in July, 1862. 
Dr. Kennerly became assistant-surgeon to Col. Baldwin's brigade of 
mounted riflemen in the Southern service. This brigade was com- 
posed of exempt men, such as had furnished substitutes, and were sub- 
ject to service on a minute's notice. The men equipped and mounted 
themselves, and served without pay, although regularly mustered 
into the Confederate service. Their duty was to protect the Western 
frontier of the State iTom marauding parties of the enemy. After 
the close of the war he bowed to the inevital)le and continued the 
practice in Virginia, until his removal to Missouri in the fall of 1876. 
In 1850 (June 13), lie was married to Miss Frances C. Hanger, who 
was a daughter of his preceptor and subsequent partner, Dr. Hanger. 
There were four children, the fruits of this union, who lived to be 
grown: Mary A., now Mrs. Scott M. Siiindle, near Shelbyville ; 
Emma V., now Mrs. William Moxley, of Saline county; John H. and 
Charles A., both of Shelbina. Dr. Kennerly is secretary to the 
Shelby County Medical Society, and is now serving his fourth year as 
coroner of the county. He is an active and leading member of the 
Masonic Order at Shelbina, and is High Priest of the Chapter in that 



1002 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

city. He is a man greatly esteemed by all who know him, and is an 
earnest, zealous member of theM. E. Church South. 

ROBERT L. KINCHELOE 

(Fai-mer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Kincheloe's father, Elias Kincheloe, a son of Robert Kincheloe, 
of Wood county, Va., was one of the early settlers of Marion county. 
He made his home about nine miles north of Palmyra,- and lived to 
the advanced age of 88 years. He remained at home during the 
entire Black Hawk War, much against the remonstrance of his neigh- 
bors, for it was extremely hazardous, and nearly every one else fled 
from that vicinity. Some thrilling and amusing anecdotes of his ex- 
periences there at that time have come down to the present, but the 
want of space forbids their recital here. He became a substantial 
citizen of Shelby county, to which he removed, and indeed, one of its 
leading men. He represented the county in the Legislature for two 
terras, and filled other positions of public trust. He was ameml)er of 
the commission that laid out Shelby county. Mr. Kincheloe's mother 
(Robert L.'s) was a Miss Joyce B. Vandiver, of an old Wood county 
( Va. ) family. Of the family of children, Robert L. was the third, and 
was born May 26, 1823. Reared on a farm, he was married in Febru- 
ary, 1856, to Miss Lucy Sites, a daughter of John Sites, of Marion 
county. She died in the spring of 1872, leaving four children : John 
J., Mary I., R, E. Lee and William. Mr. Kincheloe resides four miles 
north-east of Shelbina. He is a man of industry and energy and is 
well esteemed by all who know him. 

CHARLES M. KING 

(A.ttoraey at Law, Shelbina). 

That the higher walks of life are shut out from none in this coun- 
try, or indeed elsewhere, who have the character and courage, the 
strength of mind and the quality of perseverance to aspire to some- 
thing above the common lot of men, and strive without faltering or 
faint-heartedness for success, whatever may be their want of early 
advantages or opportunities, is forcibly illustrated by the career of 
the sui)ject of the present sketch. When a young man 24 years of age, 
Mr. King found himself working at the carpenter's trade, which he 
had begun to learn seven years before, and without an education, 
except such as he had been able to pick up wholly by his own efforts 
during his leisure time from work. He resolved, however, to secure 
a liberal education. But being poor he was of course compelled to 
provide for his own support and that of his famil3'^(for he had already 
married) as he went along. And in his case the old adage, as true as 
it is trite, that where there is a will there is a way, was verified. 
Working at his trade faithfully, as the years came and went, he at 
the same time improved every hour, not necessarily employed other- 
wise, in study ; so that when 28 years of age he felt qualified to teach 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1003 

school, although he had never been taught himself. He was examined 
for license to teach and was awarded the best certificate issued in the 
county, having, in the meantime, not only made himself proficient in 
the English branches, but also studied some of the languages, partic- 
ularl}' German, which he afterwards taught. Such a man as this, of 
course, became a successful teacher. Of earnest character and fixed 
and sincere in his purposes, he went about teaching as a mission to 
perform, and became one of the most capable and popular teachers, 
if not the most capalile and popular one, who ever presided over a 
school-room in the county. For seven years following he was princi- 
pally engaged in teaching, and during this time he built up an 
advanced and flourishing school at Shelbina, noted far and wide for 
the thoroughness of the instruction given rather than for the display 
and red-surcingle show, characteristic of too many institutions of 
learning. During all this time he so managed his private business 
afi^airs as to keep his family comfortably provided for. He also pros- 
ecuted his general studies and took a course as a student at law. In 
1868 he was examined for admission to practice law, and passed an 
examination for the legal profession not less creditable than the one 
he had passed years before for the profession of teaching. He did 
not regularly begin the practice, however, until about 1868. Enter- 
ing upon the duties of the legal profession at the age of nearly 35 
years, his career since has been one of steady and marked success. 
The same qualities that brought him from the carpenter's bench to 
the bar — industry, close attention to business, strength of mind and 
character and sober earnestness and sincerety — these have placed 
him at the head of his profession in this county. It is no disparage- 
ment to others to say that Mr. King is the leading lawyer of Shelby 
county, for this is recognized by all ; and such have been his ability 
and success that every true friend of honest Avorth and merit who 
knows anything about him feels unselfishly gratified, and justly so, at 
his career. He has a large practice in the circuit court of the State, 
and some practice in the Supreme Court, as well as a large amount of 
probate business and business in other inferior tribunals. Mr. King 
is a man of solid ability, strong, forcible brain power, rather than 
brilliant in thought or imagination. As an attorney he is a substan- 
tial, level-headed, reasonable practitioner who, being thoroughly 
honest himself, desires only that justice shall be done, and appeals 
to court and jury from a plain, common-sense standpoint in any cause 
in which he may be engaged. He is at the same time a hardworking 
lawyer, and prepares himself thoroughly in his cases before he enters 
upon their hearing. While it can not be claimed for him that he is 
a gifted orator, it is often remarked that his manner of addressing a 
jury, so plain and fair and clearly to the point, is more effectual in 
winning causes than that of those^ wlio make the greatest pretensions 
to eloquence and oratory. In other words, he is a clear-headed, able 
speaker, caring nothing for show but everything for sober, practical 
success. Mr. King is^'a U. S. Commissioner, appointed l)y Judge 
Treat in 1874 ; was county school commissioner for 1871 and 1872, 



1004 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

and he hiis been a notary public since 1870. Mr. King is a man of 
family, as has been stated. He was married October 10, 1856, to Miss 
Catherine Lewis, of this county. They have a family of four children : 
Ella, Anna, William H. and Minnie, yll of whom are at home. Anna 
and William have collegiate educations, and William is a student at 
law under his father. Minnie G. will graduate the present year. 
Miss Ella is a popular teacher of the county. Mr. King was born in 
Kentucky, but reared in Missouri. He was born in Mason county, of 
the former Stale, July 4, 1833. His parents were Elbert J. and Lucy 
A. (Thomas) King, who came to Missouri in 1837 and to Shelby 
countv three years'after wards. His father was a well known farmer 
of this county and highly respected. Both parents are now deceased. 
Mr. King, besides being a lawyer of learning and ability, is a man 
of wide general information and superior cultui-e. A Democrat in 
politics, he takes only the interest of a public-spirited private citizen in 
political affairs, caring nothing for the trumpery of office. He is a 
man of wide popularity, however, and no man in the county is more 
highly esteemed. 

CHARLES H. LASLEY 

(Of Thompson & Lasley, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothina:, Fiirnisbing Goods, Hats and 
Caps, Boots and Shoes, Carpets, Window Shades, etc., Shelbina). 

The firm of which Mr. Lasley is a member is one of the leading 
houses of the county in their lines. They carry an unusually large 
stock of goods, selected with the greatest care, and so as to meet the 
wants of their custom at the low^est possil)le figures. Both are 
business men of successful experience, and are more than ordinarily 
popular, personally as well as merchants. They have an extensive 
and established trade, which is increasing even in greater ratio than 
the increase of the surrounding country in population and wealth. 
" Honest goods and fair dealing " is their motto, and in hoc signo 
Vincent, by this polic}^ they have succeeded, and keep no sham goods 
and palm nothing off on customers as being better than they represent 
it. Of course tliev have cheap goods for those who desire them, as 
they ought to have, but they invariably sell them for just what they 
are and nothino; more. Being accommodating and fair in all their 
business, as well as selling at the lowest possible prices that good 
business judgment justifies, they necessarily attract a heavy custom. 
Honesty in a merchant is what the people require above everything 
else, for no one when he is making a purchase wants to be on the 
look-out all the time to keep from being swindled. All prefer to 
have confidence in the merchant and to rely upon what he says about 
goods, at least when they know but little about them themselves. 
Recognizing this fact, Messrs. Thompson & Lasley have striven hard 
to deserve the reputation for honesty and fair dealing which they have 
acquired, and which is one of the most valuable considerations of 
their l)usiness. Mr. Lasley was born in Monroe county, September 
17, 1853, and was a son of William M. and Margaret (Gillespie) 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1005 

Lasley, his father originally from Virginia, bnt his mother from Ken- 
tucky His father was a merchant 1)V occui)ation, and was engaged 
m that business until his deatli, m 1855. His mother, some five years 
afterwards, married John S. Gose, a successful farmer ot Monroe 
county. Charles H. remaiued on the farm until he was 14, when he 
went to Palmyra and attended school there for about a year. He 
then began clerking in a dry goods store, in which he contmued until 
1874 Soon after this he became a partner in l)usiness with Chester 
Cotton, which partnership lasted until 1880. I'^ I'^^l ^^^ ^^"^ f/' 
Thompson established their present business. June 18, 187J Mr. 
Lasley was married to Miss Lizzie Downing. They have two children: 
Roy and Leta. 

JOHN C. LEFFEL 

(Farmer, Post-ofRce, Shelbiua). 
A colony of pioneers left Botetourt county, Va.,in 180(i, bound for 
the then teriiitory of Ohio, better known as the North-west Terri- 
tory Thev located about 75 miles from Cincinnati, in Avhat after- 
wards became Clarke county, O. Among these early pioneers were 
Daniel Leffel and parents and Miss Elizabeth Clapsaddle and her par- 
ents These two young people were married in December, the same 
vear'of their emigration, and they made the new settlement their per- 
manent home. Daniel Leflel followed farming in Clarke county and 
wao-o-onino- to Cincinnati. They reared a family of 10 children includ- 
inAlie suinect of this sketch, five of whom are living. John C^Lettel 
was the eldest of their family, and was born in Clark county Decem- 
ber 20, 1807. At the age of 21, or in his twenty-first year, he was 
married October 12, 1828, to Miss Nancy Sullenbarger He had 
learned the carpenter's trade as he grew up, and also mdlwrighting, 
and he followed these in Ohio until 1841, when he removed to Indiana, 
where he made his home for 16 years. He then came to Missouri, 
and in 1858 settled on his present farm. Mr. Leffel has residedon 
this place for over 26 years. He is a man of fine natural mechanical 
and inventive genius, and has invented several yaluable contrivances 
includino- a wheat drill, a beegum, a corn planter for horse power and 
one for hand work. Mr. and Mrs. Leffel have had 10 children, and 
seven are livin-, all married, namely: Elizabeth, Daniel, Levi, Leathe 
W., Newton, Sarah E. and Harriet. Mr. Leffel has a good larin of 
152 acres. He is one of the highly respected old citizens ot bait 
River township. 

JOHN MILTON McCULLY, M. D. 

(Of Downing & McCully, Editors and Proprietors of the Shelbiua Index). 

Dr McCully retired from the practice of medicine in 1882, on 

account of failing health, having previously occupied the position lor 

nearly 10 years of one of the leading physicians ot Macon county if 

indeed not the leading one, for his practice was perhaps larger than 



1006 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

that of any other })hjsician in the county. He is a native Missourian, 
born and reared in this Ssate, and is a man of superior education and 
culture. On the 1st of March, 1884, he bought a half interest in the 
Index at Shell)ina and has since been identified with this paper as 
an associate editor and proprietor with Mr. N. H. Downing. Dr. 
McCully is a man of extensive, general information, commendable 
public spirit, and an easy, graceful, pungent writer. He has contrib- 
uted very materially to the success of the Index, and to the high 
standing it is rapidly attaining as an able, prosperous and influential 
country journal. Dr. McCully was born in Randolph count}^, May 
8, 1851. The McCully family were early settlers in Missouri. His 
grandfather, John McCully, came here with his (the hitter's) father's 
family as earl}^ as 1828 and located in Howard county. John Mc- 
Cully subsequently settled in Randolph county and there his son 
William, afterwards the father of the Doctor, grew to manhood and 
was married to Miss Frances Yates, daughter of John M. Yates, who 
was a lineal descendant of Sir George Yates. In the spring of 1860 
William McCully and family removed to Shelby county, settling 
near Cherry Box, where he still resides, a prosperous farmer and 
respected citizen. Dr. McCully was reared on a farm and educated 
at Mt. Pleasant College, taking a course of four years and graduating 
with distinction in the class of 1871. He was assistant professor of 
mathematics during the last year preceding his graduation. He then 
studied medicine under Dr. L. Turner and took a regular course of 
two terms at the St. Louis Medical College, from which he graduated 
in the spring of 1873. He at once located at Sue City, in Macon 
county, and practiced there with eminent success for about eight 
years, working so hard, indeed, that it broke down his health, so that 
he was compelled to retire from the practice. He then came to Shel- 
bina and engaged in the drug business. In 1884 he left that to enter 
journalism in partnership with Mr. Downing. September 25, 1883, 
he was married to Miss Alice Rawliiigs, a daughter of Capt. William 
H. Rawlings, deceased, late of Shelby ville. The Doctor and Mrs. 
McCully have had three children: Charles H., named for Gov. 
Hardin, being born the day the latter was inaugurated governor of 
the State, but who died at the age of 15 months, Aubrey and Glessie. 
Mrs. McCully is a member of the M. E. Church South, and the 
Doctor is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. 

HON. JOHN H. McKEE 

(Farmer and stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina). 

One of the leading men of Shelby county among those who may still 
be termed new-comers (although he has been a resident of the 
county for over 10 years), is the subject of the present sketch. Mr. 
McKee's life has thus far been one of marked activity and rather 
varied experiences, a life somewhat prominent in affairs heretofore 
and always one reflecting credit on himself and honor upon the various 
positions he has held. He is a native of West Virginia, and was the 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1007 

adopted son of his uncle by marriage, John McKee, an early settler 
and afterwards a prominent citizen of Marion county, Mo,, originally 
from Pittburg,Pa. Mr. McKee's foster-parents removed to Missouri 
in 1834, settling in Marion county. The elder McKee (John H.'s 
foster-father), opened a large farm about a mile north of the present 
site of Reusselaer, where he resided for a number of years engaged in 
farming and stock-raising, one of the prosperous, well known and 
highly respected citizens of the county. In 1844, however, he 
removed to St. Louis, and after a residence in that city of about tive 
years, went to California during the gold excitement, in 1849. He 
died at San Francisco 10 years afterwards. Mr. McKee's foster-mother 
was a sister to his natural mother, being, before her marriage, a Miss 
Sarah Bryson. She died in 1860. Mr. McKee was given excellent 
advantages as he grew up. After a preparatory course at the })rimary 
schools and intermediate institutions, he was matriculated at Wash- 
ington College, in Penns3'lvania, where he took an advanced course 
©f studies. At Washington College he was a room-mate and class- 
mate with James G. BUviue, now the Republican candidate for the 
Presidency. Between him and Mr. Blaine there is to this day the 
warmest relations of personal friendship, only such as can spring from 
early associations at school or college, in the class together, in sports 
or the play ground, at home in the same study-room, and in all the 
experiences of daily life at college. After quitting college Mr. McKee 
went to California, on account, mainlj^ of failing health, resulting 
from hard study and close confinement. He was there when the 
Rebellion broke out, and having no impulse of public dut}" but that 
of loyalty to the Constitution and the Union, he promptly offered him- 
self as a volunteer under the Old Flag. Such were his education, 
standing and ability, that he was at once given a position as an aide 
on the staff of Gen. Shepley, with whom he served until well along in 
1863. He then located at the city of New Orleans, in Louisiana, 
where he engaged in the brokerage business and merchandising. He 
remained at the Crescent City for over 10 years, and, upon the whole, 
was quite successful in his business affairs, but was not in the lines 
mentioned above continuously or exclusively. While he was in New 
Orleans, in the fall of 1866, "he was appointed United States marshall 
for the State of Louisiana, being an appointee of President Johnson. 
On coming to Missouri, in 1873, Mr. McKee settled on a large tarm 
he owns in Shelby county, located about a mile west of Shelbina. 
Here he has since been engaged in farming and handling stock, and 
with excellent success. As the above facts show, Mr. McKee is a 
man of liberal education, large experience in the affairs of the world, 
much energy and enterprise, and is, indeed, one of the leading, pro- 
gressive, public-spirited and liberal minded citizens of the county. 
During his residence in this county, however, he has avoided taking 
any part in pul)lic affairs, preferring rather to devote his entire time 
and attention to his private interests. Yet, as a man of character 
and ability, his influence, if he were disposed to exert it in public 
affiiirs, would not be without results. While a resident of California, 



1008 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

and before enlisting in the army, Mr. McKee was a practicing lawyer 
in San Francisco, having been admitted to the bar by the Supreme 
Court of that State in 1855. Subsequent events, however, changed 
the course of his life, and since the war he has done little or nothing 
in the legal profession. In 1875 Mr. McKee was married to Miss 
Sarah Tabler, an estimable young lady of Shelby countjs a daughter 
of Elijah Tabler of Shelbina. They have two children, namely: 
Mary Woods, aged eight years and Saraii Ann, aged two years. Mr. 
McKee, as stated above, resides on his farm near Shelbina, which is 
a handsome place of 1,200 acres — hind entered by his foster-father 
in 1835. Mr. McKee was born at Wheeling, W. Va., June l(j, 1829, 
and was the son of Col. Thomas Woods and wife, nee Miss Mary Bry- 
son, his father a native of Ohio county, Va., but his mother of 
Pittsburg, Pa. His father was a prominent banker of West Virginia, 
president of the North- Western Bank of Wheeling. He died when 
John H. was quite young, after which the latter was taken by his 
uncle, John McKee, to rear and was adopted by him by act of the 
Legislature of Pennsylvania, in 1833. Mr. McKee's grandfather was 
a civil engineer by profession, a friend and associate of Washington, 
and a collaborator with him in the work of surveying West Virginia, 
long prior to the Revolutionary War. It is thus that the Woods family 
became settled in that part of the State. His grandfather's name was 
Archibald Woods, and he was born and reared in Rockbridge county, 
Va. 

WILLIAM H. MAUPIN 

(Mechanical Engineer, Post-offlce, Shelbina) . 

Born in Marion county, Mo., in 1845, Mr. Maupin was the young- 
est in a family of 12 children of John D. and Mar}'^ Maupin, early 
settlers in that county from Virginia. His father, a blacksmith 
and farmer, died there in 1856, and in 1869 the family removed to 
Shelby county. The mother is now making her home with one of her 
children in Arkansas. William H. was reared in Marion county, and 
in 1868 was married to Miss Emily, a daughter of Esom and Margaret 
Faris, formerly of Kentucky. Up to 1871 Mr. Maupin followed farm- 
ing principally, but during that year he entered a machine shop at 
Moberly, and learned the mechanical engineer's trade, which he has 
since followed. Mr. and Mrs. Maupin have two children: George W. 
and Jeanette. A third, Esom, died in infancy. He was named for 
his ifrandfather, who was a sero-eant in the War of 1812, Mr. and 
Mrs. Maupin are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. 

MILES & CONNELY 

(Dealers in Hardware, Stoves, Agricultural Implements, etc., Shelbina"). 

Though born in Kentucky, Mr. Miles was reared in Missouri. He 
was the third in the family of William F. and Nancy W. (Jackson) 
Miles, formerly of Washington county, Ky., where John H. was born 



HISTOKY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1009 

January 15, 1845. Coming to Missouri in 1850, the ftimily settled ou 
a farm near Paris, in Mon'roe county, where they lived until 18()15, a 
period of nearly 20 years. In the years of his activity, Mr. Miles' 
father was an energetic and well-to-do farmer, but he is now leading a 
retired life. He is a resident of Shelhina, and is closely approaching 
the allotted aije of three score and ten years. Mr. Miles' mother is 
also still living. She is past 60. John H. was reared on the farm 
near Paris, and came to this place with his parents in 1866. During 
the latter part of the war he entered the Confederate service and was 
in Finnell's Sharp-shooters, serving in the trans-Mississippi depart- 
ment until the final surrender. He surrendered at Shreveport, in 
May, 1865. Prior to entering the Southern service he had been 
engaged in merchant clerking at Shelbina, and after returning from 
the war he resumed clerking at this place. In 1874 he erected the 
business house he now occupies, built then for Mr. C. K. Whitehead, 
of which, however, he became the purchaser two years afterwards. 
He and Mr. J. L. Bates, now deceased, then engaged in business, and 
since that time he has continued to be identified with this line of busi- 
ness. The present partnership of Miles & Connely, was formed in 
1880. They carry a stock of about $5,000, and do an annual business 
of six or seven times that amount. They carry full lines of hardware, 
stoves, agricultural implements, and similar goods, and have a large 
trade. January 15, 1880, Mr. Miles was married to Miss Ida Con- 
nely, a daughter of Arthur Connely, and sister to his present partner 
in business^ Mr. and Mrs. M. have two children: Maggie and 
Charles H. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, and he 
is a prominent member of the I. O. O. F. and of the A. O. U. W. 

MINTER & SMITH 

(Dealers iu Dry Goods, Clothing, Gents' Furnishing Goods, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, 
Carpets, Etc., Etc., Shelbina). 

D G Minter, the senior partner of the above-named firm, is one 
of the old and substantial business men of Shelby county, and one ot 
its most hiohly respected citizens. He was originally from Virgniia, 
born in Bedford county, May 23, 1836. His tather, Jesse Mniter, 
was a wealthv planter and prominent man of Bedford county, the 
owner of a large number of slaves, He died there in Ibbo. Ihe 
mother, before 1ier marriage, was a Miss Elva Hurt, of anotlier well 
respected family. She died in Virginia in 1880 Dame G. was 
reared on his father's farm in Bedford county until he was l^* years of 
acre, much of his time prior to that being silent at school. His tather 
had desio-ned to give him an advanced university education and im- 
mediately before^coming to Missouri he was preparing tor a course in 
the Universitv of Virginia. But young Minter decided to come \\ est 
and grow up With the country ; for he found the hum-drum o school 
life too monotonous and irksome to bear ; and he burned with desire 
to o-et out into the world and mix in its duties and activities, to begin 
doin- something for himself. Notwithstanding his parents opposed 



1010 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY 

his adventure in tlie West, he came anyhow and located at Shelbyville, 
This was in 1<S55. Here he formed a business partnership in merchan- 
dising with J. R. Gate wood, but ia a short time afterwards withdrew 
from the firm and went to what is now known as Novelty, in Knox 
county, where he established the first store ever opened at that place. 
He was busily engaged in merchandising at Novelty when the war 
broke out, but being a Southern man by birth and principles, he 
promptly [)ut all business interests aside, and gave himself entirely 
over to organizing troops for the Southern cause. He and Capt. 
Crockett Davis each enlisted a company of men under Jacskson's first 
call ; and the two companies were consolidated, he and Davis throw- 
ing heads and tails for the captaincy, which fell to Capt. Davis. Mr. 
Minter became first lieutenant of the company. He was engaged with 
his company in the first battle of the war on this side of the Missis- 
sippi, tiie fight at Athens. He was afterwards also in the fight at 
the first battle of Kirksville and was then attached to Col. Green's 
command, joining Gen. Harris at Glasgow. Afterwards Mr. Minter, 
being detailed as recruiting officer by Gen. Harris, came to Monroe 
county on that commission and was taken by surprise and captured by 
Maj. Caldwell, of the Third Iowa cavalry. He was subsequently tried 
before Gen. Schofield at St. Louis and banished to the North not to 
return before the close of the war under a bond of $10,000. After 
about a year's absence in Minnesota, however, he was permitted to 
return home through the influence of Col. Benjamin ; and he contin- 
ued to remain here, still under bond, however, until the close of the 
war. In 1863 he began business at Shelbina, in partnership with Mr. 
J. W. Sigler. Two years later he became a partner with his cousin, 
C. Minter. In 1867 he and Mr. J. M. Bates formed a partnership, 
which lasted for four years. After this, for several years he was out of 
active business, retiring on account of his wife's ill-health, and traveling 
with her quite extensively. In 1877 he and Mr. Smith formed their 
present partnership. They carry an exceptionally large and well selected 
stock of goods in their lines and are doing a flourishing business. Mr. 
Minter has been quite successful in business life and is in comfortable cir- 
cumstances. He owns handsome business and residence properties at 
Shelbina and has considerable other means. He was director of the 
First National Bank until it went out of business. Mr. Minter has 
been married three times. His first wife was a Miss Victoria Minter, 
a cousin-germain, and a sister of Mrs. D. Taylor and Mrs. W. A. 
Reid. She died in March, 1877, at San Antonio, Tex. Her aflliction 
was consumption, and her husband traveled with her some three years 
before her death in the hope of benefitting her. She left no children. 
In 1879 he was married to Miss Lutie Green, an accomplished young 
lady of Monroe county, a daughter of Rev. J. S. Green. She survived 
her marriage, however, less than two years, dying May 24, 1880. 
To his present wife, nee Miss Ida Aldrich, Mr. Minter was married 
July 14, 1881. She was originally from Wisconsin, but was reared 
and educated at Columbia, Missouri. She graduated from the State 
University at the head of her class in 1877. She had previous to her 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1011 

marriao-e been a popular teacher in the high school of Kansas City for 
one term, and for two years in the Shelbina Institute. She is a 
step-daughter of Prof. Ripley, president of the institute. Mr. and 
Mrs. MiiTter are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a prom- 
inent Mason. 

E. Emmet Smith, the junior partner in the firm of Minter & Smith, 
is also a native of Virginia, born in Fauquier county, January 4, 
1850. He was left an orphan when a mere child by the death of his 
mother, who was previous to her marriage, a Miss Eliza Reed, but his 
father, for whom R. Emmet was named, was spared to the family 
and under his paternal care the son was brought up in a manner wor- 
thy the irreproachable and successful career he has since made. At 
the ao-e of 19 he began clerking in the store of his uncle, William A. 
Reid,°at Shelbina, having come out to this State a short time before. 
His uncle was then a partner with Hill, but afterwards List succeeded 
his uncle, and finally Mr. Smith himself succeeded List in 1877, the 
firm becoming Hill & Smith. Minter bought out Hill's interest in 
1877, since which the firm has been as it now stands, Minter & 
Smith. January 28, 1880, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Olive 
Connerly, a daughter of Arthur Connerly. They have two children, 
Lucile and R. Emmet. Mr. Smith is a thorough-going business man 
and as a citizen is highly respected in the community. 

The firm of Minter & Smith is without doubt one of the most 
enterprising business firms in the county. They buy their goods 
largely direct from the manufactory and exclusively for cash. Mr. 
Minter has the reputation of being one of the closest and most careful 
buyers that visit the Eastern market, which facts doubtless answer 
the inquiry so often made why they sell their goods at such low 
prices. 

UPTON MOREMEN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Among the better class of well-to-do people who settled in this 
county during the decade just preceding the war were the parents of 
the subject of this sketch, Augustine and Sallie (Wilson) Moremen. 
They were from Kentucky and settled in Shelby county in 1856, some 
five miles south-west of Shelbina, where Upton Moremen still resides. 
Here the father carried on for years a large farm and raised stock. 
One year ago, however, he removed to Florida, settling in Orange 
county, where he and family, or his wife and younger children, now 
reside. There were eiglit children in his family, of whom Upton is 
the first. He was born April 1, 1854, and was therefore principally 
reared in Shelby county. On the 6th of February, 1884, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Lula Taylor, a daughter of Wesley L. Taylor, of Marion 
county. Since his marriage, as before, Mr. Moremen has made the 
old Moremen family homestead his home. This is a fine farm ol 480 
acres, and besides this he owns a good farm adjoining of 240 acres. 
He is ffivino- considerable attention to stock-raising and is having 



1012 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

excellent success. Mr. Moreiiien is conceded to be one of the thrifty^ 
energetic, enterprising voung farmers of Salt river township. 

DAVID MORGAN 

(Of D. Morgan & Sons, Manufacturers of Buggies, Wagons, etc., and General 
Repairers, Shelbina). 

Mr. Morgan, the senior member of the above-named firm, is the 
pioneer wagon maker of Shelbjna, and came here nearly 27 years ago. 
He was a young man then, who had learned his trade, and was strug- 
gling to get a start in life. He had no means but managed to open a shop 
in a small way. Industry, close attention to his business, and enter- 
prise and fair dealing have steadiU'" prospered him in the world until 
he has not onl}'- become one of the leading manufacturers in his 
line throughout this region of country, but is also a substantial prop- 
erty holder in well-to-do circumstances, in fact, he now has a large 
establishment with between $15,000 and $20,000 invested, and is work- 
ing from 10 to 12 hands constantly. Mr. Morgan turns out from 40 
to 75 farm wagons, about 30 spring wagons and a number of buggies 
annually. Long established in business here, his work has obtained 
a wide and enviable reputation, and he has a demand for all that he 
can produce and more than all. His vehicles are noted for light-run- 
ning, durability and neat and handsome finish, and well deserve the 
enviable reputation they have won. He uses none but the best 
material, both wood and metal, and being himself a first-class 
mechanic, will tolerate no workman about his establishment who is 
not thoroughly qualified and perfectly honest in his work. This is 
the main secret of his success. Mr. Morgan was married January 12, 
1860, to Miss Mary E. Williams, of Monroe county. They have four 
children: William W. and James H., who are his partners in busi- 
ness; David and John. Mr. Morgan has been a member of the 
city council for six terms. He is also a Royal Arch Mason. William 
W. is foreman of the paint department, and is book-keeper of the 
firm. James H. has charge of the blacksmith department. 

JUDGE CHARLES H. MYERS 

(Judge of the Probate Court, Shelbina). 

Prominent among the well known and most highly respected 
citizens of Shelby county is very justly classed the subject of the 
present sketch, Judge Myers. Coming of a good family and one 
in well-to-do circumstances, his early advantages for an education, 
and in other respects, were better than the average of the youths 
of his time and section of the country. These advantages he did 
not fail to improve, and the result is that he has always occupied 
a worthy and envial)le position among the better classes of people 
where he has resided. Judge Myers is a native of Tennessee, born 
in Sumner county, November 7, 1843. He was a son of Thomas 
Myers, a substantial farmer and highly intelligent citizen of that 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1013 

county. The Judge's mother avus a Miss Harriet Latimer before her 
marriage, a lady of marked strength of character and of a singuhirly 
gentle and amiable disposition. His father's family was oi-igi- 
nally from North Carolina, but his mother's family came from 
Connecticut. His father had a competence, and was not ambitious 
to become a wealthy man, taking a greater interest in the neatness 
and good order of his farm and the comfort and appearance of his 
home. He was ever active and liberal in the support of good 
schools, and notwithstanding there were no public schools in Ten- 
nessee, he and a few other generous and intelligent neighbors always 
kept up an excellant school in their neighborhood. Devotedly attached 
to his home and family, his greatest happiness was in his own family 
circle, although he was extremely fond of the society of his friends 
and neighbors, and was ever one of the most hospitable and agreea- 
ble of hosts. He took only the interest of a private citizen in poli- 
tics, but always voted the Democratic ticket, believing' thoroughly 
in the principles and policies of that party. He was a sturdy, great 
hearted, true old Primitive Baptist Democrat, and would occasion- 
ally enter into a pleasant argument with his erring neighbors of the 
other persuasions in politics and religion, although, in fact, he was not 
a church member. He was much given to reading, especially in the 
departments of philosophy and civil government. Judge Myers now 
has several volumes of his father's books of which his father was very 
fond in his lifetime. He was killed during the war, or rather after 
peace was declared, in his own door yard at night, and in his night 
clothes, by a band of ruiBanly, thieving negroes in the employ of 
the government, who called him out of bed and murdered him. 
Judge Myers was reared in Sumner county, Tenn., and was educated 
for the profession of law. However, while yet a youth, he was 
given a position in the register's office at Gallatin, in his native 
county, and while holding this position he also assisted in the county 
clerk's office. Subsequently, through the influence of Col. John W. 
Head, late member of Congress from Tennessee, but now deceased, 
he was made deputy chancery clerk under Judge Thomas Barr}^ 
Chancellor, an old friend of his father. This he held with efficiency 
and satisfaction to all concerned until he resigned it to prepare him- 
self for college and complete his education. After concluding his 
studies he came to Missouri, and on the 22d of July, 1869, he was 
married to Miss Kate Looney a young lady of culture and relinement 
and of an excellent family in Shelby county. Mo. After his marriage 
Judge Myers located in Shelby county, where he followed teaching 
school for about two years. In 1871 he engaged in the hardware and 
implement business at Shelbina and was quite successful, until 1874, 
when he was burned out, and by this accident nearly broken up. He 
was left entirely without money and with but little other means. Mean- 
while he had become well and favorably known to the people of the 
county, who had learned to appreciate him for his sterling worth and 
excellent business qualifications. Two weeks after he was burned out 
he was nominated by the Democrats of the county for the office of 



1014 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

probate judge, and was, of course, afterwards elected bj a handsome 
majority, as all Democratic nominees ought to be, if the welfare of 
the country should be consulted. Since then Judge Myers has been 
twice re-elected, and has continuud to hold the office up to the pres- 
ent time. As every one knows who is qualified to speak of the 
official affiiirs of the county, he has made a capable, efficient and 
conscientious judge. Judge Myers takes a generous and public-spir- 
ited interest in all matters and movements designed to promote the 
general good of his community and the county. He is a member of 
the board of directors of the Shelbina Collegiate Institute, and presi- 
dent of the Shelbina creamery company. The Judge and Mrs. Mj^ers 
have four children: Hattie E., Fannie M., Lutie T, and an infant 
daughter, innominata. He and wife are members of the M. E. 
Cimrch South. Judge M. was a classmate with Hon. L, A. Head 
and Hon. S. F. Wilson, the latter recently a candidate for Governor 
of Tennessee. Judge Myers took a partial course at the University 
of Ann Arbor, Mich., but was compelled to quit study on account 
of failing sight. He is an extensive general reader, a man of wide 
information, and has accumulated a small general library. 

MARCUS U. OVIATT 

(Farmer, Shelbina). 

Among the many worthy and substantial citizens of Shelby county, 
to whom the Empire State of the West, Ohio, has given birth, is the 
subject of the present sketch, Mr. Oviatt. He was born in Summit 
county, that State, on the 3d day of March, 1836. His father, Uri 
Oviatt, was from Connecticut, and removed to Ohio in an early day, 
where he died in 1871. His mother was a Miss Sarah Wheatley before 
her marriage, a native of England, and is still living at the age of 74. 
Marcus U. received a good education in Ohio and afterwards taught 
school in the winter and farmed in the summer. He came to Shelby 
county in 1869 and bought his present place, a neat farm of 80 acres, 
in the corporate limits of Shelbina, where he has since resided. This 
is one of the neatest little fiirms in the county. In 1878 Mr. Oviatt 
was married to Miss Mary Rutledge, a daughter of Travis Rutledge, 
formerly of Virginia and a descendant of Edward Rutledge, one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, of South Carolina. 
Mr. and Mrs. Oviatt have two children, Ida B., the wife of Walter 
Norris, and Elma L., the wife of Virgil McConnell. Mr. Oviatt 
makes a specialty of the dairying business on his farm and has 16 
cows, running his farm principally in grass, and is a successful dairy- 
man. During the war he served two years in the Union army under 
Gen. Custer, who was afterwards killed during the Sioux war with 
the Indians. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1015 

S. G. PARSONS 

(Grocer, and of S. G. & J. R. Parsons, Farmers and Stockmen, Shelbina). 

A man of marked enterprise and business acumen, Mr. Parsons, 
comi)aratively early in life, and almost alone by his own energy and 
clear-headed management, has i)laced himself prominently among the 
foremost business men of this part of the county and among its sub- 
stantial property holders of the county. He has one of the leading 
grocery stores of Shelbina and occupies a handsome business house, 
of which he is owner, two stories high, commodious and well built, 
with numerous offices above which he has rented out. In the grocery 
line he has a heavy trade, aggregating over $50,000 annually. He is 
also the senior partner in the firm of S. G. & J. R. Parsons, largely 
engaged in the stock business. In connection with their stock inter- 
ests they use about 1,300 acres of land, which includes the " Grove 
Farm" of 900 acres. They have some 200 head of cows used for 
breeding purposes, and the present summer have about 150 calves. 
For the last four years they have handled and shipped cattle and 
mules quite extensively, probably doing a heavier business in this line 
than any other firm in the county. So well is Mr. Parsons recognized 
as a leading agriculturist and as a man of business ability and enter- 
prise, that he has been called upon to serve as President of the Shel- 
bina Fair Association, the position he now holds. Up to the time of 
accepting the presidency he has been Treasurer of the Association, 
from its first organization. At Shelbina he is a member of the Board 
of Trustees of the Collegiate Institute, and has been a member of the 
school board for the last six years. He is also a member of the Town 
Council, and indeed. Is looked upon as one of the public spirited citi- 
zens of the place. Personally, he is a man of pleasant, ao-reeable 
manners, and is one of the popular men of Shelbina, both as a citizen 
and as a business man. Mr. Parsons was a son of John M. and Jane 
M. (Anderson) Parsons, early settlers of Monroe county, a sketch of 
whom appears in the history of that county. He was born in Paris, 
Monroe county, August 29, 1843. Reared in Paris, he was educated 
in the schools of that place, and at the age of 20 began clerking in 
the store of Herman Miller, who afterwards killed a man named Glenn. 
He continued to clerk for Miller for over a year and then became his 
partner in the business. They moved their stock of goods (dry 
goods) to Shelbina, in 1864, and continued business here for some- 
thing over a year, when Mr. Parsons retired from the firm. He and 
J. W. Sigler then engaged in the grocery business, which they contin- 
ued until the winter "of 1866-67. Mr. Parsons then engaged in farm- 
ing near Granville and followed that, including the handling of stock, 
for about five years. In 1872 he returned to Shelbina and resumed 
the grocery trade, which he has since followed. For about 11 months 
Mr. Pollard was his partner, but he then bought out Pollard's inter- 
ests and has since carried on the business alone. In 1874 he was 

59 



1016 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

burned out, but soon rebuilt. He bought his present building in 
1876. His efficient and popular clerk, Mr. A. H. Blair, has been with 
him sinc6 1873. May 4, 1865, Mr. Parsons was married to Miss Mary 
Hanger, a daughter of Robinson Hanger, of Monroe county, but 
formerly of Augusta county, Va. They have eight children: Jennie 
T., Lelia, Kittie, Newton H., John R., Anna C, Mary and an 
infant. 

JOHN R. PARSONS 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

The Parsons family is widely and favorably known in North Mis- 
souri as one of the better families of this part of the State. It has 
given to various counties some of their most prominent farmers and 
stock-raisers, and several leading citizens in public atfalrs. Every- 
body is familiar with the name of old Gen, Parsons, and the name of 
Mr. Parsons, the early partner of Dr. Glenn, the king farmer and 
wheat grower of California, then a stockman of North Missouri, is 
well known, while other members of the family are hardly less noted. 
John Randolph Parsons, the subject of this sketch, was a son of David 
M. and Sarah (Anderson) Parsons, who removed from Virginia to 
Ashley, in Pike county. Mo., in 1829. Hon. David C. Parsons lived 
for 15 years in Pike county, and until his death, which occurred in 
1844. He had become a leading citizen of the county and was the 
Democratic candidate for Congress at the time of his death, having 
previously served in the Legislature with distinguished ability and in 
other important official positions. He was married twice, and John 
R. was one of his three children by his first marriage. There are also 
three by his last marriage. John R. Parsons was born at Ashley, in 
Pike county, August 3, 1836, and was but seven years of age at the 
time of his father's death. He was reared by his uncle, John M. 
Parsons, of Paris, a prominent citizen of Monroe county. At the 
age of 18 John R. began trading in stock and has ever since continued 
the business. He and S. G. Parsons, of Shelbina, now have about 
200 head of cows, with which they are breeding Hereford cattle. Mr. 
Parsons, the subject of this sketch, has a fine farm in Ralls county. 
He received a liberal education as he grew up, attending high school 
at Paris and Kemper's well known and prominent school at Boonville. 
At the age of 16, however, he assisted to take a drove of horses 
across the plains to California, the first drove ever taken overland to 
the Pacific coast. He was in the employ of Glenn & Parsons. He 
participated in a spirited fight with Indians which lasted about six 
hours, but resulted victoriously to the whites. November 29, 1860, 
he was married to Miss Emma Priest, a daughter of Capt. Henry 
Priest, of Ralls county, where he resided until 1882, when he came 
to Shelbina in order to educate his children, of whom he has eight, 
namely: George H., Robert Lee, Lavina D., Emma M., Cora J., 
Glenn, Sallie Y. and Lizzie Priest. Mr. Parsons has taken great 
interest in the education of his children, and is giving them the best 
advantages his circumstances will allow. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1017 

COL. SAMUEL A. RAWLINGS 

(Deceased). 

No biographical record of the representative and useful citizens of 
Shelby county would be complete which failed to include a sketch of 
the life of Col. Rawlings. He was prominently identified with the 
county for years, and his career reflects only credit upon the history 
of the county. It is not pretended that he was without faults, for no 
human being is free of them. But it is claimed and believed by those 
who knew him longest and 1)est that his impulses were good, his 
motives pure and noble, and his life to the end an nnbroken chain of 
exertions for the comfort and happiness of his family, the good of 
his friends and the best interests of his country. Such is the memory 
he has left behind, a memory that is the richest reward this world 
affords for a good and useful life. Samuel Aaron Rawling^s was born 
in Fauquier county, Va., October 12, 1827, and was descended from old 
and respected families in that State. Reared in Virginia, he received 
an advanced collegiate education at the University of Virginia, and came 
to Missouri when 20 years of age to carve out his fortune in this then 
new country. He located at Palmyra and studied law under Thomas 
L. Anderson. Admitted to the bar after a due course of study, in 1852 
he entered upon the practice at Paris, in Monroe county. There his suc- 
cess as a lawyer was rapid and substantial, and two years later he was 
elected to represent the county in the State Legislature. Continuing the 
practice, he accumulated some means and became interested in mer- 
chandising at Granville. His law practice brought on, or aggra- 
vated, a throat disease to which he was predisposed from childhood, 
which in after life resulted in consumption and carried him off. He 
quit the law practice some three years before the war and was engaged 
'exclusively in merchandising. At the outbreak of the war he espoused 
the cause of the South and was active in enlisting volunteers for the 
Southern service. He first organized a company, of which he was 
made captain, and afterwards other bodies of volunteers, and was 
finally elected colonel of his regiment, which he commanded for about 
two years under Gen. Price, participating in all the engagements in 
which his division took part. He was finally captured, however, and 
held a prisoner at St. Louis for about six months, when he was 
released on account of the condition of his health, which was now 
almost broken down by the exposures and hardships he had endured. 
As soon as he was able for active employment again he engaged in the 
tobacco business, with headquarters at Springfield, III. About the 
close of the war he came to Shelbina and was a partner with C. H. 
True in the tobacco business for about two years. He then removed 
his business to Quincy, III., but returned to Shelbina in 1869. Col. 
Rawlings then formed a partnership with Mr. Hoselton in the pro- 
prietorship and publication of the Shelbina Democrat, of which he 
became editor. He continued with the Democrat for six years and 



1018 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

until his death, which occurred at his home in this place, September 
27, 1875. As an editor, as in every other relation of life, he was a 
strictly conscientious man. He advocated only men and measures 
that he believed to be sound and true to the best interests of the 
country. No influence was crreat enough to swerve him from the 
path of duty as he saw it. He preserved in his paper at all times a 
high moral tone, and saw to it that nothing was admitted into his col- 
umns which would be hurtful to purity in the family or elsewhere, 
either in thought or deed. A man of fine education and wide expe- 
rience, he was an able, clear and forcible writer, and so presented his 
ideas that they made a marked and lasting impression on the mind 
and heart of the reader. The Democrat obtained wide and potent 
influence for good under his management, both in public affairs and 
in social and business life. He was one of the really able country 
editors of the State, and is so remembered by all intelligent news- 
paper men familiar with journalism, particularly in North Missouri. 
Col. Rawlings was an earnest and exemplary member of the Christian 
Church and a prominent and influential Mason. He was buried with 
the honors of Masonry, his funeral being one of the largest and 
most imposing ever witnessed at Shelbina. He was twice married ; 
first, in 1853, to Miss Mary E. Crow. She died in 1862, while he was 
absent in the Confederate army. May 31, 1865, he was married to 
Miss Mattie P. Moore, a daughter of Judge William G. Moore, of 
Paris, in Monroe county. This excellent lady still survives him. By 
his first wife Col. Rawlings had left three children, now all grown 
to maturity : Mollie, the wife of Thomas B. Gaunaway, of Paris ; 
William, also of Paris ; and Viola, the wife of W. R. Poage, a promi- 
nent clothier of the same place. By the second marriage there are 
four children living : Anna R., Maude M., Edith and Harry E. One, 
Sterling Price, is deceased. Misses Anna and Maude are young ladies 
of charming presence and are quite popular in society at Shelbina. 
Mrs R. and her daughters are members ot the Christian Church. 

T. W. P. REED 

(Keal Estate Dealer aud Farmer, Shelbina) , 

Mr. Reed was born near Sidney, in Shelby county, O., December 
2, 1842. His father, James S. Reed, many years afterwards a resi- 
dent of this county, was long a prominent stockman of that county. 
From Ohio they went to Iowa and came from that State to Missouri 
in 1866 and located at Shelbina the following year, and the father 
died there in 1874. The mother died at this place six years later. 
He owned considerable real estate in the county and at Shelbina. T. 
W. P., who had grown up in the meantime, came to Missouri with 
the family. He and his brother Charles were engaged in farming in 
Monroe county, six miles north-east of Paris, until 1876. Meanwhile, 
March 23, 1868, he returned to Ohio and was married at Dayton to 
Miss Belle Hoover, whom he brought back with him to his new home 
in Missouri. Mr. Reed, while on the farm in Monroe county, was 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1019 

quite extensively engaged in handling stock and met with excellent 
success, but had to quit in 1876 on account of failing health. He 
then went to Ottnmwa, la., where he was engaged in mercantile 
business for about a year. He then returned to Missouri and located 
at Shelbina, where he has since resided. Here he is interested in 
real estate, and has hirge real estate interests elsewhere, including a 
valuable farm uear Sidney, O. Mr. and Mrs. Reed have one child, 
Mary L., a little girl 10 years of age. 

WILLIAM A. EEID 

(Of Eeid & Taylor, Bankers, Shelbina), 

Mr. Reid has been identified with Shelbina almost from the birth 
of the place, and, indeed, secured the establishment of a post-office 
at this place. He came to Missouri in the spring of 1858 and located 
at once at the present site of Shelbina. The most convenient post- 
office for this town was then at Hannibal. While there were other 
post-offices in the county, arrangement was made with the baggage- 
master to bring the mail everj^ day from Hannibal, and one of his 
first moves was to have a post-office established here. He engaged 
in merchandising and continued it without interruption and with good 
success, all things considered, until the spring of 1865. On the post- 
office being established at Shelbina he was appointed postmaster, and 
held the office until after President Lincoln's inauguration, when he 
was removed, or rather superseded for political reasons. Mr. Reid, 
although naturally sympathising with the South in the late war, took 
no active part in the struggle, but was severely preyed upon by 
unscrupulous soldiery on both sides. Bill Anderson's men plundered 
his store and inflicted heavy loss. For the burning of Salt river 
bridge and depots by the Southrons, with which of course he had 
nothing to do, or knew nothing until after it was done, he and several 
other men in the vicinity, who sympathized with the cause of the South, 
were assessed $20,000, but the collection of this was never enforced. 
In 1866, after being out of business for about a year, Mr. Reid 
resumed merchandising and continued until he became cashier of the 
Bank of Shelbina in the spring of 1874. This bank was succeeded in 
business four years afterwards by the banking house of Reid & Tay- 
lor, which has since continued the business. Mr. Reid, as is well 
known to the people of Shelby county, is a man of superior business 
qualifications, personally agreeable and pleasant, and of unquestioned 
character and worth. It is largely due to his business ability and the 
esteem and confidence in which he is held that the career of the bank 
with which he is connected has been so prosperous and gratifying. 
The bank has a capital of $50,000 and has a large patronage in 
deposits from the business men of Shelbina and throughout this part 
of the county. It does a general banking business, a business that is 
steadily increasing. It is one of the sotid and prosperous ])anking 
institutions of North Missouri, and is so regarded in Ixinking circles 
and by the public generally. Like his partner, Mr. Reid is a native 



1020 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

of Fauquier countT, Va. He was born January 24, 1829, and was a 
son of Alfred Reid and Patsey, nee Rector. His mother was of the 
Virginia family for which Rectortovvn was named. William A. spent 
his early youth on the farm, but at the age of 15 obtained a position 
as salesman in the dry goods store at Rectortown. He was clerking 
in Virginia until he came to Missouri in 1858. On the 22d of April, 
1862, he was married in this county to Miss Elizabeth Minter, a sister 
of Judge Taylor's wife, and the youngest daughter of Dr. Minter. 
Mr. and Mrs. Reid have seven children : Lillie and Jessie, educated 
at the Shelbina Collegiate Institute, and both also thoroughly accom- 
plished in instrumental music ; Lena, Maggie, William A., Victor M. 
and an infant. Mr. and Mrs. R. are church members ; Mr. R. is a 
member of the M. E. Church South, and Mrs. R. of the Baptist 
Church. Mr. R. is also a member of the Chapter of the A. F. and 
A. M. 

JOSEPH R. RIDGE 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-feeder, Post-office, Shelbina). 

With a fine stock farm of 800 acres and a large number of good 
graded stock, cattle, horses, sheep, hogs, etc., which he makes a 
specialty of raising for the markets, Mr. Rido;e is justly classed with 
the leading farmers and stockmen of Salt River township. He is a 
man of marked energy and enterprise, a thorough judge of stock, and 
by his own industry and clear-headed business management has accu- 
mulated mainly the comfortable estate he now has. Mr. Ridge's 
father, William Ridge, like the son, was a successful farmer and stock- 
raiser, and came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1852. He first located 
in Monroe county, but two years afterwards settled in Shelby county, 
where he was engaged in farming and stock-raising with success until 
he retired in 1875 from all active labor and business. He removed to 
Shelbina and died there two years afterwards, in 1877. He left an 
estate of 1,000 acres of fine land and other valuable property. He 
confined his attention in the stock line mainly to horses and mules, of 
which there was not a better judge in the county. He was twice 
married. His first wife, the mother of Joseph R., who bore him six 
children, was a Miss Elizabeth J. Roby before her marriage. She 
died in 1860. His second wife was previously Miss Sallie Lynch, of 
Ralls county. Joseph R. Ridge was born in Hickman county, Ky., 
on the 31st day of January, 1838. He was married in this county, in 
1858, to Miss Nannie Hale, a daughter of Lilburn Hale, formerly of 
Tennessee, who was killed by Southron troops during the war while 
riding along the road in company with some militia, although he him- 
self was not a soldier, and the Southrons, of course, had no idea of 
killing, but fired on the militia alone as they thought. He had taken 
no part in the war. And in this connection it may be remarked that 
Mr. Ridge took no part in the troubles of those times. He has 
followed farming and stock-raising exclusively since starting out for 
himself, and, indeed, from boyhood. That he has been very success- 
ful is shown by the large farm he owns and by the extent and value 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1021 

of his farming and stock operations. He raises large quantities of 
<yrain each year and is a heavy shipper of stock. Mr. and Mrs. Ridge 
have seven children: William L., Sarah B., James R., Minnie N., 
Anna M., Joseph E. and Allie N. Sarah is the wife of Frank D. 
Sidener, now of this county ; William married Josie S., a daughter of 
John P. Beathe, of this county, and resides in the county. Mrs. R. 
is a member of the Baptist Church. 

WILLIAM G. SANDERS 

(Farmer and County Assessor, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Among the well known and popular citizens of Shelby county the sub- 
ject of tlfe present sketch holds an enviable position. He was born in 
Smythe county, Va., May 16, 1839, and came out to Missouri with his 
parents after he had nearly reached the age of maturity. His father, 
William Sanders, was also a Virginian by nativity, born in Wythe county 
February 17, 1800. After he grew up he was married to Miss Locke 
Walker of the same county, and after a few years, in about 1823, they 
removed to Smythe county. There Mr. Sanders, Sr., was somewhat 
extensively engaged in farming and handling stock, principally driving 
them to the wholesale markets of East Virginia. However, in 1858 the 
family removed to Missouri and settled about seven miles south-east 
of Shelbina, where the father died in April, 1880, in his eightieth 
year". His wife had preceded him to the grave 20 years. They had 
a family of 10 children, namely: Robert Fulton, Thomas, Augustus 
O., Daniel W., Kittie J., Pollie N., Susan C, James N. and William 
G., the subject of this sketch. Some four or five years after he 
came to Missouri William G. Sanders was married to Miss Loretta 
Stribling, of Monroe county. Mr. Sanders early engaged in farmmg 
for himself in this county and has ever since continued it. He has a 
neat farm of 80 acres, two miles south-east of Lentner. At the 
June primarv election Mr. S. was nominated for county assessor and, 
of course, wdl be elected, as the party of which he is a representa- 
tive is in a large majority, and even if it were not it is believed that 
personal acqmiintance and popularity would carry him triumph- 
antly through any how. Mr. Sanders is a man of good practical edu- 
cation, unquestioned integrity and good business qualifications, 
industrious and faithful to his duties, and will doubtless make an 
excellent assessor. Mr. and Mrs. S. have nine children : Lockey J., 
Maude L., Susan T., Erald E., Paul E., Orlando N., Charles T., 
Kittie E. and Eva L., all of whom are at home with their parents. 
Mr. Sanders has served one term as county assessor, and the people 
by his recent nomination have said to him, "Well done, thou good 
and fiiithful servant, enter thou into the joys of this thy office again. 



1022 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



HARRY T. SCEARCE 



(Of Scearce & Ford, Dealers in Boots, Shoes, Hats, Caps, Gents' Furnishing Goods, 

Etc., Etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Scearce entered in business at Slielbina in 1860, when Mr. L. 
W. Kelley became a partner with him and they carried on the busi- 
ness together until 1884, when Mr. James Ford bought out Kelley' s 
interest and the firm became Scearce & Ford. They carry a stock 
of about $5,000 in the lines mentioned above and have a large 
and lucrative trade. Mr. Scearce is a native of Kentucky, born 
in Louisville, September 18, 1861. He was reared in Louisville up 
to the age of 14, when, on account of his father's death, his mother 
left that city with her family of children, and came to Shelbina, 
Mo., where she still resides. The fatlier, William D. Scearce, was a 
well-to-do stockman and pork packer of Louisville, and died there 
in July, 1875. Mrs. Scearce was a Miss Belle T. Thomas before 
her marriage. Harry T. was principally educated at Shelbina, and 
left the institute in 1880 to engage in business with Mr. Kelley, 
as stated above. December 5, 1882, he was married to Miss Mary 
T. Cotton, a daughter of Chester Cotton, a prominent merchant of 
Shelbina. Mr. and Mrs. Scearce have one child, an infant, Carrie. 
Mr. S. is a member of the Baptist Church and his wife of the M. E. 
Church South. 

JOHN B. SETTLE 

(Of p. E. Frederick, Settle & Co., Breeders and Dealers in Blooded Horses and Fine 
Cattle, and General Stock-raisers and Traders, Shelbina). ^^ 

Mr. Settle, who had previously had a successful experience in the 
stock business, came to Shelbina some three years ago, and became 
a member of the firm with which he is now connected. The busi- 
ness of this firm has already been outlined in the sketch of Mr. 
Frederick, the senior partner, on a former page of this work, so 
that to refer to it at length here would be unnecessarily repeating 
what is said there. Mr. Settle is well known to the people of Shelby 
county, as one of the leading stock men of this county, and his pres- 
ence in the present firm was a valuable acquisition to its influence 
and success. He was born and reared in this county, his birthplace 
being on his father's farm in the eastern part of the county. His 
parents were Richard B. and Jane E. (Rawlings) Settle, and he was 
born August 12, 1842. His mother was a cousin to the late Col. 
Rawlings, of Shelbina. Mr. Settle's parents were both from Virginia 
and came to Missouri between 1836 and 1838. They first resided for 
a short time in Ralls county, and then settled in this county, where 
John B. was born. His father was a farmer and school teacher, but 
devoted his personal attention principally to teaching, having the 
farm carried on mainly by hired help. He taught school most of his 
life, having followed that profession in Virginia before coming to 
Missouri, and afterwards in this State, for many years. Though 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1023 

a man mainly self-educated, he became a fine scholar and was lono- 
reputed the foremost teacher of the county. He also served as mag- 
istrate for a number of years. He died in 1865, Five of the family 
of children are living: James, John, Marshall, Catherine, now the 
widow of Holman Turner, and Fannie, now the wife of James Garri- 
son. John B., reared on the farm, remained at home until the 
second year of the war, when he joined Gen. Porter's regiment in 
the Southern service. He was a cripple when he went into the 
service and had been for a lono- time before, havinof a white swell- 
ing on his knee as large as a half-gallon measure, which had been 
pronounced by the physicians as incural)le. Remarkable to say, 
however, the hardships and exposures to which he was subjected in 
the service, for everybody knows Porter's men were in the saddle 
almost day and night, instead of aggravating his malady, seemed to 
remove it, for he became sound and well in a short time and has 
never been troubled with it since. He was in all the fiofhts in which 
Porter's men took part, and in the defeat at Kirksville, after which 
the command disbanded. He and John and Perry Moore then made 
their way south-east to Tennessee and joined Morgan at McMinville. 
They were with Gen. Morgan on his raid through Ohio, being Col. 
C. P. Breckenridge's Ninth Kentucky Cavalry Regiment. After Gen. 
Morgan's capture or death Mr. Settle was under Gen. John S. (" Cerro 
Gordo") Williams, under whom he remained until the close of the 
war. During his service in the South he was in all the raids in which 
his command participated in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and 
after Sherman on his march to the sea. He was at Columbus, S. C, 
when Sherman took possession of the place, and was a personal wit- 
ness to the burning of Gen. Wade Hampton's residence by Sherman's 
soldiers. At the close of the war he returned home, and arrived here 
barely too late to see his father again in this life. His father died 
just three weeks before Mr. Settle returned. He resumed farming, 
to which he had been brought up, and on the 26th of September, 1868, 
was married to Miss Gloryanna Virginia Butterworth, a sister to 
Theodore Butterworth, a prominent and well known editor of the 
Western Agriculturist, published at Quincy, 111. She was a daughter 
of Sylvanus Butterworth, who had died some years before their mar- 
riage. After his marriage Mr. Settle resided some two years on the 
old Butterworth liomestead, and subsequently improved a farm on 
land inherited by his wife from her father, where he made one of the 
best farms in the county and built an unusually commodious and hand- 
some dwelling; In fact, the finest farm residence in the county. 
Prior to thisT however, he had been in the hardware business at 
Shelbyville about three years. He resided on his farm, engaged i^^ 
handling stock principally, until he came to Shelbina three years ago. 
Prior to coming to Shelbina he was in partnership with O. A. Beebe in 
buying and selling and shipping horses and breeding and raising fine 
horses. Mr. and^Mrs. Settle have six children: Neona F., Reta S., 
Cora L., Caudie E., John M. and Theodore. Mr. and Mrs. Settle are 
members of the M. E. Church South. 



1024 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



J. W. SIGLEE 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, etc., Shelbina). 

The year after Mr. Sigler's birth his parents, Rev. Jacob and 
Sarah B. (Nalley) Sigler, came from Virginia in 1839, to Missouri, 
and located at first in Bowling Green, Pike county. The fother 
was a Methodist minister and took charge of a circuit in North 
Missouri, which included a large district of country. He subse- 
quently resided at Louisiana, Auburn, Fulton and Shelbyville. In 
185] he engaged in merchandising at Shelbyville which he contin- 
ued for about nine years, and until his death, in 1860. His wife 
had previously died at Fulton and he had married a second time, 
Miss Elizabeth Hance becoming his wife. She is now also deceased. 
Of the father's family of children five are living, though but one, 
besides J. W., Sarah B., now Mrs. James Watkins, resides in this 
county. At the age of 10 years J. W. was sent back to Maryland 
to receive his education. He attended school there four years. 
After his return home he attended the Shelbyville High School. 
He then began clerking in his father's store and continued there 
until the father's death. In 1860 he came to Shelbina and clerked 
for S. G. Lewis for two years. But in the summer of 1862 he 
commenced in the grocery trade at Shelbina and continued in that 
line until 1868, being with different parties during this time. He 
then formed a partnership with J. A. Estes and J, L. Riggs, and 
they erected the flouring mill at this place. Mr. Sigler was con- 
nected with the milling business for three seasons. After this he 
was 'book-keeper for Joseph & Nelke, at Quincy, 111., for about 
one year. Returning to Shelbina in 1873, he clerked in the drug 
store of Dr. Ford for about four years. He then engaged in the 
drug business on his own account, and has since continued it. J. 
M. White was his partner in business until two years ago when he 
bought Mr. White's interest and has since conducted the business 
alone. He has an excellent stock of first-class drugs and also carries 
a good assortment of patent medicines, paints, oils, etc. He has 
built up a large trade and has made a gratifying success of his 
business. August 13, 1862, Mr. Sigler was married to Miss Mary 
A. Pierce, an adopted daughter of S. G. Lewis. They have two 
children, Eugene H., who is now connected with the Meyer Bros. & 
Co., of St. Louis, and Mary C, a young lady educated at Shelbina 
Collegiate Institute, and still at home. Mr. Sigler is a leading mem- 
ber of the Masonic order and also of the A. O. U. W. He and wife 
are members of the Episcopal Church. 

J. D. SMITH, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Shelbina) . 

Dr. Smith is one of those scholarly, cultured physicians who are 
quite as much devoted to the study of medicine as a science as they 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1025 

are to the practice of it as an art. Having laid a good foundation for 
a thorouo-h knowledge of his profession by a regular course of medico- 
colleoiate training, he has continued the study of medicine with 
unabated zeal and assiduity since his graduation, and while in the 
practice. He is one of those progressive-minded men, a physician of 
advanced ideas, who by study and investigation keep fully up with 
the times in their profession. He has a choice medical library in 
which most of his time, not employed in the active practice, is spent 
to good advantage. He believes that the practice of medicine, like 
evei-ything else, is tending to what the Germans call particularism, 
or specialism, and that for one to be a successful general practitioner 
he must be something of a specialist in all the departments of the 
practice. Dr. Smith has a tine practice and is one of the leading 
physicians of the county. He is thoroughly devoted to his profession 
and takes a public spirited interest in every thing that tends to elevate 
it. He was instrumental in organizing the Medical Society of the 
countv, and was prominent in the organization of the District Medical 
Association. He was born in Hannibal, January 25, 1849. His 
father, Columbus Smith, went to California during the gold excite- 
ment and died of cholera at Sacramento in 1851. His mother, whose 
maiden name was Harris, died two years afterwards. Dr. Smith was 
reared by his uncle, Daniel Harris, a large tobacconist of Hannibal, 
and Quincy, 111. He was educated at Uiose cities, completing his 
education at the Quincy College, but not remaining to graduate. He 
read medicine under Dr. I. T. Wilson. He took a course of three 
terms in the Kush Medical College of Chicago, graduating in 1870. 
He also took a special course in Clinics. After his graduation he 
was with Dr. E. C. S. Curtis in the practice at Quincy for nearly a 
year. He then located at Shelbyville, and after practicing there for 
over two years, came to Shelbina and was in partnership with Dr. E. 
N. Gerard for three years. This firm dissoWed in the summer of 
1876, and Dr. Smith recreated for about five months. He has since 
been in the practice alone. As has been said, he has become promi- 
nent and successful in the practice. In 1880 he was president of the 
District Medical Association. February 20, 1873, he was married to 
Miss Ida H. Myers, of Palmyra. They have five children : Mark H., 
Maggie G., Julia C, Bessie B., and Effie D. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Baptist Church. 

JEPTHA SMITH 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Smith's farm is situated four miles west of Shelbina, and con- 
tains 153 acres. He has resided there for many years, and has been 
a resident of this county from boyhood. His parents were Charles 
and Jane (Moreman) Smith, natives of Kentucky. They came to 
Missouri from Bourbon county, Ky., in 1818, locating first in St. 
Charles county. Subsequently they removed to Marion county and 
finally to Shelby county. The mother died here in 1846, and the 



1026 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

father in 1875, in the eighty-second year of his age. Jeptha Smith 
was brought up a farmer on his father's farm, two and a half miles 
north of Shelbina, having been but three years of age when his parents 
came to this county. He was born while they resided in Marion county, 
near Palmyra, January 15, 1833. In his twenty-sixth year, in 1857, 
he was married to Miss Ellen Caldwell, by whom he had five children, 
all of whom are living. The messenger of death visited his home, 
however, in 1869, and robbed him of his devoted wife and his children 
of their loving mother. He was married to Miss R. F. Wright, 
November 20, 1871 ; she, too, has ijeen taken from him by death, 
dying January 19, 1882, and leaving one child, a daughter, May W. 
Mr, Smith's father, besides being an enterprising farmer, was a capa- 
ble and prominent builder, and among other houses of consideration 
which he erected was the court-house at Shelbina, built in 1839. But 
he lost a large amount of money on this by the failure of the county 
treasurer. 

LEVIN W. SMITH 

(Farmer, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Sussex county, Del., is the place of nativity of the subject of 
this sketch, and the morning of July 8, 1838, was the time of his birth. 
His parents were John Smith and wife, Amelia Trader, his grand- 
father, on his father's side, being Marvel Smith, and on his mother's, 
Henry Trader. His paternal ancestor was long settled in Delaware, 
but his mother's agnate family was of Worcester county, Md. Mr. 
Smith's parents reared a family of 11 children, eight of whom are 
living, and he was the third of the children. He was reared on a 
farm, and in 1858 he and his father were appointed light-house men on 
Phcenix Island, off the coast of Delaware. They kept the light-house 
until the fall of 1861, when they were forced to light out themselves 
by Lincoln's administration, because they were guilty of the awful 
crime of being Democrats. Those were the days that Democrats 
were good enough to fight the battles of their country for the pre- 
servation of the Union, but not to hold any civil office or hardly to 
vote if the authorities at Washington could prevent it. On the 24th 
of February, 1863, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Amanda B. Hor- 
ton, a daughter of Joshua Horton, of Sussex county. Mr. Smith then 
made his home at Salisbury, Md., where he was engaged in stock 
trading for about three years. In 1863 he removed to Atchison, Kan. , 
where he kept hotel for about 18 months. After this he became forage 
master for the government at Fort Hardy, Kan., a position he held 
for about 12 months. Following this he bought a farm in Western 
Kansas, but was soon run out by the Indians, barely escaping with his 
life, and of course he could not have escaped without it. Leaving 
Kansas, he came to Missouri and located in Jackson county, about two 
and a half miles south of Kansas City. From there he moved to 
Shelby county in 1871. Mr. Smith purchased his present farm, or 80 
acres of it, in 1878, and he has since added 100 acres, so that novv he 
has one of the choice farms in Salt River township. He is a man of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1027 

industry, resolution and sterling intelligence, and is steadily coming 
to the front as a farmer. He is making something of a specialty o1" 
raising good cattle and trades in stock to a considerable extent. Mr. 
and Mrs. Smith have two children : Jennie B., the wife of James D. 
Boyce, of Delaware; and Lizzie A., a young lady still with her i)arents. 
He and wife are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Smith in 
politics is a Greenbacker, but is a warm supporter of Tilden in the 
Democratic party, and perhaps of Cleveland, or any other good Dem- 
ocrat. 

SPAKKS BROS. & CO. 

(General Grocers and Dealers in Grain and Proprietors Grain Elevator, Shelbina). 

The above named firm succeeded indirectly the firm of True & 
Sparks, composed of S. A. Sparks and C. H. True, which was oro-an- 
ized in 1880. They continued business until Capt. Sparks bouo-ht 
out True's interest two years later, the firm of Sparks Bros, continu- 
ing the business until January 21, 1884, when Mr. Thomas was" 
admitted to a partnership in the business, the firm becoming Sparks 
Bros. & Co., as it has since continued. They carry a large stock of 
groceries and have an extensive and comfortable trade in that line. 
Besides this they have a heavy grain business, and are proprietors of 
the Eclipse Elevator at this place. They handle the bulk of grain 
shipped from Shelbina, and all three gentlemen are widely and favor- 
ably known as capable, reliable and enterprising business men. Their 
business is steadily on the increase and they have ever}^ promise of a 
career even more successful in the future than it has been in the past, 
notwithstanding it has been more than their most sanguine anticipa- 
tions promised. If the present crops yield as abundantly as it now 
seems they will, their business this year in the grain line will simply 
be immense. The Sparks brothers were sons of James P. and Sallie 
(Threlkeld) Sparks, early settlers in the vicinity of Shelbina from 
Henry county, Ky. They came to this vicinity in 1839, where the 
father improved a fiirni five miles south-west of Shelbina. He died 
there in 1847. The mother preceded him two years. They had a 
family of 12 children, all of whom lived to reach mature years, and 
nine are still living. Robert T. was born in Henry county, Ky., 
March 17, 1833, and Samuel A. in the vicinity of Shelbina, June 26, 
1842. Both were reared on the farm and received good common 
school educations. They continued farming and with excellent success 
until, they respectively engaged in business at Shelbina, as stated 
above. However, during the war both were in the Southern army for 
a time, and Robert T. w^as commissioned captain. They were first 
under Price and then under Porter. Afterwards Capt. Sparks was in 
Kentucky for nearly two years, ending in 1864. Samuel A. spent 
about four years following 1863, in California. He had previously 
been held a prisoner by the Federals for a short time. Each was in 
several battles and less engagements in their service in the Southern 
army. Through the vicissitudes of campaigning in Missouri they 



1028 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

became separated from their command and found it impossible to 
rejoin the army. Capt. Sparks has been married three times ; first, 
to Miss Elizabeth Warren, who died in 1862, eight years after her 
marriage. His second wife was previously Mrs. Adeline Bates, nee 
Lusk, and at the time, widow of William Bates. She died seven years 
after her second marriage, in 1872. Mrs. Eliza Withers, widow of 
Hiram Withers, deceased, became his wife December 27, 1874. She 
was a daughter of Green Patrick, of Monroe county, but formerly of 
Kentucky. Capt. Sparks has five children : Mary C. and Willie A., 
who were by the first wife ; Lillie B. and Frederick, who are by the 
second wife, and James L. by his present wife. Samuel A. Sparks 
was married October 20, 1869, to Miss Georgia A. Warren, a sister 
to Capt. Sparks' first wife. They have two children : Angus and 
Shelby C. Christy G. Thomas, of the above named firm was born in 
Monroe county on the 18th day of February, 1849, and was a son of 
David and I. J. (Sparks) Thomas. Up to the time of engaging in 
•his present business, his life had been devoted principally to farming, 
though he had given some time and attention to business pursuits. 
February 27, 1876, he was married to Miss Mary E. Stalcup, of Mon- 
roe county. They have two children : Anna B. and Lizzie M. The 
two first members of the firm are Masons and each is a member of 
the A. O. U. W. 

PROF. LEWIS H. STRICKLER 

CPrincipal of the Public Schools, Shelbina). 

Such are the ability and efficiency Prof. Strickler has shown as 
principal of the public schools of this place, and such his thorough 
qualifications as a teacher, that by the hearty indorsement of the 
school board and the approval of the entire community, he has been 
retained in his present position continuously since his first appoint- 
ment in 1881. Prof. Strickler is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 
Uniontown, July 30, 1853. He is a son of Jacob and Elspy (Scott) 
Strickler, who removed to Illinois from Pennsylvania in 1857. Lewis 
H. was then in his fourth year, and from that age he was reared in 
Adams county. III., where his parents resided. His father is a sub- 
stantial And respected farmer, and still resides where he settled in 
1857, near La Prairie. Lewis H. grew up on the father's farm in that 
county, where he remained until he was 22 years of age, receiving in 
the meantime an average common school education in the neighbor- 
hood district schools. But desirous of obtaining a more advanced 
education, in 1875 he went to Camp Point, III., where he took a course 
in high school. After this he attended school at Quincy, and finally 
entered the State Normal School of Indiana, at Valparaiso. Prof. 
Strickler concluded his course at Valparaiso in 1880. Meanwhile, 
iiowever, he had l)een teaching school during the interims between his 
terms at school as a student, or rather he taught principally during 
the winter months, and attended school during the summer seasons. 
After quitting school at Valparaiso, he assumed charge of the public 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1029 

school at La Prairie, where he had been partly reared, and following 
this, in 1881, was elected principal of the schools at Shelbina. Prof. 
Strickler has so borne himself, both as a teacher and personally as a 
citizen, since he came to Shelbiua, that he has won the confidence and 
esteem of the entire community. A man of high character and 
superior culture, a teacher of approved reputation and a gentleman of 
geniality and pleasing address, he is popular with all classes of our 
people, and is steadily advancing to a position of marked prominence 
as an educator and as a citizen of consideration and influence. Prof. 
Stri^kler's brother, Herbert M., is his first assistant, a young man of 
good education and bright promise. Young Mr, Strickler was princi- 
pally educated under his brother, the Professor. They have given the 
public schools of Shelbiua a degree of efficiency never enjoyed 
before. 

DANIEL J. SWINNEY 

(Of Swiuney Bros., Owners aad Proprietors of the Walkersville Saw and Grist and 
Carding Mills, Post-ofHce, Shelbina). 

Among the early settlers of this section of the country were the 
parents of the subject of the present sketch, John G. and Sarah A. 
Swinney, who came here from Kentucky. They reared a family of 
eight children, and of these Daniel J. was the eldest. He was born 
in Macon county, November 10, 1845, and was reared on his father's 
farm in that county. In 1861, although only 15 years of age, he 
enlisted in the Southern army under Cxen. Clark, and served^ with 
unfaltering devotion and unflinching courage until the close of the 
war. He was in many hard fought battles, including those of Pea 
Ridge, Corinth, Prairie Grove, Helena, Mobile and a number of others. 
He received but one wound, and that a slight one, during the war. 
Returning home after the war, in February, 1868, he was married to 
Miss Sarah A., daughter of John A. and Nancy Johnson, of Monroe 
county, but formerly of Virginia. In 1880 Mr. Swinney had the 
misfortune to lose his wife. She left him three children at her death, 
namely: Anna B., James A. and Edward. Mr. Swinney, reared a 
farmer, continued that occupation until 1875. He then engaged in 
milling in Monroe county, which he followed there for about nine 
years. In the spring of 1884 he came to Shelby county, and in part- 
nership with a younger brother, Emmet D., whose sketch follows this, 
bought the saw, grist and carding mills at Walkersville, which they 
have since run with success. Mr. Swinney is a member of the Bap- 
tist Church, as his wife was before her death, and he is also a member 
of the A. F. and A. M. 

EMMET D. SWINNEY 

(Of Swinney Bros., Owners and Proprietors of the Walkersville Saw, Grist and Card- 
ing Mills, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Swinney was the sixth in his father's family of children, and 
was born on the family homestead, in Marion county, March 13, 1863, 



1030 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

He remained at home until he was 20 years of age, and then learned 
the milling business at Clarence, in Shelby county. He remained at 
Clarence, engaged in milling, until the spring of 1884, when he came 
to Walkersville and became his brother's partner in the mill at this 
place. They have a good mill, and do a large business in their lines 
of sawing lumber, grinding and carding. Both are men of energy 
and enterprise, and are making a success of the milling business. In 
December, 1883, Mr. Swiuney was married to Miss Mattie B., a 
daughter of James J. and Mary A. Rutter, of this county. Mrs. 
Swinney is a lady of culture and refinement, and is a graduate in 
instrumental music, being an exceptionally fine pianist. She is a 
member of the church. 

JUDGE DANIEL TAYLOE 

(Of Eeid & Taylor, Bankers, Shelbina). 

Judge Taylor is a native of Virginia, and when a young man, at the 
age of 22, came to Missouri, making his home in Shelby county 
among its early settlers, in 1843. He located on North river, about 
seven miles north-east of Shelbyville, where he bought a tract of 
land partially improved, that is, having a small cabin on it and a few 
acres of ground cleared and under fence. He entered 40 acres more 
and began the work of making himself a comfortable home and 
establishing himself in life. In Virginia he had learned the tanner's 
trade, and in this county he followed that for about seven years in 
addition to farming. Judge Taylor niade a fine farm and by industry 
and good management placed himself in well-to-do circumstances. 
He raised stock quite extensively, having the free use of the unfenced 
ranges of those days, and made considerable in this line of industry. 
Judge Taylor resided on his farm for 20 j'ears and until he came to 
Shelbina in 1863. Here he engaged in the grocery trade, but later 
along passed over into the dry goods business. In 1865 he withdrew 
from merchandising altogether and gave his attention principallv to 
the insurance business, which he followed up to about 1874. A man 
of some means and a prominent stockholder in the Bank of Shelbina, 
as well as being one in whose integrity the people have great confi- 
dence, he was elected president of the bank during the year last 
mentioned, and has ever since continued at the head of this institu- 
tion, which, however, has undergone a change of organization. In 
1878 the Bank of Shelbina, as a joint stock compan}^ was discontin- 
ued, and the present bank of Eeid & Taylor was organized as its 
successor. This has a capital of $50,000, and is one of the sound 
country banks of North Missouri. Judge Taylor gives his whole 
time and attention to the interests of the bank. Mr. Eeid is the 
cashier, and in these two gentleman are found, to more than an or- 
dinary degree, the requisites for successfully conducting the banking 
business. Judge Taylor is a man of marked public spirit and takes 
an active interest in everything calculated to benefit the community. 
He is prominently identified with all the stock company enterprises 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1031 

of Shelbina, and heartily does everything in his power for the im- 
provement of the place and the prosperity of the county. Politically 
he is identified with the Democratic party, but is by no means a one- 
wheeled Democrat, being a man of broad, liberal ideas, who regards 
the business and general interests of the country of far more impor- 
tance than that Ike Jones, " Dimicrat," should beat Tom Smith, 
Radical, for the " Legislatur," or for any other one-horse office. Judge 
Taylor was married in this county October 3, 1844, to Miss Amanda 
Minter, a daughter of Dr. Antho'ny Minter, the pioneer physician of 
the county. He came here in 1836, He practiced for nearly 20 years 
in this county, or until his retirement from the practice in the\year 
1854. He died at Shelbina during the summer of 1871. Mrs. 
Taylor's mother, Jane Minter, died soon after Mrs. Taylor's mar- 
riage. Her father afterwards married Miss Duauna Thomas, who 
survived him about four years. Judge and Mrs. Taylor are both 
members of the M. E. Church South. They have no family, never 
having been blessed with children. Although desiring no office, in 
1860 Judge Taylor was elected a member of the county court, and 
held that position during all the trying times of the war and until after 
its close, in 1866. He has never been a candidate since for any position 
and very wisely has no desire for political promotion. He is regarded 
throughout the county as one of its most sterling and upright citizens, 
and is as highly respected and esteemed as any man within its borders. 
Judge Taylor is now in his sixty-fourth year,' having been born Feb- 
ruary 6, 1821, in Hampshire county, Va., but now in West Va. His 
parents were Edward and Margaret (Means) Taylor, both of old and 
respected Virginia families. Twelve of their family of children grew 
to maturity, but only five of them are living. Both parents are 
deceased. 

TAYLOR THOMPSON 

(Of Thompson & Lasley, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Furnishing Goods, Hats and 
Caps, Boots and Shoes, Carpets, Window-shades, etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Thompson is a native Missourian, born near Paris, in Monroe 
county, February 4, 1846. His fiither, Harvey Thompson, who died 
in 1882, was a contractor and builder for over 20 years prior to his 
death. Previous to that he had been engaged in merchandising a 
number of years. He .came to Macon, Mo., in 1857, where he lived 
until his death. Mr. Thompson's mother was a Miss Sarah A. 
Ballard before her marriage. She is now living at Shelbina. Taylor 
Thompson, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the schools of 
Macon City, and then he began clerking at that place. He con- 
tinued at Macon City until 1879, whenhe came to Shelbina and 
formed a partnership with George T. Hill in merchandising, but Mr. 
Hill died soon afterwards. Mr. Thompson subsequently continued 
business on his own account. He had no partner in business until 
1881, when Mr. Lasley became interested with him. The business of 
Thompson & Lasley has been spoken of in the sketch of Mr. Las- 
ley. Suffice it, therefore, to say here that they have a large and 

60 



1032 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

steadily increasing business, and rank among the most successful and 
popular merchants in the county. In 1864, Mr. Thompson served in 
the militia during Price's raid into this State. October 4, 1870, he 
Avas married to Miss Sallie Parsons, a daughter of John N. Parsons, 
of Shelbina. They have three children: Harry G., Frank T. and 
Leo. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the M. E. Church, 
and he is a member of the Masonic order. 

GEORGE W. TOWNSEND 

(State Agent of the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad, and Agent of the Pacific Express 

Company, Shelbina). 

Mr. Townsend, one of the most popular and accommodating local 
officers on the line of the Hannibal and St. Joe road, is a native of 
New York, born in Greene county, May 4, 1846. His parents are 
John E. and Elizabeth (Van Loon) Townsend, his father of English 
descent, his mother of a Mohawk Dutch family, originally from 
Holland. George W. was reared on a farm in New York and came 
to Missouri in 1869, in company with his parents, who settled at 
Shelbina, where they now reside. Li the fall of 1870 he began 
learning the duties of station agent under J. W. Miller at this place, 
under whom he worked for about four years. He then went to 
Woodland and became local agent at that place, where he remained 
until he was appointed agent at Shelbina in 1881. He had also 
previously learned the telegraph business. Mr. Townsend has been 
married twice. To his first wife, previously Miss Helen A. Inger- 
soll, he was married in 1871. She died the following year. In 
1874 he was married to Mrs. Susan C. Murch, the widow of Wil- 
liam Murch, a railroad conductor, who was accidentally killed by 
being run over by an engine. Mrs. Townsend, his present wife, 
whose maiden name was Hancock, was a telegraph operator after 
her husband's death, and Mr. Townsend largely learned the trade 
from her. She has two children by her first husband, Frank A. and 
Fred W^., the former now in Abiline, Texas, and the latter in the 
post-office at this place. Mr. Townsend is a Royal Arch Mason. 

J. WM. TOWSON 

(Real Estate, Loan and Insurance Agent, Shelbina) . 

Mr. Towson has been in the real estate at Shelbina for nearly 20 
years, and it is venturing nothing to say that during this time he has 
handled more real estate than any other man in the county. An 
active, energetic business man, he is never behind any one in enter- 
prise and has done a great deal for the county in advertising its 
advantages abroad, and bringing in new comers to settle up the 
country. He came here from Maryland in the spring of 1866, his 
brother, Henry C, having preceded him. Securing the agency of the 
sale of the lands of the St. Joe Railroad, and forming a real 
estate partnership under the name of Towson Bros., these men 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1033 

built up a large business. They handled the lands of the St. Joe 
road in this county and Monroe and also large bodies of wild land 
particularly in the vicinity of Shelbina. In 1881, Henry C. retired 
from the firm, J. Wm. buying out his interest, and two years 
after A. W. Combs became a partner. In 1867-68 Mr. Towson 
traveled all over Shelby county gathering data and examining its 
typography in order to make a complete and reliable map thereof. 
This map was the first one ever made, and in fact, was the only one 
for a number of years, and was of great value, not only to the firm 
in disposing of their lands, but as a map of reference for all. Messrs. 
Towson & Combs are owners of the "Benjamin Abstracts" — the 
work of the late John F. Benjamin, M. C., from this district, — 
showing upon a moment's examination the title to any tract of land 
in the county, and they do a heavy business in this line, as well as 
in buying and selling real estate. They also represent ample capital 
and loan money on real estate on reasonable rates of interest and 
easy payments. They are the agents for some eight or ten fire 
insurance companies of the United States, and also for the Mutual 
Life Insurance Company, of New York. They keep a number of men 
traveling in the insurance line from year to year. Mr. Towson comes 
of an old Maryland family, from which Towsontown, near Baltimore 
City, was named. He was born near Hagerstown, Washington county, 
March 2, 1839, and is the son of William and Louisa (Hamme) Tow- 
son, his mother being a native of Virginia. With a fair education, he 
commenced his business life as clerk in a large mercantile house in Balti- 
more City, remaining till the summer of 1862, when he went South. 
There he entered the Confederate service in the celebrated " Black 
Horse " Cavalry, Fourth Virginia, in Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's division. 
From that time he participated in every great battle of " the army of 
Northern Virginia " till its surrender un'der Gen. Robert E. Lee at 
Appomattox. Coming to Missouri, as stated above, September 3, 
1868, he married Miss Gabraella, a daughter of James Combs, of this 
county. An adopted daughter, Ada, whom they gave their name, 
Towson, is their only child. In Masonry he is a Knight Templar, 
and now holds the highest office in Shelbina Masonic Lodge. He has 
given little time to politics, but has been Mayor of the city of Shel- 
bina, and held other offices of trust. He is a large holder of business 
and other property, is a successful dealer, a good financier, and thor- 
oughly reliable and responsible. 

H. C. TOWSON 

(Shelbiua). 

Mr. Towson is a native of Maryland, born in Williamsport, Wash- 
ington county, July 13, 1842. His parents were William and Louisa 
Towson. His father was of English descent. His mother's family 
were early settlers of Berkeley county Va., and his father's of 
Washington county, Md., his grandfather, Jacob T. Towson, being 
a prominent and wealthy citizen of Williamsport, where he died 



1034 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ill 1841, bequeathing to his children a large estate. Mr. Towson's 
parents resided on their farm two miles from Williamsport 
until 1857, when they removed to Baltimore City, where his 
mother died in 1860, and his father at Williamsport in 1869. H. C. 
completed his education at what is now known as The Baltimore 
College, having attended that institution four years, and graduated 
with the highest honor in the class of '62 — taking the first Peabody 
prize of $100 for scholarship and deportment. He was a hard student 
and having confined himself so closely to his studies, his health became 
seriously undermined, from the effects of which, and subsequent 
exposure in business, he has never fully recovered. After his gradu- 
ation he taught school two years, preparing himself at the same time 
for the study of law, his chosen profession. In the fall of 1864 he 
entered the law office of Judge Brown, in Baltimore City, to prosecute 
his legal studies, but his eyes having become weakened from long 
study failed him, and he was compelled to abandon his purpose. In 
January, 1865, he was married to Miss Martha Coakley, a daughter 
of P. H. Coakley, a broker of Baltimore, and soon afterwards removed 
to Missouri and established a real estate office at Shelbina, in April 
1865, in partnership with Mr. Joseph Willis, then exploring agent of the 
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Company. Mr. Willis, however, 
in consequence of pressing duties elsewhere, relinquished his interests 
in a few months to Mr. Towson, who continued the business alone 
until the spring of 1866, when he gave his brother a partnership in 
the business, which continued until Mr. Towson retired, in 1881. The 
firm did a very large real estate, insurance and land agency business. 
Mr. Towson has been quite successful in the accumulation of property, 
and is in comfortable circumstances. He was a leading stockholder 
and director in the Bank of Shelbina during its entire existence, besides 
occupying similar positions of trust in other enterprises, and was once 
one of the town trustees. He has a handsome residence property in 
Shelbina, and so far as material comforts are concerned, he is in a sit- 
uation to enjoy life. Mr. and Mrs. Towson have had a family of four 
children, only (me of whom is now living, a promising lad 14 years of 
age. Mrs. Towson is a member of the Baptist Church. 

ISAAC H. WAILES 

(Deceased, Lentner). 

This worthy farmer and good citizen of Salt River township, after 
a long residence in the county, died on his farm near Lentner. He 
was born in the City of Washington, District of Columbia, December 
20, 1824, and was a brother to John W. Wailes, whose sketch pre- 
cedes this. Twelve years of age when his mother's family settled in 
Shelby county, in 1836, he grew to manhood in this county, and was 
married here in 1849 to Miss Elizabeth H. King, a daughter of Elbert 
J. and Lucy A. King, who came here from Kentucky in 1838, or 
rather to Ralls county, and then to Shelby, in 1841, locating near 
Shelbyville. Her father died near that place in 1864, and her mother 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1035 

died in 1881. He was a member of the M. E. Church South, and she 
of the Baptist Cliurch. Mrs, Wailes was born in Ohio in 1831, where 
her parents resided for a few years before coming to Missouri. She 
is still living, and finds a welcome and pleasant home with her daugh- 
ter. Mrs. W. is a most estimable and motherly old lady, esteemed 
and venerated by all who know her. In her happy married life she 
was blessed with six children, as follows : Lucy E., deceased, the wife 
of James L. Gunby ; Mary E., the wife of Benjamin F. Williams; 
Amanda C, the wife of James T. Canfield; of Muscatine county, 
Iowa; Edwin R., who married Miss Nannie D. Melson; Oliver M., a 
thriving young farmer of this county; Charles E., a popular young 
school teacher, now preparing himself for a university course ; and 
William H., vvho died at the age of 17, in 1873. Mr. Williams, the 
father, was a worthy member of the Church 

EDWIN R. WAILES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Lentner). 

Mr. Wailes was the fifth in the family of children of Isaac Wailes, 
now deceased, a memoir of whose life precedes this. He was born on 
the family homestead in. Shelby county, in 1858, and was reared to 
the occupation of a farmer. In 1883 he was married to Miss Nannie 
D. Melson, a daughter of Jacob Melson, of this county. Mr. Wailes 
settled on his present farm, known as the Edmonson place, in 1884. 
It is a neat farm of 72 acres, and Mr. W. is making a good start in 
life. He has his place fairly improved and well stocked with good 
cattle, horses, hogs, etc. Mr. W. is a grand nephew to Judge Perry 
Moore, of this county, originally of Delaware. Mr. and Mrs. W. are 
members of the M. E. Church. 

JOHN W. WAILES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Lentner). 

It was much against his will that Mr. Wailes became a member of 
the militia during the war. He deeply deprecated the internecine 
strife then raging throughout the country, and while he felt a deep 
disinclination to take any part in the struggle between brothers and 
between fathers and sons, if he felt any partiality for either side it 
was for the South, of whose people he came and where he was born. 
He therefore naturally protested against taking up arms to^ fight 
against his own section and relatives, and even after he was forced 
into the militia on the Union side, which he entered rather than be 
driven from home and broken up, it was precious little fighting he 
did. He was in only about a month, and then resumed the duties of 
his own afiVurs at home. Mr. Wailes has long been a member of the 
M. E. Church South and has filled different oflices in the church. 
He is now a regularly licensed exhorter in the church, and is a zealous 
worker in its liftairs. Mr. Wailes has a good farm of 120 acres, 
neatly improved, and is comfortably situated. He is a native of Dela- 



1036 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ware and a son of Levin I. and Mary I. (Moore) Wailes. His father 
was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and died in Washington, D. 
C, in 1832. John W., born in Delaware in 1826, was nine years of 
age when his mother removed to Illinois with her family in 1835. 
The following year they came to Missouri and settled in Shelby 
county, where he grew to manhood. In 1849 he was married to Miss 
Mary P., a daughter of John B. and Charlotte (Parker) Lewis, 
formerly of Delaware, who came to this State in 1836, and are still 
living at Hannibal, where the father is city recorder, justice of the 
peace and notary public. The suV)ject of this sketch settled on the 
farm where he now resides in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Wailes have two 
children, Jesse A. and Nora E. Five are deceased: Margaret A., 
Julia v., William K., Charles E. and Elizabeth V.. Jesse A. is 
a licensed minister of the M. E. Church South, being licensed Feb- 
ruary 9, 1884, and at his first protracted meeting, which commenced 
March 13, 22 sinners were converted in one week. His career prom- 
ises to be one of great usefulness to the church. He is a young man 
of wonderful zeal and eloquence, and is undoubtedly capable of great 
good in the cause of Christianity. 

W. H. WARREN 

(Shelbina). 

Mr. Warren's parents, William and Charlotte (Herndon) Warren, 
came to North Missouri from Bourbon county, Ky., as early as 1835, 
and after a two years' residence in Marion county, settled five miles 
south of Shelbina, where they made their permanent home. The 
father, a millwright by trade, worked at that for a short time, and then 
followed farming until his death, which occurred at the age of 74. The 
mother is still living at the age of 75, and finds a welcome and pleasant 
home with the subject of this sketch. They had a family of eight 
children, of whom five are living. William H. was born in Bourbon 
county, Ky., July 23, 1829, and was, therefore, principally reared in 
Missouri. He early learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked 
for some years, and finally engaged in the lumber business, which he 
followed with steady and substantial success until the fall of 1883. 
He is now, temporarily, in no active business. Mr. Warren is in 
comparatively easy circumstances. Besides having considerable 
means and other property, he has a handsome residence property at 
Shelbina, and is now building another dwelling. He has been a 
member of the city council for about six years, and is now serving 
his second year as a member of the school board. He was, for sev- 
eral months, with Price and Col. Porter, respectively, during the late 
war, and was in the battle of Lexington. The last years of the war, 
however, he spent in Kentucky and Indiana. November 17, 1870, 
he was married to Miss Lucy Lewis, a daughter of Jesse Lewis, of 
Monroe county. They have no children of their own, but are rear- 
ing a little girl, Gertrude List, now nine 3^ears of age. Mr. and 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1037 

Mrs. W. are members of the Baptist Church, and he is a member of 
the I. O. O. F. 

CHARLES W. WEATHERBY 

(Contractor and Builder, Shelbiua). 

Mr. Weatherby came to Shelbina from Michigan, where he was a 
prominent citizen of his county and had been twice elected to repre- 
sent it in the State Legislature. His last term of office had not 
expired when he removed to Missouri. He had also served as magis- 
trate in Michigan for a period of over 20 years, and, indeed, was one 
of the influential citizens of the county. Here he has been one of the 
leading contractors and builders of Shelbina since locatins: in this 
place, having erected no less than 12 brick business houses and a laro-e 
number of residence buildings. He has also served as magistrate at 
this place for some years. Mr. Weatherby was born at Ft. Ann, near 
Champlain Lake, January 19, 1810. When he was yet in childhood 
his parents, Willard and Phcebe (Brown) Weatherby, removed to 
Syracuse, N. Y., where he grew to manhood and learned the carpen- 
ter's trade. He remained there until he was 25 years of age. In 
1836 he removed to Michigan and resided in Branch county for about 
eight years. He then settled near Coldwater, where he followed 
farming and working at his trade for over 30 years. It was while 
there that he held the office of magistrate and represented the county 
in the Legislature. From Coldwater he went to Elkhart, Ind., and 
began merchandising, having for partners a couple of young men with 
a great deal more enterprise than business discretion. The result was 
that they went through with about $10,000 of his cash much quicker 
than Ward got away with the Grants on Wall Street. He then came 
to Shelbina, having a brother, Warren, who had preceded him here in 
1857. Here he bought several lots and went to building houses. He 
has since been in the contractino; and building business at this 
place and with excellent success. He has a number of residence 
properties at Shelbina rented out, and is in comfortable circumstances. 
Mr. Weatherby's first wife, previously a Miss Harriet Hadley, died in 
New York about nine years after they were married. There are two 
children the fruits of this union : Mary J., now Mrs. Charles A. 
Fletcher, of Washington Territory ; and Charles J., now president of 
the Kansas Life Insurance Company, of Kansas City. Mr. W.'s 
second wife survived her marriage but 18 months. She was a Miss 
Ruth Steele, of Michigan. In 1848 he was married in that State to 
Miss Clara Roe, who lived 33 years after her marriage, dying January 
12, 1881. To his present wife, previously the widow of Harry Clark, 
of Allen, Hillsdale county, Mich., he was married February 28, 1882. 
She was a Miss Mary J. Diesler, of New York, before her first 
marriage. Her first husband, formerly of Michigan, died at Allen, 
Hillsdale county, Mich., in 1875. Mrs. Weatherby, by her first hus- 
band, has nine children, all of whom, except the two youngest, are 
married and the heads of families. Mr. W.'s granddaughter, Hattie 



1038 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Fletcher, became the wife of the youngest son of Henry Ward 
Beecher, Herbert Beecher, and they now reside at Seattle, Washington 
Territory. 

ADOLPHUS G. WOOD, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon and Farmer, Post-office, Lentner, Mo.)- 

Dr. Wood, a son of Adolphus E. Wood, one of the pioneer settlers 
of Shelby county, and a nephew of Hon. Fernando Wood, deceased, 
late of New York City, was born on the Island of Cuba. The Wood 
family, of which the subject of the present sketch is a representative, 
is one of the oldest and best families in the country. It was founded 
in America by Henry Wood, of England, who came to the New World 
in about 1650. He settled in the colony of New Jersey, and became 
one of the prominent men of that colony. From him descended Ben- 
jamin Wood, his great-grandson, and the latter became the father of 
Adolphus E. and Hon. Fernando Wood. A full history of the family 
in this country may be seen in the biography of the Hon. Fernando 
Wood. To give here even an outline of this old and distinguished 
and now numerous and widely distributed family, would require far 
more space than the limits and nature of this work render ])racticable. 
Mr. Wood's mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Anne Caroline 
Clunette, a young lady of French descent, and his parents met and 
were married in Cuba — with the merchants of which island his father 
was engaged in trade from New York. Indeed, his father resided 
in Cuba for some years, continuing there for a time after his marriage, 
and it was while a resident of that island that Dr. Adolphus G. was 
born, on the 18th of March, 1831. From Cuba Dr. Wood's parents 
returned to the States, and soon afterwards came out West, locating 
at Hannibal in the fall of 1834. The following spring, however, they 
came to Shelby county and settled on a farm three miles north-east 
of Shelbina. In 1833 Dr. Wood's father, who was himself a prac- 
ticing physician, was appointed a member of the first county court of 
the county, and removed to Oak Dale, the then county seat of Shelby 
county. Dr. Wood, pere, was one of the first physicians of the 
county, a man of thorough university and medical education, and a 
polished, courtly gentleman ; withal, he was a man of high character 
and generous impulses, and was extremely popular with all who knew 
him. He resided in this county until his death, successfully engaged 
in the practice of medicine and in superintending his farm. He died 
in 1856, widely and profoundly mourned. Of the family of 10 chil- 
dren, nine are living, -namely : Charles S., Louisa J., Adolphus G., 
Matilda T., Edward M., Benjamin O., Arabella A., Henry M. and 
Mary S,. Dr. A. G. Wood, the third of these, was, with the other 
children, reared on the farm in this county and given a good general 
education. While yet a youth he began the study of medicine under 
his father, and also had the benefit of instruction from Dr. J. C. 
Woodson, of Shelby ville. He then entered the Medical Department 
of the State University of Iowa, in which he took a regular course 



HISTOEr OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1039 

and graduated in the spring of 1859, among the first in his class. 
Shortly after his graduation Dr. Wood located at Walkersville, where 
he engaged in the practice of his profession. He has continued the 
practice from that time to this, for a period of about 25 years, and 
with excellent success. For years past he has resided on his farm ad- 
joining Lentner. On the 20th of January, 1863, he was married to 
Miss Mary L. Mitchell, a daughter of Thomas Mitchell, clerk of the 
Shelby county court. The Doctor and' Mrs. Wood have seven chil- 
dren : Fernando, Maudell, Amande P., Anna Clunette, Adolphus M., 
Lamar and Gertrude. In politics Dr. Wood is a Democrat, as all 
good men ought to be, and being a Democrat, he takes a deep inter- 
est, as a matter of course, in the welfare of his county and the country 
generally. 

EDWIN W. WORLAND 

(Of E. W. Worland & Bro.'s Livery, Feed and Sales Stables, Shelbina). 

Mr. Worland has been engaged in his present line of business since 
1876, but from time to time has had different partners. His brother, 
George H., or Henry, as he is called, became his partner in January, 
1883, since which they have been .carrying on the business together. 
They have one of the neatest and most complete livery establishments, 
including choice stock and vehicles, as well as the manner in which 
everything is kept, throughout Shelby and neighboring counties. They 
have some turn-outs so trim and handsome and " fly " that they make 
the average young man of the period, who has a fond and fair dulcis 
pueUa, feel like he had a brass band attached to each one of his heels 
and playing with a full blast when he sees their gay rigs go by. In a 
word, they have some of the best and most stylish looking turn-outs 
to be seen anywhere in this part of the country. Their riding and 
driving stock are unsurpassed, and their line of buggies, carriages, 
coupes, drummers' wagons, etc., are first-class and complete. Their 
stock represents an investment of $3,500, and their building, of which 
Mr. W. (E. W. ) owns a half interest, was erected at the cost of $4,000. 
Mr. Worland & Bro. also deal quite extensively in horses and mules 
and are engaged in breeding fine horses. They have a fine horse, 
" Froude," for that purpose, believed to be the best horse in North 
Missouri. He has taken a premium at as many as nine fairs in one 
season, a larger number than has been taken by any other horse in 
the country. He is of the Membrino stock. They are also engaged 
in training horses for racing and the, fairs and exhibit stock in nearly 
all the fairs in North Missouri. Mr. Worland has been engaged in 
mule trading for several years, and has been quite successful. He 
was born and reared on a farm, and has therefore handled stock from 
boyhood. He was born near Lakenan, in this county, February 24, 
1853, and is a son of John H. and Elizabeth (Greenwell) Worland. 
His father is still living, and a sketch of his life appears elsewhere in 
this volume. Mr. Worland (E. W.) was married September 18, 1881, 
to Miss Kate F. Gillispie, a daughter of Ben. F. Gillispie, of Monroe 



1040 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

county. She is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Worland is 
a stockholder and director in the Shelbina Fair Association. He owns 
a good farm in the county, and, considering his age, is a man in com- 
fortable circumstances. He is full of enterprise and energy, and will 
doubtless continue to prosper by his characteristic industry and close 
attention to business. 

CHARLES W. WEIGHT 

(Dealer io Groceries, Queen's-ware, Tin-ware, Wooden-ware, Drugs, Seeds, Patent 
Medicines, Paints, Oils, Wall Paper, Etc., Etc., Shelbina). 

Mr. Wright is a Kentuckian by nativity and education, and has 
been at Shelbina only since the spring of 1884. Brought up on a 
farm, where he learned industrious, steady habits, and given a colle- 
giate education, he has exceptionally good qualifications for a suc- 
cessful business career. Last spring he brought on a stock of goods 
in the lines mentioned above valued at about $3,000, and opened them 
out in his two-story brick business house on the north side of the rail- 
road, where he has since been giving his entire attention to his store. 
His trade has been all that he could fairly have expected, and, 
indeed, better than he did expect. Although he has been running 
but a few months, such has been the encouraging custom that he has 
received that he feels that his business is already established on a 
sound and safe footing. He has made it a rule to deal fairly with 
everybody, and to be as accommodating to his customers as good 
breeding and natural geniality can require. Hence, he has won the 
confidence and good opinion of the public. He buys for cash, and 
sells at the lowest market prices, so that that is not an unimportant 
factor in his success. Mr. Wright was born at Springfield, in Wash- 
ington county, Ky., July 27, 1858. His parents are Richard W. and 
Angel ine E. (Moore) Wright. Young Wright concluded his educa- 
tion at Lynnland College, in Hardin county, Ky. He afterwards 
followed farming in Kentucky until 1882, when he engaged in mer- 
chandising at Buffalo, in that State. From Buffalo he came to Mis- 
souri, and from March, 1883, until he came to Shelbina, he was in 
the mercantile business at Hunnewell. October 4, 1881, Mr. Wright 
was married to Miss Sallie Brownfield, of La Rue county, Ky. Mrs. 
Wright is a member of the Baptist Church. In 1880 Mr. Wright 
assisted in taking the census of Washington county, Ky. 

J. H. YOST, D. D. S. 

(Dental Surgeon, Shelbina). 

Dr. Yost has been in the active practice of dental surgery for over 12 
years, and been located at Shelbina for the past nine years. A man of 
thorough professional education and of superior natural aptitude for the 
practice of his profession, he has, as would be expected, achieved marked 
success as a dentist, having succeeded in building up a large practice and 
establishing an enviable reputation, not only in this county but in neigh- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1041 

borino- counties. He visits other points accessible from Shelbina, and 
particularly Shelby ville, where he spends three days of each week to 
attend to his custom at that place. His practice is so well established 
that it requires all his time and attention. Dr. Yost is a native of 
the Old Dominion, and his family, originally from Germany, has long 
been settled in that State. However, the Yosts, prior to the Revolu- 
tion, first settled in Pennsylvania, where a branch of the family still 
resides. Hon. Jacob S. Yost, for two terms a member of Congress 
from Pennsylvania, and afterwards U. S. Marshal for the Eastern Dis- 
trict of that State, under President Buchanan, was a representative of 
the Keystone branch of the family. Dr. J. H. Yost was a son of John 
B. and Maria B. (Rutherford) Yost, and was born in Rockingham 
county, January 15, 1835. The Rutherford femily was one of the 
first families of Virginia, as all old Virginians know. Dr. Yost \yas 
reared to the life of a farmer, and was engaged in that occupation 
when the war broke out, in 1861. He was a member of Co. B, Tenth 
Virginia Infantry, prior to the war, and his regiment was, of course, 
one^of the first ordered into active service at the beginning of hostili- 
ties. He went to Harper's Ferry, under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, 
and was afterwards attached to Stonewall Jackson's command. He 
served under Gen. Jackson until the death of that grandest hero of 
the war. The next day after Gen. Jackson's death. Dr. Yost Avas 
taken prisoner, but was soon afterwards paroled. At Gettysburg he 
was again captured, and was held prisoner for 19 months and 19 days 
at Camp Delaware and Point Lookout. In February, 1865, he was 
attain exchano-ed, and was at home on a furlough when Lee surren- 
dered. He was in the battle of Port Republic, fought at his own 
home, and was detailed to pilot the army out from under the guns of 
Gen. Shields, which he did by taking the command in a circuitous 
route and with excellent success. This was when " Jackson kicked 
the top," as it was called in the parlance of the times, " off the pep- 
per-box." After the war Dr. Yost entered the Dental College of 
Baltimore, where he took two regular courses, and graduated with 
distinction in 1873, receiving the degree of D. D. S., at that institute. 
Meanwhile, in the interim between his terms attending college, he 
practiced dentistry, and afterwards continued the practice in Virginia 
until the winter^of 1874-75, when he came to Shelbina, as stated 
above The following summer he brought out his family, and has 
since been a resident of this place. June 21, 1871, Dr Yost was 
married to Miss Sallie J. Weaver, of Port Republic, Va. They have 
five children: Charles W., John M., Mary K., Olive Lee and an 
infant. Mrs. Yost is a member of the M. E. Church South. Dr. 
Yost is a member of the school board of this place. 



1042 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



CLAY TOAV:^rSHIP. 



JOHN W. BAKE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

A native of Shelby county, Mr. Barr was born April 6, 1846, a 
son of James R. and Levenia (Short) Barr. Reared in the county, 
he became a farmer, the occupation of his father. However, in 1870, 
when 23 years of age, he went to Nevada with his brother James and 
spent about three years in that State engaged in getting out and sup- 
plying wood and timber to the mines and quartz mills. Returning 
after this, he at once resumed farming in Shelby county, to which he 
had been brought up, and in February, 1873, was married to Miss 
Jane, a daughter of James Clark, of this county. Mr. Barr located 
on the farm where he now resides shortly after his marriage, or, 
rather, on the land of which his farm is composed, for it was then 
unimproved. He improved the place himself and has a good farm of 
180 acres, with excellent improvements, including residence, barn, 
fences, etc., and a good orchard. Mr. and Mrs. B. have four chil- 
dren : Lavenia B., Fannie K., John M. and Berry S. They have lost 
one, Hettie E., who died at the age of 14 months. Mr. and Mrs. Barr 
are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Barr is a substantial 
young farmer and well respected citizen of Clay township. 

JAMES F. BARR 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence) . 

One of the townships of Shelby county ought by all means to have 
been named Delaware, in recognition of the important share the many 
early settlers in this county from that State contributed toward the 
development and improvement of the county and its advancement in 
material and general prosperity. Mr. Barr's parents belonged to 
this worthy and numerous class of the early settlers of the county. 
They came here from Delaware in 1837, and spent the remainder of 
their lives within its borders. His father, James R., was a farmer 
by occupation and was satisfactorily successful. He died here at an 
advanced and respected old age in 1880. He was a member of the M. 
E. Church South for many years, and an exhorter in that church, 
warmly zealous in the cause of religion. He was liberal and gener- 
ous, hospitable and kind, greatly esteemed by his neighbors and much 
beloved in his family. James F. was born in this county October 2, 
1849. He was reared in the county, received a common school edu- 
cation, supplemented with a course at high school in Shelbyville. In 
1870 he went to the State of Nevada and was for four years engaged 
in supplying timber and wood to quartz mills in that State. Return- 
ing home in the winter of 1873-74, he bought a tract of land and began 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1043 

the improvement of a farm, on which he settled and where he still 
resides. He has a place of 160 acres and is steadily coming to the 
front as one of the substantial farmers of the township. He was mar- 
ried September 16, 1874, to Miss Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas 
Mitchell, of this county, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. B. 
have five children: AYarren F., Willard T., Mary R., Edgar T. and 
Elbert W., the last two twins. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the 
M. E. Church South. 

HON. CYRUS S. BROWN 

(Attorney at Law, and of the firm of Haston & Brown) . 

This distinguished gentleman is not only one of the leading lawyers 
in the county, but has received at the hands of his fellow-citizens the 
highest marks of respect, confidence and honor that were theirs to be- 
stow. He has a large practice at Clarence, and has served as mayor 
of the city, as representative of the county in the Legishiture, and as 
State Senator, to all of which offices he has imparted additional dig- 
nity and lent a luster that will cling to his name while he lives, and 
descend a proud inheritance to his children. Mr. B. is the son of 
George and Temperance (Plum) Brown, the former a native of Penn- 
sylvania, the latter of Connecticut. His father was a prominent 
farmer of Jefferson county, N. Y., but moved a few years previous to 
his death to Pennsylvania, whence he peacefully passed to his last 
home in 1868. Cyrus S. Brown was the third child in a family of 
eight. He was born in Brownsville, Jefferson county, N. Y., March 
28", 1818, and grew to manhood in his childhood's home. He gradu- 
ated at Union' College at Schenectady in 1840, and for nine years 
thereafter, taught school in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Missouri, 
whither he found his way in 1843. He settled in Pike county, but in 
1849 went overland to California. He was absent three years, being 
most of the time engaged in mining. On his return Mr. Brown 
located in 1856 in Sliefby county. Here, on a farm a mile east of 
Clarence, he peacefully tilled the soil until 1868, during this time 
diversifjdng his career by a few months' service in the Volunteer State 
Militia. In 1868, having in his youth devoted his leisure hours to 
the study of law, for which profession he had always a predilection, 
he determined to adopt it as his life's work, and in connection with 
the real estate business he has done so. As before said, an extensive 
practice testifies to the high order of his ability. Mr. Brown was 
married in Clark county, Ky., in August, 1843, to Miss Julia Dun- 
can, daughter of James B. Duncan. There are two children by this 
marriao-e^ Duncan, a minister of the Presbyterian Church, at St. 
Josepli^ Mo., and George C, physician of Mound City, Holt county, 
Mo. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Presbyterian Church, and 
Mr. Brown belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. 



1044 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

JAMES A. BYARS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

An energetic, thrifty farmer of Clay township and one of its worthy, 
respected citizens, Mr. Byars was reared in an adjoining county to 
where he now resides, and was married here February 7, 1861, to 
Miss Margaret A. Bishop, a daughter of Robert Bishop of this county, 
but formerly of Pennsylvania. She was born in Westmoreland county, 
Pa., and she came to this county with her parents when fourteen 
years of age. Mr. Byars was from Smythe county, Va., born there 
September 11, 1832, a son of George W. and Anna (Blessing) Byars. 
His father's family removed to Missouri in 1840, and settled on a farm 
in Macon county. His father died there in 1877. James A. came to 
this State two years subsequent to the removal of his parents, and 
grew to majority in Macon county. After he attained his majority he 
came to Shelby county, locating in Jefferson township, where he 
engaged in farmifig with his brother-in-law, with whom he remained 
until his marriage. Mr. Byars then settled on the place where he now 
resides. He has a farm of 240 acres on the Macon and Shelby county 
line, all under fence and 140 acres in cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. 
Byars have five children: William, Stella, Prudence, Joseph R,., 
Franklin W. and an infant daughter. They have lost seven in infancy. 
Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Bethel Christian Church. Mr. 
Byars is said by another, who had the pleasure of meeting him, to be a 
pleasant, nice gentleman and a good, successful farmer. 

WILLIAM T. CAROTHERS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence) . 

Although Shelby and Monroe counties are contiguous, there is one 
marked diflerence in the make-up of their populations. Monroe county 
is settled almost exclusively from the Southern States, while in Shelby 
there is a very large sprinkling of people from the North. Among 
this class in Shelby county is the subject of the present sketch, Mr. 
Carothers. He was born in Carlysle, Cumberland county. Pa., April 
4, 1834. His father was William Carothers, also a native of that 
State, and his mother's maiden name was Margaret A. Culp. His 
father died when William T. was yet in childhood, but his mother is 
still living and now, at the age of 84, is in vigorous health, her hair 
only fairly sprinkled with gray and her eyes as bright apparantly as 
they were in the morning of life. William T. was brought out to 
Missouri in 1841, by some relatives of his, when he was still a small boy, 
who took him to rear after his father's death. He was principally 
reared in Ralls county. About the time of the Pike's Peak excite- 
ment, in 1859, he went to Colorado, and remained out there engaged 
in mining until 1865. Returning to Missouri, he bought land in Shelby 
county and settled about three miles south of Clarence, where he im- 
proved a farm, where he resided for several years. He then let his 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. , 1045 

farm to a tenant and removed to the town of Clarence where he owns 
a neat residence property, including about five acres of land and besides 
this has a place of 80 acres adjoining town. In all he has near 400 
acres of land, the whole of which is improved. November 16, 1865, 
Mr. Carothers was married to Miss Frances E. Phillips, a daughter of 
John R. Phillips, of Ralls county. She died February 22, 1870, and 
had borne him two children, Mary F., now aged about 16, and Mar- 
garet E., a younger sister. May 2, 1872, Mr. C. was married to Mrs. 
Etta J. Simmons, relict of Watson Simmons and daughter of Henry W. 
Brown. She was born in Ontario county, N. Y., and has two children 
by her first husband, Glenn C. and Horace J. Mr. and Mrs. C. are 
members of the M. E. Church. 

CHARLES H. and DOLLY A. (WYLEY) CHRISTIAN. 

(Early Settlers, Post-office, Clarence). 

This venerable couple, both now in their ninetieth year, are spend- 
ing the sixty-ninth year of their married life together, and are per- 
haps the oldest couple in the State. In a few more years, if thev are 
still spared, they will celebrate their diamond wedding, a ceremony 
never witnessed in Missouri, and but a few times in the United States. 
Of their family of 11 children, nine of whom lived to reach mature 
years, they have outlived all but four, and these are classed among 
the old people of their respective communities. Father Christian and 
his motherly, venerable, good wife were early settlers in Missouri, 
among the early white settlers of Kentucky, pioneers in more than one 
community in the march of civilization toward the Western sea. Both 
were born in the Old Dominion, he in Albemarle county, July 6, 
1795, and she in Rockingham county, August 9, of the same year. He 
was a son of Jaines and Mary Christian, the surname of both his parents 
being the same; and she a daughter of William and Anna (Moore) 
Wyley. He was principally reared in Amherst county, Va., to which 
his ftither removed, residing there until 1811, when the family settled 
in Ohio county, Ky. ; she was mostly reared in Ohio county, of the 
latter State, to which her parents removed at about the beginning of 
the present century. They were married December 24, 1816. She 
had joined the M. E. Church four years before their marriage, and 
he joined it the year following; so that she has been a member for 
72 years, and he for 64 years. Early in the spring of 1825 they 
removed from Ohio county, Ky., to Missouri, locating first in Lincoln 
county, and then, in two years, in Ralls county, where they resided 
until 1834, when they came to what is now Shelby county, but then a 
part of Marion county. There are but two men now living in the 
county who resided within its present borders when they came here, 
namely, Russell Moss and James Glenn. The country was then, of 
course, in its primitive condition — a wilderness. There were not 
enough white settlers to break the monotony and melancholy of the 
w^ild, wierd, lonely scene. Those that were here were miles apart, 
and while through the day the songs of birds, the sighing of the winds 



1046 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

or the rush of a startled deer were the only noises that broke the dead 
silence of the surroundings, the niglit was made even more lonely 
than the day by the constant howling of wolves and the occasional 
scream of a blood-thirsty panther, for these abounded in the country. 
Game of all sorts was also abundant, including deer and turkeys, and 
not unfrequently bear. This venerable couple of pioneer settlers have 
lived to see all this changed and to see the county one of the most 
IDopulous and prosperous — the people blessed with all the comforts and 
luxuries of an advanced civilization, a land abounding in church build- 
ings and school houses, and the locomotive shooting here and there 
and everywhere — one of the most populous and prosperous communi- 
ties in the fifth State in wealth, population and intelligence in the 
Union. It seems hardly possible that in the span of a lifetime, in less 
than the span of the lives of this venerable couple, so wonderful, so 
mighty a change can have been accomplished. But it has been 
wrought, and by the energy mainly of the class of pioneers whom 
they represent. Father Christian has borne a brave part in this noble 
work, and his good wife has done her full share by his side. For 
years he made it a regular occupation to improve faruis for sale, and 
it has been said that in his time he has made enough rails to fence the 
county and enough boards to cover it. He was a gallant soldier in 
the War of 1812, and fought under Gen. Hopkins and Gov. Shelby 
in the North-west, on Lake Erie and in Canada. For some years he 
has drawn a pension in recognition of his services for his country in 
that struggle — the " Second War for Independence," as it has not 
inappropriately been called. This good old soldier and brave-hearted 
pioneer is still, considering his advanced age, well preserved, physi- 
cally and mentally, and his memory, particularly, is remarkable, for he 
calls to mind events that occurred 75 years ago with the apparent 
clearness and distinctness as if they were the happenings of yester- 
day. No one is more interesting and entertaining to listen to, and it 
will be a loss to the future not to jot down and preserve his reminis- 
cences. His good wife is in quite feel)le health, but it is devoutly to 
be hoped that she may still be spared to accompany him on down the 
stream of life, in which they have so long journeyed together, until 
the final end is reached. The following are their four children now 
living: Elizabeth, who is the wife of Jonathan Wooster ; Marion, now 
of Rutherford county, Tex., and the head of a family of his own: 
Charles Wesley, who owns the home place in Shelby county, and of 
whom further mention will be made; and Walter K., a prominent 
dentist of Moberly. Five others diQd in mature years, and two left 
families. 

Charles W. Christian, mentioned above, was born in Ralls county, 
December 3, 1833, but was reared in Shelby county. He started out 
for himself by working at farm labor for monthly wages, and two 
years afterwards, April 30, 1857, was married to Miss Nancy J., a 
daughter of Overton A. and Mary Winston, of this county. After 
his marriage Mr. Christian located on a farm five miles from Shelby- 
ville, where he resided until 1864, or until the spring of the following 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1047 

year. He then removed to Omaha, Neb., and engaged in the business 
of having freight hauled across the plains, he himself giving his 
personal attention to the express business in Omaha. Sul)sequently 
he returned to Shelby county, and bought land where he improved a 
farm. He has since improved other farms, and in all as many as five 
farms. He now owns the old family homestead of 200 acres, one of 
the best stock farms in the township. Mr. and Mrs. C. have seven 
children : Mary A,, Benjamin D., in Idaho ; Charles A., in Montana; 
Leilia A. and Dolly A., twins ; James E. and Nora V., twins. They 
have lost one, Willie A., who died at 17 months, in 1869. Mr. C. and 
wife are members of the M. E. Church South. This is one of the most 
social, hospitable families in the community, and they are highly 
esteemed by all who know them. 

ABRAHAM CLARK 

(Postmaster, Clarence). 

Mr. Clark was born in Belmont county, O., December 5, 1843. 
His parents, Benjamin and Mary (Hampton) Clark, were natives of 
Pennsylvania. When they immigrated to Belmont county, Mr. C. 
was quite a young rnan. He lived there until 1874, then moved to 
Shelby county, and now lives in Clarence. Abraham Clark was reared 
on the farm and educated at the common schools. He was still a boy 
at the beginning of the late war, but at once took up arms in behalf 
of his country. He enlisted as a private in Co. E, Sixty-second Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, and re-enlisted as a veteran and served over four 
years under Col. F. B. Pond. Mr. Clark's war record was a most 
brilliant one ; he was in many regular engagements and in innumerable 
skirmishes, through all beiug distinguished for his cool bravery and 
steady nerve, as well as for his soldiery endurance. After his dis- 
charge Mr. C. returned to his home in Belmont county to recruit 
his shattered strength, but his health continued delicate. On the 20th 
of February, 1867, Mr. Clark married Miss Amy E., daughter of 
Edwin Patterson of Belmont county. They have three children : 
Addison P., Francis F. and Elma. In the winter of 1869 Mr. C. 
moved to Missouri, locating in Shelby county on a farm just north of 
Clarence. In 1872 he was appointed postmaster of that place and 
• has held the office ever since, having increased its business by his 
manao-ement to four times its orio;inal amount. Mr. Clark is a man of 
most courteous, affable manners and is the very person tor the position 
he occupies. Few men have ever been so popular. He has served 
on the school board in the city council and in several official capaci- 
ties. He also started the first paper in Clarence, the Clarence Tri- 
bune, of which he had charge for over two years. He is Senior Vice 
of the G. A. R. and belongs to the I. O. O. F., in which he has filled 
all the chairs. Mr. C. and wife are members of the M. E. Church. 

61 



1048 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

WILLIAM CLEARY 

(Deceased). 

Mr. Clearv, who was one of the successful business men of Clarence, 
and a well respected citizen, died at his residence at this place on the 
25th of March, 1881. He left a comfortable estate, the fruit of his 
own honest industry, enterprise and business ability. He was a native 
of Ireland, born March 9, 1836. His parents were Michael Cleary 
and Mary, nee Robinson. Reared in his native country, early in 1864 
he canie'^to the United States, and resided for a time at Stamford, in 
Connecticut. He there met, wooed and was married to Miss Sarah 
Fitzpatrick, a daughter of Michael Fitzpatrick, originally of Ireland. 
Soon after his ma'rriage Mr. Cleary came West, and he first located 
at Peoria, 111. Later along of the same year he came to Missouri, 
and established himself permanently at Clarence. In 1868 he 
engaged in the grocery business at this place, and also had a meat 
market. He continued in both of these lines, for about five years, 
and then disposed of the butcher business and continued in the 
grocery line. He built a large two-story brick business house, and 
opened one of the best grocery stores in the county. He also secured 
a comfortable residence property and some other town property at 
Clarence. When he died he was in the full tide of success, and if 
he had been spared to a reasonable old age, would, doubtless, have 
become a wealthy man. He left a family consisting of his widow and 
four children, namely: Mary E., now the wife of Charles E. Jones; 
Katie, Sarah and John W. Mrs. Cleary and her family are members 
of the Catholic Church. 

PHINEAS D. COOLEY 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Real Estate Dealer, Post-office, Clarence). 

Mr. Cooley, a New Englander by nativity and education, is of 
Scotch descent on his mother's side — the fiimily of Taggards — but 
of an old New England family on his father's. He has resided in the 
West, however, almost continuously since he was a young man. 
Thus, by his Western experience as well as Scotch blood, having all 
the characteristics of generosity, hos[)itality and open, frank, plain-, 
spoken manhood, for Avliich the Scotch in common with the people of 
the West are noted ; while on the other hand he shows the keen judg- 
ment, business tact, progressiveness and enterprise characteristic of 
the intelligent, enterprising New Englander. His success in a prop- 
erty point of view was early and substantial. When 21 years of age 
he came out to Illinois, and worked in a machine shop at Aurora for 
about a year, at good wages. Frugal and economical, he saved up 
most of his wages^, and above all had the good judgment and tact to 
invest his means to the best advantage. The rich lands of Grundy 
county. Mo., could then be gotten almost by the asking, either by 
entry or purchase. He soon came to this county and secured about 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1049 

1,000 acres, which is now worth not less than $30 an acre. Immedi- 
ately he went to work and improved a large farm, on which he resided, 
engaged in raising grain and stock, for some 13 years. During this 
time he also dealt to advantage in real estate, never, however, letting 
go a good hold until he got a better one. In 1868 he partly sold out 
in this county and returned to Vermont, but soon found the country 
in circumstances too cramped there, and returned to the broad, open, 
rich ranges of Missouri. He located on land he owned near Clarence, 
in Shelby county, where he has a good farm of about 450 acres. 
Besides other farm industries, he is engaged in the manufacture 
of cheese, and keeps from 15 to 20 cows for that purpose. He also 
deals, to a considerable extent, in real estate, and owns valuable 
property in this and Macon counties. He owns the Palace Hotel at 
Macon City, a livery stable property and other valuable property. 
On the 11th of July, 1861, he was married to Miss Mary P. Vincell, 
a daughter of Davis Vincell, of Grundy county, but originally of 
Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. C. have nine children: Edward P., Ella, 
Alice, William, Dora, Charles, Frederick, Alfred and Leslie. One, 
Birdie A., died at the age of 18 months. During the war Mr. Cooley 
served at different times in the State Militia, on the Union side, and 
participated in several fights. His native county in Vermont was 
Chittenden, and his natal day August 10, 1833. His father was Cas- 
sius Cooley, a native of the same county, and his mother, nee Miss 
Eleanor Taggard, of Gauftown, N. H. Mr. Cooley received a com- 
mon school education, and for six years from the age of 15, was a 
clerk in Worcester county, Mass. He then came West to Illinois, as 
stated above. 

ALFRED L. GRAIN 

(General Stock Dealer, and Dealer in Groceries, Queensware, Glassware, etc., etc., 

Clarence"). 

Mr. Grain, one of the leading, progressive and enterprising business 
men of the western part of the county, has risen to the enviable posi- 
tion he now occupies in affairs ahiiost alone by his own industry, 
energy and sterling business intelligence. He is a native of Kentuck}^ 
was reared in Illinois. His parents were William E. and Elizabeth 
(Abrams) Grain, who removed from Fleming county, Ky., to Adams 
county, 111., settling on a farm near Quincy, in 1844. Alfred L. was 
born in Fleming county, June 9, 1843, and was therefore in 
infancy when his parents settled in Illinois. He was brought 
up to a farm life near Quincy, and took a course in the higher 
branches at McComb High School. In about the time of reach- 
ing his majority he obtained a situation on the railroad as freight con- 
ductor of the Hannibal and St. Joe line, Avhich he held to the satisfac- 
tion of the company for four years. By this time he had some little 
means which he invested in the hardware business at Shclbyville. 
Eighteen months afterwards he sold out at Shelbyville to good advan- 
taofe and came to Clarence, where he established a hardware store and 



1050 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

continued it until 1874. Mecanwhile, December 15, 1868, he was 
married to Miss Mattie E., a daughter of W. O. Huston, one of the 
early settlers of Shelby county from Kentucky. Mr. Grain sold his 
hardware business at Clarence and located at. Brookfield, where he 
made a business of buying and shipping stock. He was in that 
for five years and then became the traveling representative at a hand- 
some salary of a large live stock commission house of Chicago, and he 
continued to travel ^br them for three years, his field of operations 
including Missouri, Kansas, Texas and Nebraska. In 1882 he settled 
on a farm just east of the suburbs of Clarence, where he resumed the 
live stock business on his own account, which he has since followed. 
His shipments aggregate about 200 car loads a year, making him one 
of the largest shippers in the county or throughout the whole sur- 
rounding country. He also feeds about 20 head of cattle and 400 head 
of hogs a year for the markets. In February, of the present year, he 
engaged in the grocery business. This is one of the leading grocery 
houses in the western part of the county. Mr. Crain has valuable 
real estate in Clarence and in the county outside of Clarence. Mr. 
and Mrs. C. have five children : Charles L., Anna M., Huston A., Ira 
J. and Arthur E. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church 
South, and he is a prominent Odd Fellow. 

ASA CULVER 

(Retired Farmer, Clarence). 

Among the many well-to-do Northern farmers and good citizens 
who have made their homes in this county since the war, none have 
proved more worthy of respect and appreciation than the subject of 
the present sketch. Mr. Culver, now four years past the allotted 
age of three score and ten, has by his own industry, honesty and 
good sense accumulated a comfortable competency for life, and is re- 
siding in town, having his farm carried on, which is near this place. 
He has a good farm of 220 acres a mile north of Clarence, which he 
bought in 1868 and resided on until 1877, when he came to Clarence 
to reside. Though born in Canada, his natal day being the 27th of 
January, 1810, he was of American parentage, and was reared in the 
United States. His father, Isaac Culver, was originally of Connecti- 
cut, and his mother, whose maiden name was Polly McCartv^ was of 
Fishkill, N. Y. They were married in New York and then removed 
to Coburg, Canada, but later along made their permanent home at 
Cleveland, O. After Asa Culver attained his majority at Cleveland, 
he located on a farm in Ashtabula county, and in the fall of 1836 was 
married to Miss Julia, a daughter of William and Loise Stewart, orig- 
inally from Vermont. She had been a teacher in Ohio for two years 
previous to her marriage. In about 1851 Mr. Culver removed to Illi- 
nois and resided in that State for some 17 years, nearly the whole 
time in Stephenson county, where he was engaged in farming. He 
then came to Clarence in 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Culver have reared 
four children : Elias W., of Chippewa Falls, Wis., one of the wealthy 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1051 

lumber dealers of that State ; Charles, of this county ; Lucy A., who 
died in young womanhood in this county, and Louisa, who died 
whilst the wife of William Butler, of Chicago. Mr. Culver has lived 
an active, useful life, and reared his children in comfort and respecta- 
bility, and gave them good educations. He is a man well deserving 
the respect and consideration of all who know him. 

WILLIAM DAVIS 

(Dealer in Lumber and Farm Implements, Clarence). 

Mr. Davis came to Missouri in 1867 and eng-aored in farming in 
Shelby county. Two years later he established a hardware store at 
Clarence and carried that on with success for ten years. Selling out 
then to advantage, he concluded to try Kansas as a home, but was 
absent from Shelby county only a year. While in Kansas he was 
engaged in the hardware business at Logan, in Shelby county. After 
his return, in the spring of 1880, he established a lumber yard at 
Clarence, and later along added a stock of farm implements. Mr. 
Davis has a tine trade and does an annual business of about $50,000. 
He is one of the enterprising business men of Clarence and stands 
well in the estimation of the entire community. He is a native of 
New York, but was principally reared in Michigan. Born in Genes- 
see county, of the former State, January 1, 1840, he was brought out 
to the Lake-Peninsula State by his father, George W., who settled in 
St. Joe county in 1850. Young Davis' mother had previously died. 
The father still resides in St. Joe county, Mich., and is a substantial 
and respected farmer of that county. In July, 1861, the subject of 
this sketch enlisted in the Union army, becoming a membei' of Co. A, 
Eleventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Most of the time he was on 
detached duty as team master. At Schwacher, Va., he was captured, 
having charge at the time of 400 teams, which were also taken by the 
army. He escaped, however, and rejoined the army, being team mas- 
ter under Sherman until the close of the war. He then engaged in 
farming in Michigan, which he followed there until he came to Mis- 
souri in 1867. August 25, 1866, he was married to Miss Frances E., 
daughter of Jacob Peterman, of St. Joe county, Mich. They have 
three children : Eva P., wife of M. M. Dimmitt ; George W. and Gil 
Bias. They have lost one, an infant. Mr. and Mrs. D..are members 
of the M. E. Church and he is a member of the Masonic order, the 
A. O. U. W. and the G. A. R. He is one of the most highly respected 
citizens of Clarence. 

WILLIAM S. DIMMITT 

(Retired Farmer and Stock-raiser, Clarence). 

Mr. Dimmitt is a brother to Dr. Dimmitt, of Shelbyville, whose 
sketch appears elsewhere in this volume and in which an outline of the 
family history has been given. Their parents, Walter D. and L. C. 
Dimmitt, settled in Marion county in an early day, where the father be- 



1052 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

came one of the substantial and influential citizens of the county. Wm. 
S. was born on the homestead in that county, January 8, 1831. At the 
age of 20 he engaged in school teaching in Lewis county, but soon 
afterwards returned to the farm on the old family homestead, where 
he continued occupied with the pursuits of agriculture for about 11 
years. In 1863 he bought a place of 360 acres three miles south of 
Clarence, where he improved an excellent farm. He was engaged in 
farming and stock-raising with success on that place for 12 years when 
he sold it to some advantage. In 1880 he l)ought 320 acres of land 
a mile south of Clarence, and another tract of 320 acres a half mile east 
and one mile south of town, both of which he improved. On selling his 
farm of 360 acres, above referred to, besides the two tracts of land 
just mentioned, he also bought a neat residence property in Clarence. 
Later along he sold the farm a half mile east of Clarence, but he still 
owns the place one mile south of Clarence. This is a farm excellently 
improved with good fences, buildings, etc., and well adapted to stock- 
raising, in which he and his nephew, J. W. La Fon, are engaged. 
Mr. Dimmitt has just completed a handsome residence in Clarence, 
one of the best in the place, large and conveniently arranged, and 
built with an eye to appearance and good taste only less than to com- 
fort and substantiality. The large yard fronting it is uniformly 
graded and set with blue grass making an unusually handsome lawn, 
tastily ornamented with evergreens and flowering shrubs, and the 
whole relieved by handsome trees presenting ensemble, a scene of 
marked attractiveness and beauty. Mr. Dimmitt is in comfortable 
circumstances and has made for himself a home at Clarence in which 
to spend the afternoon of life worthy to be envied by the most fav- 
ored. Contemplating his elegant and comfortable home and its 
pleasant charming surroundings, one is instantly reminded of the 
cou2)let : — 

" Blessed is he who, in shades like these, 
Crowns a life of labor with an age of ease." 

Mr. Dimmitt, one of the most highly respected citizens of Clarence, 
is at the same time one of the most public-spirited, liberal men of the 
place, and contributes freely, both of his time and means, to every 
movement or enterprise, material or otherwise, that tends to promote 
the general ^ood of the community, and the prosperity of the town 
and surrounding country. On the 28th of March, 1854, Mr. Dim- 
mitt was married to Miss Kate B., a daughter of Thomas Williams, 
deceased, one of the early settlers of Lewis county, who came from 
Kentucky with her father's family whilst yet in infancy. Mr. and 
Mrs. D. are members of the M. E. Church South. 

FRANK DIMMITT 

(Of Dimmitt Bros., Dealers in Dry Goods, Boots, Shoes, etc., Clarence). 

These brothers, sons of Dr. Dimmitt, of Shelbina, one of the lead- 
ing men of the county, were reared in this county and, like their father, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1053 

have taken a prominent position in the business and general affairs 
of the county. Frank Dimniitt, the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Cooper county, December 2, 1857. He was therefore three 
years of age when his father located at Shelbyville. He was given 
good educational advantages and took a course in the common and 
higher English branches, including surveying ; he also took a five 
. years' course in the languages, and became proficient in Latin and 
Greek. He concluded his course at school before he was 17 years of 
age and at once engaged in teaching school, which he followed for two 
years ; he was then in the bank at Shelbyville, under his father, for a 
time, and in 1876 opened the Monroe City Bank, for the proprietors 
of that institution, his knowledge of the banking business and of book- 
keeping, as well as his experience, being such that he was especially 
sought after to open the bank, which he did with success, continuing 
with it until it was well started on a successful career. In 1877 he 
was engaged in selling goods and the following year located on a farm 
near Shelbyville, where he remained three years. In the spring of 
1881 Mr. Dimmitt came to Clarence and established his present busi- 
ness in connection with his brother ; he built a neat dwelling here and 
a commodious business house, the latter at a cost of about $4,000. 
The firm carries a full line of dry goods, clothing, furnishing goods, 
hats and caps, boots and shoes, carpets, etc. Their success in busi- 
ness has been unquestioned and they have a large custom throughout 
the surrounding country of Clarence. March 13, 1879, Mr. Dimmitt 
was married to Miss Emma E., a daughter of James W. Jackson, 
deceased, formerly one of the prominent and influential agriculturists 
of Marion county. He was one of the pioneers of the county and he 
and his father built the first mill ever erected within the limits 
of that county. Mrs. Dimmitt was his only daughter. She was 
educated at Shelbyville and received an advanced education. Mr. and 
Mrs. D. have one child, James J., born May 5, 1883. A little daugh- 
ter, Annie E., died July 6, 1882, in the second year of her age. Mr. 
and Mrs. Dimmitt are members of the M. E. Church South. He is also 
a member of the A. O. U. W. and is recorder of the lodge. 

WILLIAM N. DOYLE 

(Retired Farmer, Clarence). 

After an active and useful career of more than a generation, not with- 
out reward in the substantial evidences of success, as well as otherwise, 
Mr. Doyle has now retired from the regular duties of business and 
industrial afi'airs, and is spending the evening of life in comparative 
ease and contentment. He. commenced for himself at the age of 15, 
and from that time until 1881, when he retired on an ample compe- 
tence, a period of 45 years, his career was one of unceasing industry 
and activity. After so long a period spent in honest and useful pur- 
suits, one is well entitled to the ease and rest which approaching old 
age demands. Mr. Doyle, like many of our better citizens, came 
frpm the East to Missouri, after the war. He was born at Roxbury, 



1054 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

in Delaware county, June 9, 1821, and was a son of Charles M, and 
Charity (Cator) Doyle, both of old New York families. His father, 
a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, was a hatter by trade, fairly- 
successful, and a man of marked intelligence. William N. early 
learned the hatter's trade, but at the age of 15 went to New York 
City to do something for himself. He obtained a situation in a gro- 
cery commission house, where he spent a year. Returning then to 
Delaware county, he worked on a farm for about three years, and 
from the age of 19 until he was 21, drove a peddler's wagon. Again 
he worked on a farm, and soon began farming for himself. In 1847 
he went to Courtland county, N. Y., where he followed farming and 
handling stock, with good success, for over 20 years. He drove 
stock to New York City and to other large wholesale points in the 
East, accumulating a modest and comfortable fortune. In 1868 he 
came West, and bought a farm in Clarence, where he resumed farm- 
ins: and continued it until 1881, when he retired. He has valuable 
real estate both in Clarence and in the country a short distance from 
town. On the 29th of May, 1845, Mr. Doyle was married to Miss 
Sarah A., a daughter of Asa and Phoebe Gritman, formerly of Dela- 
ware county, N. Y., but afterwards of Luzerne county, Penn., where 
Mr. Doyle was married. Mr. and Mrs. D. have reared four children : 
Virginia, the wife of G. F. West; Augusta, now Mrs. W. E. West; 
Libbie, the wife of Harry Nichols, of Atchison county, and Hattie, 
now Mrs. Milas Hanry. Mr. and Mrs. Doyle are members of the M. 
E. Church. 

EDWIN EDMONSON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Lentner). 

Among the substantial farmers of Clay township is the subject of 
the present sketch. Mr. Edmonson has a place of 240 acres, nearly 
all of which is under fence and in cultivation or pasturage. He is 
engaged in raising stock, grass and grain, and is having excellent suc- 
cess. Mr. Edmonson is a thorou<jh-o;oino; man and is doino; much 
good in the vicinity as one of the progressive farmers of the commun- 
ity and one of its intelligent, public-spirited citizens. He was the 
eldest in a family of 12 children of Magruder and Sarah A. 
Edmonson, both of whose parental families were originally from 
Virginia, but later of Montgomery county, Ky., where Edwin Edmon- 
son, the subject of this sketch, was born, on the 22d day of August, 
1827. While he was yet in infancy his mother died and his father 
subsequently married Elizabeth Dunlap. They removed to Adams 
county, 111., in which they were among the early settlers. His father 
died there in February, 1884, and before his death was considered 
one of the oldest living residents of the county. He was a successful, 
substantial farmer and Edwin was reared to that calling, which he has 
followed from boyhood. He also learned the carpenter's trade and 
has worked at that to a considerable extent in his times. In 1860 he 
was married to Miss Catherine Ware, but lost her by a most unfortu- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1055 

nate accident. She was returning home on foot when a neiojhbor Avho 
was out hunting seeing her bonnet through the brush mistook it for 
the head of a deer and fired with only too deadly an aim, killing her 
instantly. She had been married but two years at the time of her 
death. To his present wife Mr. Edmonson was married in 1855. She 
was a Miss Keziah Farlow, a daughter of William Farlow, of Adams 
county, 111. Mr. E. remained in Adams county until 1881, when he 
removed to Shelby county and bought his present place. He and 
wife have six children: George W., Charles, Elizabeth, Eliza J., the 
wife of John M. Menick, Jr., Sarah E. and John L. Elizabeth is the 
wife of Charles Trogdon. In 1882 Mr. Edmonson lost his right hand, 
except his thumb, by having it accidently caught in the rigging of a 
threshing machine, coming very near losing his life at the time. He 
and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church and two of 
their children belong to the M. E. Church South. 

HENRY GLAHN 

(Farmer, Post-offiee, Hager's Grove). 

In the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Jackson, Miss., 
Spanish Fort, Fort Blakely, and others of less importance, Mr, Glahn 
took a courageous and unfaltering part as a brave soldier of the Union. 
He was also in the siege of Vicksburg, assisted to dig a canal around 
that city, and was at the final capture of the place. From the hard- 
ships he underwent there he was taken severely sick and lay in the 
hospital for two months. At last, after the close of the war, he was 
mustered out of the service at Columbus, Tex., in the fall of 1865, 
and formally discharged at St. Louis after a continuous service of 
more than three years, during which he smelt powder and heard the 
whistle of bullets on many a hard-fought field, where friend and foe 
alike lay dead or dying around him. He then returned home to Shelby 
county, and spent about two years, mainly recuperating his health, 
which his privations and hardships had greatly impaired. In the fall 
of 1868 he was married to Miss Elizabeth J. Price, daughter of James 
Price, of Macon county, but recently of Kentucky. Mr. Glahn then 
located on a farm and went to work in dead earnest. The industry 
and thrift characteristic of the German people, of which he is one, 
have been characteristic of him as a farmer. He has worked hard 
and made a success of farming. Mr. Glahn has a good farm of nearly 
200 acres, all under fence and in a good condition. He and his good 
wife have also been quite successful in their family. They have six 
children: Dora B., Harvey E., Webster D., George W.", Julius S. 
and Charles H. They have lost but one, James A., who died at the 
age of about three years, this last February. He is a member of the 
G. A. R., and Mrs. G. is a rnember of the Christian Church. 



1056 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

JAMES W. GOSNEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

David Gosney, the father of James W., was originally from Vir- 
ginia, and after he gr^w up was married to Miss Anna Wilson, a native 
of Maryland. They became early settlers of Adams county, Ohio, 
and James W. was born there September 29, 1830. In 1844 they 
removed to Marion county, Mo., where the father bought land and 
improved a good farm. He died there in 1863. There were four sons 
and three daughters in the family who grew to maturity, all of whom 
are living except one of the sisters. James W. was the fourth in the 
family, and remained at home until 1850, when he joined that innum- 
erable caravan of Argonauts, bound for that then mysterious coast of 
the continent washed by the Pacific seas. He crossed the plains for 
California, and spent three years in the Pactolian land of the Occident. 
In 1853, having had some success in mining, Mr. Gosney returned to 
Marion county, Mo., and on the holy eve of Christmas reached the 
old family hearthstone which he had left three years before. The 
following spring he engaged in farming, and continued it in Marion 
county for about three years. During this time, February 13, 1855, 
he was married to Miss Allie J., a daughter of Thomas and Mary 
Hagar, of Ralls county, but formerly of Kentucky. Mrs. Gosney was 
educated at Lebanon College, in Kentucky. Mr. Gosney removed to 
Shelby county in 1856, and bought land in Clay township, where he 
improved a farm, or rather he had bought and built there prior to 
this. He lived on that place for 27 years, engaged principally in raising 
stock and trading in them generally. He is still quite extensively 
engaged in handling stock, and is one of the enterprising stock men 
of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Gosney have a family consisting of five 
sons and five daughters: Laura B., wife of James May berry ; Thomas 
D., married; Wiiliam F., James M., Robert M., Maude W., Nannie 
Y., Malissa J., John S. and Lillie Irene. Mrs. G. is a member of 
the Catholic Church. 

EDWARD GOULD 

(Farmer, Fost-offlce, Clarence). 

From the Lockport Daily Journal we are permitted to take the 
following obituary of Aaron Miller Gould, the father of the subject of 
this sketch : — 

OBITUARY. 

Died. — In Clarence, Missouri, on the 6th iust., Aaron Miller Gould, in the 61st 
year of liis age. 

The subject of the above notice was the eldest of seven sons of the late Hon. John 
Gould. He was born in Cambria, Niagara county, N. Y., December 18, 1819. His 
advantages for an education were tliose afforded by the common and select schools, 
supplemented by attendance at the Lewiston Academy — at that time the only institu- 
tion of the kind in the county. Of retentive memory, diligent in study, exemplary in 
character, he soon attained a position in the estimation of the public, where his ser- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1057 

vices as a teacher were among the first in demand. His aptitude in imparting instruc- 
tion, his earnest zeal for the welfare and advancement of his pupils, ever gave him a 
strong hold upon their respect and affection. A firm believer in the truth of Chris- 
tianity, experiencing the transforming influence of its principles in his life, he early 
cast his lot with the people of God. He united with the Congregational Church, and 
to the day of his death identified himself with this, or some sister denomination, and 
exemplified in his life the profession of his faith. As a biblical scholar, he was 
excelled by few who had enjoyed superior advantages, and equalled rarely by those 
of similar opportunities. He was ever ready, in Christian humility, to give a reason 
for the hope that was in him, and by all proper means, as an ofl^cer in the church, 
teacher and superintendent of the Sunday-school, and all benevolent work, to aid in 
the extension of Christ's kingdom. Strong in his convictions of truth and duty, he 
had the courage to manfully discharge the obligations they imposed, to the best of his 
ability. As a husband, he ever confided in the wife of his youth, who was to him in 
all things but his other self. Years only increased the strong attachment that led to 
plighted faith, which was ever strengthened by increasing cares and responsibilities. 
The golden chain of affection shone as brightly beneath the shadow of adversity, as in 
the sunshine of pi'osperity. As a father, he was devoted to the welfare of his children — 
more anxious for their spiritual and mental culture, than that they should possess 
the empty baubles of the world. As a neighbor, he was ever ready to sympathize 
with the distressed, and relieve the needy. As a citizen, he was public-spirited and 
sought the best good of society. If success in life depend upon the amount of gold 
amassed and left behind, then was this life a failure. But if it be true that 

" He lives most 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best," 
that moral purity, integrity of purpose, benevolence, and all the kindred virtues of 
Christian character, wield an influence for good long after the miser's hoarded geld 
shall have crumbled to its dust, then has this brother's life been a grand success, and 
his children may glory in the heritage of one who has gone to his reward and wears 
the crown of eternal life. W. B. G. 

There are six brothers and three sisters in the family of the deceased, 
three of the brothers now being residents of Colorado, one a resident 
of Nebraska and two of Shelby county, this State. Edward, one of 
the two last mentioned, was the third of the sons, and was born in 
Niagara county, N. Y., February 8, 1854. Reared, however, in 
Shelby county, he received a good common school education in this 
county, and when in his twenty-third year went to Colorado, where he 
spent about two years engaged in mining at Leadville, or rather some 
three years, for after returning to Shelby county during his father's 
illness, he went back to Colorado after his father's death, and 
remained there another year. Coming home to remain permanently 
in 1881, he has since been engaged in farming, his farm being a part 
of the old Gould homestead. He has 138 acres, 80 acres of which 
are in his home place. His farm is neatly improved and he is accounted 
one of the energetic young farmers of the vicinity. On the 27th of 
February, 1883, Mr. Gould was married to Miss Dora E. Melson, a 
daughter of Jacob Melson. They have one child, Addie M., born 
February 8, 1884. Mrs. G. is a member of the M. E. Church. 

STEPHEN M. HANCOCK 

(Of Shanks & Hancock, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Furnishing Goods, Hats, 
Caps, Boots, Shoes, etc., etc., Clarence). 

The present firm was formed in the fiill of 1880, when Mr. Han- 
cock bought a half interest in the business which had been previously 
carried on by Mr. Shanks. Messrs. Shanks & Hancock have built a 



1058 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

commodious and tastily-constructed business house, 25x90 feet in 
dimensions, which they have filled with a large and first-class stock of 
goods in the lines mentioned above. Both are men of ample means 
to carry on business without pecuniary embarrassment and to take 
advantage of low markets by cash purchases. They also sell mainly 
for cash, and keeping, as they do, a good class of goods which they 
sell at the lowest possible figures consistent with sound business man- 
agement, they of course have a large run of custom. Dealing fairly 
and honorably with every one, they have established a business repu- 
tation which is of hardly less value than the actual capital they have 
invested. They have the confidence of the entire community, and 
being accommodating and pleasant in dealing with their customers, 
they are more than ordinarily popular. Mr. Hancock was born in 
Jo Daviess county. 111., February 4, 1848. His father, Richard 
Hancock, was from Cornwall, Eng.,and was a miner and metallurgist, 
and on coming to this country located at Galena, where he became 
interested in the lead mines of that place. He was there married to 
Miss Eliza A. Lichtenberger, formerly of Pennsylvania. He died in 
Illinois in 1868. At the age of 16 Stephen M. Hancock went to 
Chicago, where he was employed in the Union Stock Yards, and in 
1867 he came to Shelby county where he engaged in farming. He 
was married here January 9, 1868, to Miss Maggie, a daughter of 
William Hirrlinger, deceased, formerly of Germany. In 1870 Mr. 
Hancock returned to Joe Davies county. 111., where he farmed for 
five years, but then came back to Shelby county. He was engaged in 
farming here until 1879, when he established a store at Hager's 
Grove, having previously sold his farm. In 1881 he was burned out 
and suffered a loss of $2,600 in excess of what he recovered from 
insurance. He then bought a farm in the county and resumed farm- 
ing, l>ut soon afterwards sold his place and came to Clarence. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hancock have a family of eight children: Julia E., Hattie 
F., Charles E., Kizzie M., Emma B., Maud, Addie and Raymond. 
Mrs. H. is a member of the Christian Church, and Mr. H. is junior 
warden of the A. F. and A. M., and is a member of the A. O. U. W. 

JESSE T. HERRON 

(Dealer in Groceries, Queen's-ware, Glass-ware, Boots, Shoes, Etc., Clarence). 

Mr. Herron engaged in his present line of business in 1875, and has 
succeeded in building up a large trade throughout the surrounding 
tributary territories. He carries an excellent stock of goods of the 
classes mentioned above ; and, indeed, a general assortment of kindred 
kinds, and selling at fair prices and dealing fairly with his customers, 
he has established a reputation for his house that secures it a steady 
and profitable patronage. Mr. Herron is a native of Indiana, born at 
Rising Sun, July 21, 1834. His parents, David Herron and Lydia 
(Griswold) Herron, were from Lancaster county, Penn., and came 
out to Indiana shortly before Jesse T.'s birth. They located in Dear- 
born county, and were pioneers in that county. The father died there 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



1059 



April 19 1846 He became a man of local prominence and held sev- 
eral positions in civil affairs and in the church. Jesse T. Herron was 
reared on his father's farm, and in youth attended the country schools. 
After he attained his majority he took a course of one term in the 
Indiana University and afterwards engaged in teachmg H^ followed 
teachino- in Indiana for about nine years. March 10, 1805, he was 
marriecf in Ohio county, that State, to Miss Augusta Lannjkin a 
dauo-hter of Ezra Lampkin, now of Macon City, Mo. He then 
eno-acred in farming and farmed in Indiana for some three years, la 
1868lie removed to Missouri and settled on a farm near Clarence. He 
also tau<Tht one term of school after locating in this county. He 
farmed here for some seven years, but sold out in 1875 and engaged 
in business in Clarence. Mr. and Mrs. Herron have i^eared a family 
of four children: William B., who is in the store with his father and 
is a young man of family ; Cora E., M. Kate and Minnie. Mr. Her- 
ron and wife are members of the M. E. Church, and Mr. Herron has 
been a member of the Masonic Order since 1858. He was made a 
Mason in Hartford Lodge, No. 151, Indiana, and demitted to Clarence 
Lodge, No. 305, and filled several positions in both lodges. 

CORNELIUS H. HORNBACK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 
Amono- the young agriculturists of Clay township, in Shelby county, 
youncr men of intelligence, enterprise and thrift, is the subject of 
Ihe present sketch, Mr. Hornback. He is of an old and respected 
family of this region of Missouri, his grandparents having been early 
settlers of Ralls county. His father, 'Squire John J. Hornback six 
years of ao-e when the family came from Kentucky, was reared in 
Ralls county and afterwards made his home in Macon county , where 
he resided many years, becoming one of the substantial fiirmera 
and men of influence in his part of the county. He served as magis- 
trate for a number of years and could have held higher positions 
if he had desired them, but being a man of devoted home attach- 
ments and quiet worth, had no ambition for the notoriety of polit- 
ical prominence. In 1870 he removed to this county, where he 
bouo-ht an excellent farm near Clarence and lived here prosperous 
and'hioh respected until his death, which occurred November 10, 
1882 "He had previously followed merchandising m Macon ^\ty 
for nearly 10 years, that is, prior to his removal to this county, 
but his life was mainly devoted to agricultural pursuits, in which 
he was entirely successful. He was a man of solid, sound judg- 
ment and good business ability, thoroughly upright and popular 
with all he knew. His widow, who was a Miss Mary E. Holliday, of the 
old and respected Holliday family of this part of the State, survives 
him, and is a lady of marked intelligence and many estimable 
qualities, and bears her age extremely well, having the appearance 
now of not being over 35, her hair being but slightly turned and her 
movements quick and conversation bright and entertaining. She 



1060 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

reared but one child besides Cornelius H., Willie E., the wife of W. 
W. Glasgow, now of Dakota Territory. Cornelius H. resides on the 
old family homestead in this county, which he owns, having bought 
his sister's interest and mother's dower. He was educated at the 
Macon high school and also took a course at business college. Janu- 
ary 22, 1878, he was married to Miss Sallie E. Crayton, a daughter 
of Jacob L. Crayton, of Ralls county, but formerly of Virginia. His 
wife is a graduate of the high school of Macon City. Mr. and Mrs. 
H. have two children, Mary A. and Estella B. Mr. Hornback has 
been continuously engaged in farming, except for about two years 
when he was in the grocery business at Clarence, and except also 
about a year in the livery business at Hannibal. His farm contains 
360 acres and is one of the better class of farms of the township, 
being excellent land and well improved, with a good residence, com- 
modious barn, substantial fences, a bearing orchard, etc., etc. He is 
ensao^ed to some extent in raisins^ fine cattle of the Hereford short- 
horn breed, having several good cows of that stock and a fine bull. 
Last year he was engaged in buying and shipping horses and mules 
and had satisfactory success. 

CHRISTOPHER HUNOLT 

(Of the Clarence Bank, and Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

Among the German families who came to this State a generation 
ago and whose members have entered actively and prominently into 
the social, business and agricultural life of the country, was that of 
Joseph Hunolt, a native of Prussia, who immigrated to America in 
1845, and settled in Marion county. He was an intelligent, sturdy 
German, who became a successful, valued and highly respected citizen 
of Marion county. He died in Shelby county, October 15, 1865, aged 
66, and was one of the substantial farmers of the county. His wife 
a Miss Elizabeth Gottlief, died in 1872. Three of their sons are liv- 
ing; one, the subject of this sketch, the third, now presiding justice 
of the county court from Knox count}^ and the second, a prominent 
citizen of Shelby county and a large land owner and cattle dealer, 
fattening annually from 200 to 300 head for market. Christopher 
Hunolt was born in Prussia C)ctober 13, 1829, and was therefore in 
his sixteenth year when the famil}'^ came to America. He completed 
his adolescence in Marion county, learning the occupation of farming 
and receiving a common school education as he grew up. On the 18th 
of June, 1853, he was married to Miss Mary S., a daughter of Mathias 
Babler, of Hannibal, but originally of Switzerland. He continued on 
the farm with his father for three years after his marriage, and then 
his brother, now Judge Hunolt of Knox county, bought a tract of 
land in Shelby county and divided it, and on a portion of this Mr. H. 
still resides. He has since added to his place until he now has about 
500 acres. Nearly all of this is fenced and 320 acres are in cultiva- 
tion or meadow. The balance is in timbered pasture. His place is 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1061 

well improved and is one of the best stock farms in the township. 
For a number of years Mr. Hunolt has made a regiikr business of 
feedino- cattle and hogs for the wholesale markets, and fattens an- 
nually about 100 head of cattle. He is also a principal partner and senior 
member in the Clarence banking house, one of the substantial bank- 
ing institutions in the county. Mr. Hunolt ov/ns valuable town 
property, including a block of buildings and the Miller Hotel [)roperty. 
When he first came to this county he was quite poor, and lived in a 
small cabin in the timber, where he improved his farm for about 10 
years. His struggle to come up in the world was a hard one, but he 
had the industry and perseverance, the courage and business ability 
to succeed, and the result has been all that he could have fairly ex- 
pected, and better than most men would have hoped for or accora- 
l^lished. He and wife are members of the Catholic Church. 

JUDGE JOSEPH HUNOLT 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, and Next Judge of the County Court, Post-office, 

Clarence) . 

Judge Hunolt, one of the leading stock-dealers of Shelby county, 
and the owner and proprietor of five fine farms, aggregating nearly 
2,000 acres, being next to the heaviest tax-payer in the county, is a 
brother to Christopher Hunolt, whose sketch appears on another page 
of this volume, and was born in Prussia, March 4, 1835. When he 
was 10 years of age his parents came to America and settled in Marion 
county, this State. Judge Hunolt was reared in that county, and in 
1854 he and his brother came to Shelby county, not having at the 
time enough money to jingle on a tombstone. However, they have 
scratched around and got a small tract of timbered, brush-covered 
land, on which they went to Avork to make their fortune. The thrifty 
qualities characteristic of their German blood, have not been unproduc- 
tive of the usual successful results of German industry, frugality and 
level-headed, business acumen and intelligence. Both brothers have 
become wealthy, and each ranks among the substantial, prominent citi- 
zens of the county. Judge Hunolt, being a man of solid character 
and sober, good sense, is, of course, a Democrat, and in June, of the 
present yeai", Avas nominated for a seat on the bench of the county 
court. The county, being composed mainly of good honest men, is 
Democratic by nearly 1,000 majority, and he will therefore be elected 
world Avithout end. A man largely interested in the welfare of the 
countv, he Avill of course endeavor to administer its affairs, so far as 
depends on him, to the best interests of the people, for it stands him 
in hand to see that economy is observed and taxes reduced to the low- 
est possible figure consistent Avith the public welfare. No one doubts 
that he will make an upright, conscientious judge. As has been said, 
he commenced life for himself a poor man, and has worked his way 
up by his own honest toil and good, sober common sense. From time 
to time, as he was able to, he kept buying more land and improving 
or having it improved, until he now has five farms. For a number of 



1062 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

3'^ears he has been buying and feeding and shipping stock, and now 
ships from 40 to 50 car loads annually. The Judge's home farm is 
well improved, including a good two-story residence, two excellent 
barns, and other out-buildings, good fences, meadows, pastures, etc., 
and a good orchard. Each of the other farms is also well improved. 
On the 16th of October, 1862, he was married to Miss Aseneth Spease, 
a daughter of John Spease, deceased, originally of Pennsylvania, but 
from Iowa to Missouri. The Judge and Mrs. H. have four children : 
Christopher, Anna, William and Mary S. He and family are members 
of the Catholic Church. 

WILLIAM O. HUSTON 

(Retired Farmer and Merchant, Post-office, Clarence). 

Mr. Huston, an old and respected resident of the county, well 
known and highly esteemed throughout the entire vicinity around 
Clarence, has led a successful life, both as a farmer and business man, 
and is now retired from active pursuits on a comfortable competency. 
He was born at Bloomtield, Ky., July 13, 1823, and was brought to 
Missouri by his parents while he was still at a tender age. They 
located at Ralls county in 1825, and William O. was reared on his 
father's farm in that county. An outline of his father's family is 
given in the sketch of Judge S. W. Huston, elsewhere given. In 
February, 1848, Mr. Huston was married to Miss Rlioda H., daughter 
of A. P. and Elizabeth Hornback, of Ralls county, but formerly of 
Kentucky. Soon after his marriage Mr. Huston removed to Shelby 
county, and has been a resident of this county ever since. He set- 
tled on a farm in Clay township and followed farming and stock- 
raising for about 17 years, meeting with good success. He then, in 
1865, removed to Shelby ville, and later along engaged in the hard- 
ware and farm implement business, which he followed for a number 
of years. He then retired from all active pursuits and is now engaged 
principally in managing his private affairs to the best advantage, and 
is taking the world comparatively easy. Mr. and Mrs. H. have reared 
a family of three children: Martha E., wife of A. L. Crain, whose 
sketch appears in this volume ; Anna E., wife of R. N. Shanks, also 
the subject of a sketch in the present volume; and Ella F., wife of 
T. N. Bishop. Mr. and Mrs. Huston and their three daughters are 
members of the M. E. Church South, and he has been a member for 
the past 40 years. He is a man whose life is without reproach, 
and is as highly esteemed by those who know him as any man in 
the county. 

JOHN W. JACOBS 

(Of Whitby, Jacobs & Co., Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots, Shoes and Notions, 

Clarence) . 

Born in Greene county. East Tennessee, August 5, 1824, Mr. 
Jacobs was a son of Lewis M. Jacobs, a merchant tailor at Greenville, 
among the first of whose journey workmen was Andrew Johnson, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1063 

afterwards President of the United States, and one of the greatest 
common statesmen this country ever produced. Lewis M. Jacobs was 
a Virginian by nativity^ and located at Greenville, Tenn., when a 
young man. He afterwards married there Miss Anna Wright, and 
after a residence of some years removed to Missouri, locating at 
Shelbyville in 1836. In a short time he bought a farm near 
Shelhj^ville, where he lived a worthy and respected life until his death, 
which occurred in 1868. His wife had preceded him across the mys- 
tic river about a year before. They had a family of six children, of 
whom John W. was the eldest. He, like the rest of the family, was 
reared on the homestead near Shelbyville, and remained at home 
assisting the family until two years after his marriage, meanwhile 
obtaining such an education as he could get by his own efforts, which, 
however, was sufficient for all practical purposes. February 15, 1855, 
he was married to Miss Mary A., a daughter of Stanford Drain, one 
of the early settlers of the county, and from Delaware to Missouri. 
In 1857 Mr. Jacobs located on a farm with his family in the county, 
and was engaged in farming and stock-raising continuously up to 1873. 
He then sold his place and stock and removed to Clarence, where he 
began in the lumber, agricultural implements and grain trade. Hav- 
ino; been successful as a farmer he also became successful as a business 
man, and sold out in 1877 to good advantage. He was not interested 
in regular business again until 1884, when, in the early part of Janu- 
ary, he and his son bought a half interest in the present firm. His 
son has active control of their interest in this business, Mr. Jacobs 
giving it only such attention as his good judgment and successful ex- 
perience demands. He is a man in easy circumstances, all the fruit 
of his own industry and good management. He has a neat and com- 
fortable homestead in Clarence, and is pleasantly situated in life. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs have four children: William L., his partner in 
business ; Annah E., Robert L. and Cassie L. Mr. Jacobs' whole life 
thus far since he was 12 years of age, has been spent in Shelby county, 
except two years' absence on a trip to California. He is looked upon 
as one of the best men in the western part of the county, and wields 
a marked influence by his high character and sober good sense upon 
those around him. 

JOHN W. LAIR 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Miller, Clarence). 

Mr. Lair, one of the enterprising property holders and progressive 
self-made citizens of Shelby county, is a native of this county, bora 
March 18, 1846 ; his fixther was Judge Robert Lair, one of the well 
known and highly esteemed farmers of the county. He came when 
18 years of age with his parents and located in Marion county ; he 
was afterwards married there to Miss Elizabeth Culbertson, formerly 
of North Carolina ; he then removed to Shelby county, where he 
improved a farm and resided until his death ; he died May 10, 1884, 
aged 74. He served for 12 consecutive years as judge of the county 

62 



1064 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

court iind was one of the highly esteemed citizens in the county ; he 
was a man of noble impulses and great generosity and liberality. To 
the poor and unfortunate he was one of the truest and best of friends ; 
he reared three orphan children, and gave liberally to the poor and 
assisted the needy wherever and whenever it was in his power to do 
so. He was a member of no church, but kept faithfully the great law 
ofGo(l,thelaw of humanity and charity. John W. was reared on 
the farm in this county, and in 1863, then 17 years of age, he enlisted 
in Co. E, Eleventh Missouri Cavalry, under Col. Graham, of the Union 
service; he served until the expiration of his term about the close of 
the war. After returning home he engaged in farming and handling 
stock. On the 25ih of December, 1870, he was married to Miss Mag- 
gie P., daughter of E. F. Wilson, formerly of Virginia. After his 
marriage Mr. Lair located on a farm in Bethel township, where he 
resided until 1881 ; he then removed to Clarence and engaged in the 
flour and grist business. In 1883 his mill was burned, but he still 
owns a saw-mill at this place. Mr. Lair also still runs his farms, for 
he has two of them, or, rather, he superintends their management ; 
he likewise deals to some extent in stock. Mr. Lair has al)out 700 
acres of land in his two farms, all fenced and comfortably improved ; 
he also has a neat residence [n-operty in Clarence. He is one of the 
enterprising men of the place and contributes his full share toward 
the improvement of the town. Mr. Lair had two brothers and three 
sisters who lived to be grown, namely : George, who served in the 
Union army during the war, and by his courage and ability rose from 
the rank of a private to the colonelcy of a regiment ; he died in Colo- 
rado of consumption in 1882; William N., who was also a gallant 
soldier in the Union army, was killed by Bill Anderson at the Cen- 
tralia massacre. The three sisters are married and are the heads of 
families. 

ANTHONY LANGENBACH 

(Tiuaer and Dealer in Hardware, Stoves, Cutlery, Etc., Etc., Clarence). 

In the first great battle of the war, the battle of Bull Run, Mr. 
Langenbach was severally wounded fighting in the cause of his country 
for the preservation of the Union, which all are now glad was restored, 
even those who sought to destroy it. He was left on the field for 
dead, but happilj'^ was made of sterner stuff than to die from the first 
great shock of war. He was yet to do other valuable service to his 
country, and he rose from among the dead and dying on the field of 
battle, as one brought back to new life, to keep step again to the 
music of the Union and to bear his gleaming bayonet once more in 
the front rank of the loyal hosts of the Republic. He was in the 
army for nearly three years, enlisting twice during this time, first for 
three months, in May, 1861, and then for two years, being honorably 
discharged in the summer of 1863, holding the position of a non-com- 
missioned officer. Mr. Langenbach was born in Buffalo, N. Y., July 
5, 1849. His parents, Hugo Langenbach and Christina, nee Waber- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1065 

lacher, were from Badcn-B.iden, Germany. They came to America 
ill 1S38, and settled in New York, where both are still living at hale 
ages. Anthony wus re.ired at Buffalo and educated in the high school. 
He subsequently learned the tinner's trade. Serving durinir the war 
in Co. C, Twenty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, he afterwards 
resumed his trade in New York, but in 1866 came to Missouri and 
located in Shelby county. Here he improved a farm, and was 
engaged in farming and stock-raising for eight years. He then came 
to Clarence and beiran in his present lineof l)usiness. He has an 
excellent trade and is doing a flourishing business. Mr.*Lanijenl);ich 
was married Octol)er 16, 1866, to Miss Rose Peters, a daul^hter of 
Charles Peters, formerly of Prussia. They have six children : Gcoro-e, 
Sarah A., Mary C, Rosa B., Hannah ^tnd Hugo. Mr. and M?-s. 
Langenbach are members of the Catholic Church. 

DILLWYN P. LEWIS 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Clarence). 

Born in Delaware county, Pa., October 2, 1848, Mr. Lewis was 
reared in that State and when in his twenty-first year accompanied 
his parents to Missouri, they removing to Shelby county and settlino- 
on a farm near Clarence. His father died here May 14, 1883. DilE 
wyn P. has since had charge of the farm, or rather since his return 
from Dakota. He received a good high school and academic educa- 
tion in Pennsylvania. April 9, 1878, he was married to Miss Frankie 
Wonsey, a daughter of J. S. Wonsey of this county, but formerly of 
St. Joe county, Mich. She died, however, less than five months aVter 
her marriage. He continued farming in the county after her death, 
in which he had engaged, until the spring of 1882, when he went to 
Dakota and located a tract of land near "Lari more, in Grand Forks 
county, and also engaged in the furniture business at Larimore. He 
returned from Grand Forks county in the fall of 1883. Mr. Lewis is 
carrying on the farm with industry and enterprise. Besides raising 
grain, etc., he is also raising considerable stock for the markets. Mr. 
Lewis' father, Reuben E. Lewis, was a man of delicate health and for 
sometime prior to his death, visited the different springs of mineral 
waters with the hope of recuperation, but without avail. He was a 
fiirmer in Pennsylvania before his removal to Missouri. However, 
early in life he began as a merchant but was compelled to quit the 
store on account of ill-health. Still he was quite successful in the 
affiiirs of life and accumulated a comfortal)le estate. He was a man 
of high character, excellent social qualities and a generous, manly dis- 
position. He was greatly i)eliked by all who knew him. He twice 
married. His first wife was a Miss Susanna Hoopes, of Chester county, 
Pa. At her death she left him two children, both of whom reside in 
Philadelphia. His second wife was a Miss Elizabeth C. Youno;, 
before her marriage, of Philadelphia, Pa. She resides on the farm 
and is a most estimable lady. She has reared five children : Dillwyn 
P., William E., a physician of Highland, Kan., Mattie L., wife"^of 



1066 IlISTORy OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Kev. Duncan Brown, of St. Joseph, James Y., also a physician of 
Hio-hhmd, Kan., and Joseph J., a traveling salesman for a wholesale 
Chicago house. Mrs. L. is a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

WILLIAM B. LISTER 

(Of Lister Bros., Owners and Proprietors of tiie Clarence Creamery). 

Prominent among the new and profitable industries of Missouri, an 
industry which is rapidly assuming large proportions and promises to 
be of great -value to the State, is that in which the subject of the 
present sketch and his brothers are now engaged — the manufacture, 
on a large scale and by the most approved methods, of creamery but- 
ter. This will doubtless be followed at no distant day by an industry 
probably still more profitable, the condensation of milk, which is now 
an important interest in the Eastern States. The manufacture of 
cheese has for some years been carried on in Missouri with success. 
With our tine grazing lands the dairy interests of this State can easily 
and profitably be developed to immense proportions, a work, it is grati- 
fying to know, which is already being carried forward with excellent 
progress. Such men as the Lister Brothers are doing a great deal for 
the State in this direction. They established their creamery at Clar- 
ence in the spring of 1883, and by their energy and thorough business 
qualifications have made it a complete success. They ran their estab- 
lishment the whole of last year, and their products aggregated over 
$9,000. They expect to greatly improve on this the present year. 
They have a capacity of 1,000 pounds a day, and their butter only needs 
to be introduced into a community to win its own popularity and enter 
into general use. Mr: Lister is a native Missourian, born in Macon 
county, October 9, 1842. His father, C. H. Lister, a prosperous 
farmer of that county, now 72 years of age, but still an active and val- 
uable " hand " on the farm when he feels it necessary to help along 
with the work, was from Maryland, and came to Missouri in 1835. 
The mother, who was a Miss Sarah Bell, related to the Maryland Bells of 
Howard county, was also from the Chesapeake Bay State. William 
B. Lister was reared on the farm in Macon county, and in 1861 
enlisted in Col. Bavier's Infantry Regiment of the State Guard (South- 
ern), and at the expiration of his term in that regiment, or in about 
a year, became a member of Col. Burbridge's Fourth Missouri Cav- 
alry, in which he served until the close of the war, being under Gen. 
Marmaduke during the latter part of the struggle. During the war 
he participated, among numerous others, in the battles of Lexington, 
Pea Ridge, Shi 1 oh, Prairie De Anne, Payson's Spring and Saline 
River. He was in Price's campaign in this State in 1864, and was in 
an engagement, large or small, every day for over a month during 
that exciting and dangerous " raid," as it was called. After the war 
he returned home and was engaged in diflerent lines of industry until 
he came to Clarence in 1882, including the milling and lumber busi- 
ness, farming and handling stock, the piling, tie and timber business 
under railroad contracts, etc., etc. On the 15th of July, 1856, Mr. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1067 

Lister was married to Miss Lavenia, a clauijhter of James Sage, 
deceased, late of Macou county, but formerly of Kentucky. Mr. 
and Mrs. Lister have three children: Sarah A., now approaching 
young womanhood ; Mary B. and Ida. Mrs. Lister is a member of 
the Christian Church. For about the hist six months during the war 
Mr. Lister was a courier for Gen. Marmaduke, and he is now a not 
less faithful and enthusiastic courier for him in his g-ubernatorial cam- 
paign. 

EPHRAIM MAGOON, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Clarence). 

The influence that a single circumstance may have in shaping and 
giving direction to the whole future of one's life, finds frequent illus- 
tration in the careers of those around us and in every community. 
Only the other day at the memorial services in honor of the late Bishop 
Simpson, whose fame as an able, eloquent and great and pious-hearted 
divine has circled the earth, it Avas stated that he was led to enter the 
ministry, long after he was a successful practicing physician, by hav- 
ing to lead in prayer at a meeting of the church of which he was a 
member and to take charge of the meeting in the absence of the 
minister. He thus discovered his own ability and fitness for the 
work, and feeling that it was his duty to exercise the powers God had 
given him over the minds and hearts of men for the salvation of souls, 
he soon began his career as a minister and pulpit orator, which was 
destined to place him at the head of the first Protestant church' on 
the continent. Dr. Magoon was led to become a physician by a cir- 
cumstance hardly less accidental than that which influenced the life 
of Bishop Simpson. He was a soldier in the Union army during the 
war, and was sick during the whole time of his service, being at last 
discharged at the end of a year on account of physical disability. 
During this time he read medicine assiduously, in order to under- 
stand and, if possible, to remedy his own malady — chronic dysentery. 
He afterwards continued to read medicine, and became so attached to 
it as a study, and discovered in himself so marked an aptitude for it, 
that he decided to devote himself to it as a profession, and accord- 
ingly took a regular course with that object in view. He had previ- 
ously received a rather advanced education in the high school of his 
native place, in Maine, and was, therefore, well qualified to pass 
through a medical course. Placing himself under the preceptorage 
of Dr. Charles A. Parsons, a proninent physician of St. Albans, Me., 
he studied under him until 1864, when he matriculated at Bowdoin 
Medical College, in Maine, where he continued as a student through 
two regular terms. Li 1865 he commenced the practice at Piscataquis 
county. Me., where he continued in the practice with success for about 
four years. From that county he came West to Missouri, in 1869, 
and located at Clarence. Here he has since been continuously 
engaged in the practice, and by his ability, studious habits, close 
attention to the practice and success in the treatment of cases, has 



1068 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

succeeded in placing himself in the tVoiit rank of the profession in 
this county. He is (piite prominent in meilical aifaiis, not only in 
this county, but in the entire medical district, and indeed, he took a 
leading part in organizing the medical society of this district. He 
has also been satisfactorily successfnl in a property point of view, and 
is in comfortable circumstances. Dr. Magoon was born at Harmony, 
in Somerset county. Me., and was reared in tliat State. His parents, 
Joseph A. and Matilda (Watson) Magoon, remained there until 1870, 
when they removed to Minneapolis, Minn., where the father engaged 
in business, but died the following year. He was a man of local 
prominence in Maine, and held various official positions. The mother, 
with her family of younger children, still resides at Minneapolis. 
October 24, 1864, Dr. Magoon was married to Miss Ellen M., a 
daughter of Henry Tenny, deceased, a respected citizen of Cumber- 
land county. Me. The Doctor and Mrs. Magoon have three children : 
Frank L., Charles E. and Harry. He and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church, and he is a prominent meml)er of the I. O. O. F., the 
A. O. U. W., the Select Knights and the G. A. R. 

BENJAMIN N. MELSON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence"). 

But 14 years of age when his parents, Benjamin and Milley (Gordy ) 
Melson, settled in Shelby county, Mr. Melson grew to majority in 
that county, and has since made it his permanent home. Indeed, he 
still resides on the homestead where his parents settled nearly half a 
century ago. Married when a young man, his married life to this day 
has l)een one of contentment and happiness, and he has reared a 
worthy family of children. Mr. Melson is [)re-eminently attached to 
his family and home, being a man of marked domestic disposition. 
He feels proud to say that he has never moved in his life, and he 
expects to still cling to the old homestead, until the shadows of old 
age have settled upon him and the day of his earthly life is closed. 
The sentiment of Pope's beautiful tetrastich touches a responsive cord 
in his breast : — 

" Happy the man, whose wish and care 
A few paternal acres bound, 
Content to breathe the country air 
On his own ground." 

Mr. Melson has a good place of 340 acres, and his farm well improved. 
His home is one in which comfort and convenience are regarded more 
than a show of elegance ; still it is a neat place and kept in good shape 
and condition. Mr. Melson was born in Worcester county, Md., 
January 6, 1823, and he came to this county with his parents in 1837. 
His father died here in 1842. There were five brothers and six sisters 
in the famil}^ but Benjamin N. and, Sampson D., now of Salem, 
Ore., are the only two brothers living. There are but two sisters 
living, Mrs. Jane Ross, of Lakeport, Cal., and Mrs. Milly G. Coard, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1069 

of Berlin, Md. Benjamin N. Melson was married February 10, 1846, 
to Miss Mary J. Carman, a daughter of William Carmen, an early 
settler of Palmyra, in Marion county, originally from Harrison county, 
Ky. His father having willed him the home place, he made this his 
home after his marriage, and as stated above, has continued since to 
reside here. Mr. and Mrs. Melson have five children : Emma, now 
Mrs. AAHlliam Taylor ; James H., Mary J., Charles B. and George A. 
John W., a young man 22 years of age, died August 9, 1869. Eliza- 
beth died, a young married lady, the wife of John F. Smith, March 
4, 1882, and Nancy J. died in infancy. 

JACOB B. MELSON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

Mr. Melson is a nephew to Benjamin N. Melson, whose sketch pre- 
cedes this, and was the second eldest of five children of John Melson 
and wife, whose maiden name was Elliner Elliott, and. who came to 
this country from Worcester county, Md., in the spring of 1837. 
The father improved a farm in Clay township, and died here in the fall 
of 1843. The five children are still living, all in this section of the 
State, and not far from the subject of this sketch except William G., 
who is a resident of Nebraska. Jacob B. Melson was born on his 
father's farm in Clay township July 9, 1837. Keared in the county, 
on the 2d of September, 1858, he was married to Miss Eliza A., a 
daughter of Anthony Blackford, of this county. Mr. Melson's first 
wife died Januarv 27, 1872, and of her children five are living: Mary 
G., Charles W.,' Nancy D., the wife of E. E. Wailes ; Dora E., the 
wife of Edward Gould, and Ernest L. To his present wife Mr. Mel- 
son wiis married January 17, 1875. She was a widow lady, the former 
wife of Nicholas Anderson, now deceased. Her maiden name was 
, Miss Clementine Blackford, and she was a cousin to his first wife, 
being a daughter of James Blackford, of this county. After his first 
marriage Mr. Melson farmed in Salt River and Jackson townships 
until he bought his present farm in Clay township in the spring of 
1879. This place contains about 130 acres, 70 of which are in meadow 
and plow land. It is neatly improved, and has an excellent young 
orchard. Mr. and Mrs. M. are members of the Clarence Christian 
Church. 

JACOB H. MERRIN 

CFaruaer, Stock-raiser and Stock Dealer, Post-offlce, Clarence). 

From a small start Mr. Merrin, by his industry, enterprise and 
intelligence, has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable property. 
Farming and handling stock have been his principal occupations, and 
in these he has made practically all he has. Mr. Merrin is a native 
of Ohio, born in Knox county, August 1, 1827. His family on his 
father's side were early settlers in that countv, and indeed his moth- 
er's family were old and respected residents of the county. His 



1070 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

father, John Meri'iu, however, was born in New Jersey, but was 
married in Ohio, Miss Sarah Bears becoming his wife. They reared 
a family of children, of whom Jacob H. is the only one a resident of 
Missouri. Brought up a farmer, he continued to follow that occupa- 
tion in Knox county until his removal to Missouri in 1875. On the 
22d of January, 1851, he was married to Miss Hannah Loree, a 
daughter of John Loree, of Knox county, Ohio. They have three 
children: Elmina, now the wife of J. W. Pritchett, of Clarence; Ella, 
the wife of William Wilt, of this county ; and Effie Adelle, a young 
lady still at home. In 1875, as intimated above, Mr. Merrin sold 
out in Knox county, where he had been engaged in farming and hand- 
ling stock with success, and came to Missouri. He bought a farm in 
Monroe county, which he still owns, but later along removed to Shelby 
county. His farm in Monroe county, Woodlawn farm, contains about 
320 acres, and is one of the choice farms of Woodlawn township, in 
that county. He also has 440 acres in this county, which includes an 
excellent stock farm, Mr. Merrin owns three resident properties in 
Clarence and 40 acres of good land in the corporate limits of that 
place. His family resides in Clarence, and he is engaged in dealing 
in stock, as well as raising and fattening them quite extensively. Mr. 
M. is one of the live, stirring men in the western part of the county, 
and one of the thorough-going citizens of Clay township. He has 
been a member of the town board and is at present street commis- 
sioner. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

SAMUEL L. MESSICK 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Clarence). 

Mr. Messick is a representative of another Delaware family to be 
added to those already mentioned in this volume, all of whom rank 
among the better class of people in the county. Mr. Messick was 
born in Sussex county, Del., September 25, 1843, and came with his 
parents, James W. and Sallie C. (Huffington) Messick, to Missouri 
in 18G1. They first located in Monroe county, and then came to 
Shelby county in L862, where they have resided for the last 22 years. 
Another son, Edward P., born August 20, 1845, also came with them. 
Samuel L, was married November 21, 1871, to Miss Lucy, a daughter 
of Peyton Harding. She died in January, 1873, leaving a child, 
Anna Belle, who is still living. Samuel L. Messick was married to 
his second wife, formerly Miss Mary R., a daughter of Thomas War- 
ren, April 14, 1880. They have one child, William L., and have lost 
one, in infancy. Edward P. Messick was married October 23, 1873, 
to Miss Mary F., a daughter of William Minniek, formerly of Cedar 
count}^ Mo. Samuel L. and Edward P. have each 120 acres of land, 
improved and neat farms, with good buildings, fences, etc. Mr. 
Messick, their father, lost a son, John W., January 22, 1868, at the 
age of nineteen. He was a young man of excellent promise and it 
was a heavy affliction to all the family. The father and mother and 
their two sons and daughters-in-law are all members of the M. E. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1071 

Church. Samuel L. is a member of the A. O. U. W. and is foreman 
of his lodge. 

CAPT. PERRY F. MILLER 

(Proprietor of the Miller House, Clarence) . 

Some philosopher has said that there are two things, at least, which 
only the Lord can make — a poet and a good hotel keeper. Of 
course, there are a world of rhymsters and hash-house men, but 
there are few, very few, real poets and genuine hotel keepers — per- 
haps as few of the latter as of the former. But among the elect 
of the latter class must ever and always be placed the subject of 
this sketch, Capt. Miller. A man of good breeding and thoroughly 
polite and mannerly, he has at the same time the generosity and 
hospitality in abundance characteristic of the Western people, and 
his good taste is faultless, his desire to please unbounded, his cour- 
tes}' and gentlemanly bearing a combination of the Frenchman and of 
the Virginia gentleman, and his knowledge of the business thorough. 
Thus he is a typical landlord, popular with everybody as a hotel 
keeper and as a man. He has a fine run of custom at Clarence, 
lives comfortably and pleasantly and is in easy circumstances, having 
been quite successful in gathering together the good, substantial things 
of this life, and not without an eye on the main chance where the 
angels do inhabit. Capt. Miller is a native of Ohio, born in Muskingum 
county, January 25, 1828. His parents, Col. John Miller and wife, 
nee Margaret Fuller, were from Loudoun county, Va., pioneer settlers 
in Muskingum county, O. His father was a colonel in the war of 
1845, and afterwards moved to Clark county, 111., engaging in business 
at Westfield, which he continued for about 25 years and until his death 
in 1875. His wife died in 1884. There were five sons and three 
daughters that grew to mature years. Perry F. Miller was reared 
at Westfield and educated in the high school. While yet in youth 
he began to learn the saddler's trade, which he acquired and 
worked at until the outbreak of the war. He then enlisted in the 
Union service under the first three months' call in Co. C, Twelfth 
Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After this term was out he re-enlisted 
in the same company and regiment and served until after the close of 
the war. Beginning as a private, he reached the rank of captain. 
For gallantry at the battle of Ft. Donelson he was promoted to sec- 
ond lieutenant. For conspicuous bravery on the field at Pittsburg 
Landing he was made first lieutenant, and afterwards, for meritorious 
conduct as an officer, he was advanced to the rank of captain, which 
he had held some six months before the war. He was in many of the 
hardest fought battles of the war, too numerous to mention here, and 
everywhere bore himself as one of the bravest of the brave, doing 
honor always to the Virginia origin of his family by his courage and 
intrepidity. After the war he returned to Illinois and engaged in the 
saddlery business. He then made a trip further west into Kansas 
and Missouri, finally locating at Philadelphia, in Marion county, where 



1072 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

he followed merchnndising for 13 years. From there he came to 
Chirence and engaged in the hotel business at this place, which he 
has ever since continued. He has considerable property in Shelby 
county and elsewhere. October 9, 18(54, Capt. Miller was married to 
Miss Kate Pratt, of Clark county, 111. They have three children : 
Mattie S., Nettie and Gay. The Captain is a member of the G. A. 
R.., Paddy Shields' Post, No. 36. He is an ardent Republican in 
politics, but is not offensive or overbearing in political matters. He 
talks and votes as he pleases and allows others to vote as they please, . 
without questioning their honesty or intelligence. ♦ 

LACY MORRIS 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Hagar's Grove). 

Next fall will have been 41 years since Mr. Morris made his tirst 
camp fire in Shelby county. A mighty change has been wrought in 
the county since then. On the same prairies where the deer grazed 
on wild grass are now broad pastures of blue grass, where sleek cattle 
feed ; and in the place of the old horse-mill, is now the handsome steam 
mill with its patent roller process turning out more flour in a minute 
than its predecessor could in a summer's day. The railroad has come 
and the whole face of the country has changed its features. The 
dense population thrives where formerly all was a wilderness, and 
handsome towns with their church spires glittering in the sunlight 
stud the scene. Mr. Morris was from Delaware, a native of Sussex 
county, and was born February 10, 1813, a son of Ephraim Morris and 
wife, nee Julia Thomas. Reared in Sussex county, he was married 
there in 1834, to Sarah Shires, and seven years afterwards he 
came to Shelby county, Mo. He bought a farm near Shell)ina, 
on which he resided for over 20 years. His wife died there 
in February, 18(51, leaving him three children, who are now grown 
to mature years, namely: Rhoda A., the wife of John Byron; 
Sarah E., the wife of Richard Morris, of Pennsylvania ; and Lizzie T. 
Another, Asbury, who should have been included among those men- 
tioned as living at the time of their mother's death, died in 1879, at 
the age of 39. Mr. Morris moved to his present farm in 18(54. April 
19, 1863, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Thrasher, a daughter of 
Stephen Thrasher, of Lewis county. They have two children : 
Rebecca E., and Olive M. They have lost one, John B. Mr. and 
Mrs. Morris are members of the M. E. Church, and Mr. M. has been 
a member 58 years. 

JUDGE GEORGE F. PALMER 

(Attorney at Law, Notary Public, Real Estate and Collecting Agent, Clarence) . 

Judge Palmer was a young man 20 years of age when his parents, 
Thomas and Sidney ((^lendenning) Palmer, removed from Bourbon 
county, Ky., to Missouri, and settled in Monroe county. The father 
had been a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and had participated in 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1073 

numerous engagements with British and Indians. He was a man of 
sterling character, undaunted courage and great personal worth, and be- 
came one of the substantial, highly esteemed citizens of Monroe county. 
He died there in about 1846. George F. Palmer (the Judge) came 
out to Missouri with his parents and made his home in Monroe county 
for aliout 30 years. While there he was married, in February, 1842, 
to Miss Nancjs a daughter of John Goodman, formerly of Scott 
county, Ky. He was engaged in farming in Monroe count3S and 
three years after his marriage he removed to Schuyler county, where 
he resumed farming and continued it for about eight years, having 
bought a good farm on first cominof to that county. A man of good 
general education before he left Kentucky, he afterwards continued 
to apply himself to study. Having formed a purpose to devote him- 
self to the legal profession, while in Schuyler county he began the 
study of law : — 

" Mastering the lawless science of our law, 
Tliat codeless myriad of precedent, 
That wilderness of single instances." 

He continued the study of law in Schuyler county and did consider- 
able practice in the courts of that county, subordinate jurisdiction. A 
man of recognized worth of character and personal popularity, as well 
as having a broad, liberal knowledge of the law, while in Schuyler 
county he was called upon to serve the people as a judge of the county 
court, a position he filled with ability and general satisfaction to the 
public. In 1853 he sold out in Schuyler county and returned to Mon- 
roe county, where he bought a farm adjacent to Woodlawn. He 
was admitted to practice law by the circuit court of that county, and 
served as magistrate for some 16 years. He was also postmaster at 
Woodlawn for a number of years, and held the office of notary pub- 
lic. In 1874 he sold out in Monroe county and removed to Davies 
county, where he engaged in merchandising at Bancroft. Two years 
later he removed to Chirence and engaged in the hotel and livery 
business at this place. In 1878 he began the regular practice of law 
and to give his regular attention to the real estate and collecting busi- 
ness. He has a number of excellent farms in Shelby and adjoining 
counties for sale, as well as a lot of fine unimproved land in Texas. 
He has been notary public at this place for six years. Judge and 
Mrs. Palmer have six children: Belle, the wife of B. F. Mason, of 
Harrison county; C. C, of Nodaway county; T. W., of Harrison 
county ; G. R., of the same county; John A., of Clarence, Mo. ;and 
Gabie, the wife of Dr. W. S. Sanders, of Hagar's Grove. Judge and 
Mrs. Palmer are members of the Baptist Church. The Judge is a 
prominent member of the I. O. O. F. He was once a candidate for 
the Legislature of Monroe county with five or six competitors, but 
vv^as defeated by about 40 votes. 



1074 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

CAPT. SAMUEL S. PATTON 

(General Retail Merchant, Farmer and Stock-raiser, Hagar's Grove). 

Nine years of age when his father's family removed to Shelby 
county, Capt. Patton was reared in this county and has made it his 
home from boyhood, for over 43 years. Well known therefore over 
the Western part of the county, he is as highly esteemed as well 
known. His life thus ftir has been one of industry, activity and 
enterprise, more than usually successful and, withal, one upon which 
no reproach has fallen to mar the burnish of the good name. He 
was born in Ireland on the 22d of June, 1832, and his parents, Mat- 
thew and Elizabeth (Simpson) Patton, came to America in 1841, 
locating the same year in Shelby county, where they resided until 
their deaths. Samuel S, became a farmer and handled stock after he 
grew up, and on the ■14th of October, 1858, was married to Miss Sarah 
A., a daughter of Nathan Peoples, one of the early settlers of Shelby 
county from Tennessee, but now deceased. He continued farming 
until August, 1864, when he enlisted in the Southern army under 
Col. Porter, and although beginning as a private he was afterwards 
made captain of a company. He was with Porter until the dis- 
bandment of the latter' s command, and participated in numerous 
engagements, in North Missouri, including those of Newark, Kirks- 
ville, aud the one west of Macon City. He then resumed farming 
and handling stock and in a few years began merchandising at Hagar's 
Grove, continuing, however, his farming and stock operations. In 
1869 he Avas appointed postmaster and he served for 14 years con- 
tinuously. He also served as justice of the peace for a number of 
years and is still a notary public. He carries an excellent stock 
of goods and has a profitable trade. Capt. Patton has a place of 386 
acres nearly all in cultivation and pasturage. His place is run by 
tenants under his superintendence, aud he has five residence buildings 
on it. He also owns his business property at Hagar's Grove and 
other valuable property. His residence is a substantial, neat two- 
story building and he has a commodious, comfortable barn and other 
convenient outbuildings. In a word, he is in comfortable circum- 
stances and it is worthy of remark that he has made all he has by his 
industry and good management. Capt. Patton has been married twice. 
His first wife died July 27, 1882, leaving him five children: Matthew 
N., Timothy H., Simpson S., Hannah N. and Sarah N. To his 
present wife he was married January 27, 1884. She was a Miss Mary 
Stutt, a daughter of Arelia Stutt, originally of Ireland. Mrs. P. is 
a member of the Christian Church. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and a 
member of the Chapter at Macon City. 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 1075 



JONATHAN PEOPLES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Hagar's Grove) . 

Gold was discovered in California in 1848, but the importance of 
the discovery was not generally appreciated, nor did the excitement 
over it become general until the following year. During the latter 
part of 1849 and the early part of 1850 the rush to the gold regions 
from all sections of the country, and, indeed, from every quarter of 
the earth, reached its height. Among the rest, Mr. Peoples, then a 
youno; man 21 years of age, was drawn in the general tide of emigrants 
that swept westward across the plains and through the mountains to 
the golden coast. He spent two years mining out there with a fair 
measure of success, and then returned to his old home in Shelby 
county, making his return voyage by the sea and the Mississippi. He 
then resumed farming, and on the 2t)th of March, 1857, was married 
to Miss Jane Patton, a sister of Capt. Samuel Patton, of Hagar's 
Grove, and who was quite young when her parents came over from 
Ireland. He had previously bought the farm where he now resides, 
or rather the land, for by his own honest toil he has transformed it 
from a state of nature, untouched by the plow and covered with tim- 
ber and brush, to its present condition, one of the well improved and 
fertile farms of the township. He has 200 acres of good land, 120 
under fence and in regular use as a farm. He has his place well 
improved with good buildings, fences, orchard, etc. He is now build- 
ing a handsome new barn, commodious and convenient. Mr. and 
Mrs. Peoples have no children of their own, but have an adopted 
daughter, Estella M. Cooper, now a young lady, whom they have 
reared from childhood. He and wife are members of the Christian 
Church. His parents, John Peoples and Rebecca, nee Baufman, were 
from Tennessee, and he came here in 1832, first locating in Marion 
county, but soon afterwards in Shelby, where they resided until their 
deaths. There were nine sons and four daughters in their family who 
grew to mature years, five sons and two daughters of whom are living, 
Jonathan being the eldest. 

JAMES H. POLLARD 

(Post-office, Clarence). 

Mr. Pollard is a representative of one of the old and prominent 
families of Shelby county. His father, Hon. Braxton Pollard, was 
one of the successful and enterprising men of the county, and accumu- 
lated a comfortable estate. During the war he was a galhmt officer 
in the Confederate army, having commanded a company under Gen. 
Price, and was from time to time an active and prominent recruiting 
officer. He participated in numerous hard-fought engagements, and 
in one was severely wounded. He was for three months a prisoner in 
St. Louis, but afterwards exchanged and continued in the service of 



1076 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the South until near the close of the war, when, on account of broken 
health, he was compelled to return home. After the war he was twice 
elected representative of this county in the Legislature. His hist 
term expired in 1882 ; he was a life-long Democrat. He died August 
24, of that year, having a short time before sold his farm and removed 
to Clarence, to live a retired life. He was from Owen county, Ky., 
and came to Missouri with his parents in 1845, locating in Monroe 
county. He was married in that county to Miss Elizabeth Reynolds, 
formerly of Ambrose county, Va., and in 1861 settled in Shell)y 
county, having in the meantime lived in Ralls and Platte counties. 
Mo. He had for many years been a prominent member of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church, and of the A. F. and A. M., and was buried 
with the honors of Palm and Shell and Master Mason degrees. James 
H. Pollard, the subject of this sketch, was born in Monroe county, 
June 2, 1850, and received a limited education in that and Shelby 
counties in the common schools. March 21, 1871, he was married to 
Miss Emma, a daughter of J. J. Rutter, now of Clarence. She sur- 
vived her marriage about ten years, dying in the fall of 1881. There 
are two children by this marriage, Mary E. and Theodocia. To his 
present wife Mr. Pollard was married in January, 1883. She was a 
Miss Mary Gray, a daughter of David H. Gray, of Ralls county. 
Mr. Pollard, having been reared on a farm, followed farming until 
1872, when he came to Clarence and engaged in the grocery and 
sewing-machine business, which he continued until 1884, when he sold 
out the grocery business, but still contiimes the sewing-machine busi- 
ness. Mr. and Mrs. Pollard are worthy members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. Mr. P. is also a popular member of the A. F. and 
A. M. at Clarence. 

HON. WILLIAM D. POWELL 

(Proprietor and Publisher of the Clarence Courier). 

Mr. Powell was born in Greene county, Va., December 15, 1834. 
The year after his birth, his parents, Jackson T. and Mandema 
(Yowell) Powell, immigrated from their native State, Virginia, to 
Illinois, being the first settlers in a place in Cass county now called 
Virginia. After a residence there of about six years, the family moved 
to Randolph county. Mo., entered land and improved a farm about 
two and a half miles from Milton, and there, in 1861, the honored 
head of the family passed away. There were five children. Of these 
G. O., W. D. and J. M., a younger brother and one sister, are living. 
William D. grew up in Randolph county on the farm, receiving a good 
common school education, to which he added by extensive private 
study. Upon reaching his twentieth year, Mr. Powell began teach- 
ing, continuing it until his marriage. This event took place on the 
23d of December, 1858, the happy bride being Miss Matilda F., 
youngest daughter of Benjamin and Matilda Dameron, of Randolph 
county, formerly from North Carolina. Three daughters have blessed 
this union : Anna K., wife of S. M. Birney, of Glen wood, Schuyler 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1077 

oouiity, Mo. ; Effie, wife of F. O. Derr, of Harper, Kan., and Ida, who 
is still on the parent stem. After his marriage, Mr. Powell settled on 
u fiirra, engaging in fanning and stock-raising until 1868. He saw 
some service during the war, holding the rank of lieutenant, hut the 
delicate state of his health compelled him to resign and return home. 
In 1868 Mr. P. went into the mercantile business at Renick, in Ran- 
dolph county, continuing for four years. He then sold out and moved 
to Coatsville, Schuyler county. His next place of residence was at 
La Plata, where h<5 was in the produce and grocery trade for eight 
years. In 1881 he took charge of a hotel at Clarence, hut giving it up 
at the expiration of a year, he bought out the Courier^ which had only 
had its existence for about a year. Since that time Mr. Powell has 
devoted most of his time and energy to the management of his paper, 
which is one of the most reliable sheets in the county. He is also, 
however, a partner in the real estate firm of Palmer & Powell. Mr. 
P. is one of the leading men of the county. At one time he repre- 
sented, with honorable distinction, the countj^ of Macon. He was 
elected on the Greenback ticket, over a Democratic majority of 400. 
Mr. Powell is a charter member of the La Plata lodge of A. O. U. 
W., and he and his wife belong to the Christian Church. 

CAPT. LOUIS S. RIDER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

In little more than two years' service in the Union army during the 
war, Capt. Rider participated in nine of the great battles fought 
during that long and terrible struggle, rose by his conspicuous gal- 
hmtry from the ranks as a private soldier to the command of a com- 
pany, was twice severely wounded and finally honorably discharged 
before the expiration of his terra of service on account of disability 
resulting from his wounds. This is a record that no soldier need feel 
ashamed of and one that his children and grandchildren will point to 
with pride and satisfaction long after he has l)een laid cold under the 
sod. He enlisted in Co. F, Twenty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, 
at Clinton, la., August 22, 1862, and was honorably discharged at 
East Point, Ga., October, 1864. During this time he bore the part 
of a brave soldier in the battles of Haines' Bluff, Miss., Arkansas 
Post, Ark., Grand Gulf, Jackson, Cherokee Station, Miss., Lookout 
Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, Ga., and those during the 
siege of Vicksburg, and a number of others. For gallantry at 
Arkansas Post he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and 
was severely wounded there. At Vicksburg, July 22, I860, he was 
again wounded. Meantime he was promoted to the position of first 
lieutenant and after his recovery from his Vicksburg wound he was 
made captain of his company, which he bravely led for a year follow- 
ing and through some of the hardest fought battles of the war. 
Capt. Rider is a native of Ohio, born in Jefferson county, November 
14, 1839, and a son of George and Catherine (Culp) Rider, both 
from Pennsylvania. They removed to Harrison county, O., when the 



1078 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Captain was about 10 years of age, where he grew to manhood, receiv- 
ins: a jjood common and hio;h school education. His fjither was a 
prominent manufacturer of agricultural implements and was quite 
successful. He died there in 1880 at the age of 87. His wife died 
in the fall of the year previous. Capt. Eider learned the carriage- 
maker's trade, and November 14, 1861, was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Brown, a young lady of English birth, a daughter of Thomas Brown, 
of Harrison county, but originally of England. Capt. Rider removed 
to Clinton, in DeWitt county, la., in the spring of 1862, and enlisted 
in the army there the following August. While in the army his wife 
returned to Ohio and he rejoined her there after his discharge. In 
July, 1865, they came to Shelby county. Here the Captain bought 
land and improved a farm. He has a good place of near a quarter 
section of land, and is comfortably situated. He is Commander of 
the Post at Clarence of the G. A. R. He is also a member of the I. 
O. O. F. Capt. and Mrs. R. have two children, Clarence L. and 
Anna F. 

ALF ROSWELL 

(Dealer iu and Manufacturer of Farniture and Undertaker, Clarence). 

Mr. Roswell, one of the self-made and successful men of Clarence, 
as well as one of its well respected and valued citizens, is a native of 
Sweden, born on the 22d of July, 1842, He was reared in his native 
bailiwick, and in early youth attended school, where he secured a 
good, practical education ; he then apprenticed himself to the cabinet- 
maker's trade, at Avhich he worked as a novitiate for five years. At 
the expiration of that time he was awarded regular articles of qualifi- 
cation, issued by the civil authorities and bearing the State seal ; he 
also received a similar certificate from the Mechanic's Pan-trade Asso- 
ciation, under the seal of the United Guilds. After becoming a master 
workman, according to these certificates, he worked at Stockholm, 
Sweden, for about a year, and then immigrated to the United States. 
Here he located at Galesburg, III., the 15th of September, 1864, 
where he worked at his trade for three years, coming thence to 
Louisiana, this State, and two years later to Clarence. Here he has 
since carried on his present industry and business ; he has a good 
trade in his line and has succeeded quite up to his expectations, being 
now one of the substantial citizens of the place. June 11, 1876, he 
was married to Miss Wilhelmina Larison, also from Sweden, a play- 
mate sweetheart of his in the days of their childhood, when all the 
world seemed a flower-garden of pleasure and the skies bright with 
promises for the years to come. She came across the dark blue sea 
to meet her waiting betrothed, and through all the long nights on the 
storm-tossed ship and from the risings until the settings of the sun in 
a sea of waters, she looked forward with hope and joy to the day of 
her happy nuptials in the strange New World, washed by the Occident 
waters of the Atlantic. Cupid and Neptune combined to give her a 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1079 

safe passage, and vouchsafed for her a happy consummation of all her 
hopes. They met in New York, and 

"The god of love sat on a tree 
And laughed that pleasant sight to see." 

They were married at Williamsburg, N. Y., June 11, 1876. In course 
of their bridal tour, following their happy wedding banns, they visited 
the Centennial Exposition, Washington City, Baltimore, Chicago and 
other leading centers of the States. Mr. and Mrs. R. have three 
children: Eda V., Carl A. and Thyra. Mr. and Mrs. R. are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran Church, and he is a prominent Odd Fellow, P. 
G. and P. C. P. Mr. R. is a man of much inventive genius and is the 
originator and proprietor of several valuable patents. 

JAMES G. ROY 

(Dealer in General Merchandise and Postmaster, Hagar's Gi'ove) . 

Mr. Roy is one of those clear-headed, 'sober-minded men of sub- 
stantial character and correct impulses who believe that he who leads 
an upright life, rears a worthy family of children, accumulates a com- 
petency of this world's goods by his own industry and fair dealing, 
performs faithfully his duties to his family, as a neighbor and a citizen, 
and lives as nearly as he can in accordance with the great principles 
of religion, fulfills to repletion the measure of man's mission on earth. 
These have been the ideas and views that have controlled his conduct 
through life and his own career is a worthy illustration of them. He 
commenced for himself with little or nothing and by his own merits 
has become a substantial, successful citizen. His life has been devoid 
of any conduct that would bring the blush of shame to an honest man's 
face. He is an active member of the Odd Fellows' order. He has a 
good store at Hagar's Grove, an excellent stock of general merchan- 
dise, and having the respect and confidence of the people, he of course 
has a good trade. He is doing a prosperous business. He is also 
postmaster at this place. He was born in Marion county, March 10, 
1846, and a son of Col. James W. Roy and wife, nee Nancy S. Keller. 
J. W. Roy is from Front Royal on the Shenandoah, and his Avife is 
from West Virginia, Parkersburg, on the Ohio river. His father came 
here in about 1836. He was a colonel of militia under Van Buren's 
administration and was one of the finest millwrights in the State, being 
employed to construct the largest and best mills in the country. He 
died on his farm in Marion county in 1853. His wife followed him 
the year following. Of their family of five children, but two are liv- 
ing, William R., of St. Joseph, being the other one. James G. Roy 
went back to Virginia after the death of his mother, but returned in 
1856 and entered Bethel College at Palmyra. After graduating there 
he began as a merchant's clerk at Palmyra, and since then has been 
engaged in merchandising, either as clerk or proprietor, but nearly all 
the time as the latter, up to the present time, except five vears, 

63 



1080 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

between '77 and '83, Avhen he was farming. He sold his farm in 
1882 and came to Hagar's Grove. March 1, 1873, Mr. Roy was mar- 
ried to Miss Pauline, a daughter of Aaron Briglit, of Palmyra. They 
have three children : William Edward, Frank K. and Ellis. Annis L. 
died July 29, 1875, at the age of 17 months. Mrs. R. is a member 
of the Christian Church, and her parents are from Kentucky. 

JOHN W. AND BALLARD P. RUTLEDGE 

(Farmers, Post-office, Clarence). 

These gentlemen, brothers, are natives of Virginia, the senior, John 
W., born June 9, 1836, and the junior, Ballard P., born October 4, 
1851. Then- parents were residents of Giles county, but in 1856 their 
father, Travis Rutledge, died, and the following year the mother, 
whose maiden name was Charlotte Wingo, removed to Missouri with 
her family of children, including the subjects of this sketch. They 
first located in Monroe county, but three years afterwards removed to 
Shelby, settling in Clay township. Here John W. and Ballard P. 
have a good farm of 160 acres, comfortably improved. To each place 
there is good timber tributary for fencing, building, etc. They also 
have 440 acres of land in three farms, fairly improved. Neither of 
the brothers is married, and their mother is still living, having charge 
of the house affairs on the homestead farm. She is an excellent lady 
and much esteemed as a neighbor. The brothers have made all they 
possess by their own industry and good management, and are highly 
thought of by those who know them for their qualities as neighbors 
and citizens. 

C. M. SHACKELFORD 

(Druggist, Clarence) . 

Mr Shackelford was born in Culpeper county, Va., March 28, 1829. 
His mother was Miss Jane Monroe, a scion of the old Monroe family 
whence sprung the president of that name, to whom Mrs. Shackelford's 
grandfather was first cousin. Morgan Shackelford, father of C. M., 
was also a native of the same county in Virginia, but moved in 1841 
to Missouri, buying and improving a farm in Boone county near Col- 
umbia. After a residence of 15 years, he bought a place in Calla- 
way county, where he died in 1858. C. M. grew up on the farm in 
Boone county, receiving his education at Jefferson Academy, Cul- 
peper county, Va. In 1849 Mr. Shackelford removed to Shelbyville, 
Shelby county, Mo. and was for several years occupied in learning 
the cabinet trade. In 1853 he embarked in the drug business at that 
point, continuing for 23 years. In the fall of 1875 he sold out at 
Shelbyville and went into the same business at Clarence. His busi- 
ness house which he built in 1881 is a handsome brick, with Masonic 
and A. O. U. W. lodges above it, all belonging to Mr. S. He carries 
a full line of drugs and medicines and does a rushing trade. Mr. 
Shackelford married at Shelbyville December 20, 1849, Miss Cather- 



I 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1081 

ine, daughter of James B. Marmaduke, deceased, formerly from Vir- 
ginia. Mrs. S. was born in Palmyra and reared and educated in 
Shelby county. Ten children have blessed this union : Lucy, Eugenia, 
wife of Rev. D. L. Rader of Colorado Springs ; Kate, wife of Sam- 
uel Marmaduke of Kirksville ; Eva, Dee, Ida, Virgil, married and in 
the drug business at Brookfield, Mo.; Emma, Maran and Garland. 
Mr. S. has been for 36 years a member of St. Andrew's Lodge No. 
96, A. F. and A. M. He was for 13 years secretary of Shelby ville 
lodge. Mr. Shackelford and family belong to the M. E. Church 
South. 

WILLIAM SHALE 

(Farmer and Manufacturer of Smith's Patent Creamers, Clarence). 

Mr. Shales, one of the enterprising, stirring citizens of Clarence, 
has been a resident of this State for the past 17 years, but resided on 
his farm, about five miles south of Clarence, for 13 years previously. 
He still owns his farm, a good place of 180 acres, which he now has 
rented out. Two years after coming to CFarence he was engaged in 
dealing in stock and also packed pork, about 100 head of hogs annu- 
ally. He then engaged in his present business, the manufacture of 
milk creamers, a very useful and valuable utensil used in the dairy 
business. He and his partner in his line of manufactures put out 
about ten a day and have a ready sale for all they can make. In fact, 
it is impossible for them to supply the demand, and their goods are 
always sold in advance of manufacture. Mr. Shale was a sou of John 
and Sarah (Preston) Shale, and was born in England, August 28, 
1828. They came to America, settling in Westmoreland county. Pa., 
where Willii].m Shale grew to manhood. He early learned the cooper's 
trade and afterwards followed freighting. March 31, 1852, he was 
married to Miss Susan, daughter of Thomas and Christina Knox, of 
Pennsylvania. He then engaged in farming in Westmoreland county, 
and followed it there for 16 years, after which, in 1867, he removed 
to Missouri and bought his farm above referred to. Mr. Shale has 
served as constable of this township and is a member of the school 
board and treasurer of Clarence special school district. He is at 
present a member of the town council. He and wife are members of 
the M. E. Church, and he is a member of the Masonic Order, being- 
treasurer of the Clarence lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Shale have ten chil- 
dren: Sarah, wife of A. D. Lake of Colorado ; Samuel, of Washing- 
ton Territory ; William B., John B., Isabella J., wife of Dana Moral, 
now deceased; Wesley T., of Washington Territory; George B., 
Christena Anetta, who died in infancy, Anna S., Lillie M. and Law- 
rence E. 

REUBEN N. SHANKS 

(Of Shanks & Hancock, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Boots, Shoes, etc, Clarence, 

Mo.). 

Mr. Shanks, one of the leading business men of Shelby county, is 
by nativity a Kentuckian, born in Fayette county, October 29, 1843. 



1082 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

His parents, William B. and Luoy (Harris) Shanks, came to Missouri 
in 1845 and located in Monroe county. There the father bought land 
and improved a farm, and has since lived at Clarence, in Shelby county, 
but now resides in Monroe county, and is now in the seventy-sixth 
year of his age. Reuben N. Shanks, before he attained his majority, 
commenced his career in mercantile life. He became a clerk for his 
brother, A. W. Shanks, at Kirksville, and afterward at Paultown, 
Adair county, Mo., and at Clarence also. In 1867 Reuben N. Shanks 
attended and graduated at Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, 
Quin6y, 111., after which he again clerked for his brother, A. W. 
Shanks, at Clarence, Mo. February 11, 1868, Reuben N. Shanks 
was married to Mary S., a daughter of Dr. Moulton and Mary F. 
(Smith) Hoyt, of Griggsville, 'ill. In March, 1869, Reuben N. 
Shanks and his father engaged in the dry goods business at this place 
as partners, which continued for two years, when his father retired 
from the firm, and Reuben N. carried on the business for about one 
year longer, when his wife, Mary S., died October 15, 1872, and in 
December, the same year,* he sold out his stock of goods, and the 
following February engaged in the family grocery business as one of 
the firm of Bishop & Co., at this place, which partnership existed 
about three years, when Reuben N. retired from the firm. In March, 
1876, Reuben N. Shanks engaged alone in the mercantile trade, carry- 
ino; a greneral stock of merchandise, which he continued until October 
1881, when Mr. S. M. Hancock bought in as a partner. The present 
firm of Shanks & Hancock carry one of the largest stock of goods in 
the county and are doing a large and successful business, their sales 
aggregating from $30,000 to $50,000 annually. They have just com- 
pleted a handsome brick business house, 25 x 90 feet, finished with an 
iron front and otherwise constructed in a neat and substantial man- 
ner, — one of the best business houses in the county. By Mr. Shanks, 
first union there were three children, all now deceased. To his present 
wife Mr. Shanks was married September 23, 1875. She was a Miss 
Annie E. Huston, daughter of William O. and RhodaH. (Hornback) 
Huston, of this county. Annie E. Huston was born in Shelby county, 
Mo., November 5, 1851. To Mr. Shanks present union there have 
been four children, three of whom are still living: Mattie R., Eliza, 
Flora and Newland O. Mrs. Shanks is a member of the M. E. Church 
South, also of the Order of Chosen Friends. Mr. S. is a prominent 
member of the I. O. O. F., and has occupied all the chairs in his 
lodo;e and represented his district in the Grand Lodge of the State. 
He is also a member of the A. O. U. W. and Order of Chosen Friends, 
and has always entertained strict temperance principles. 

JAMES A. WATKINS 

(Manufacturer and Dealer in Saddles, Harness, etc., Clarence) . 

Mr.Watkins, who has made himself one of the substantial, successful 
business men of Clarence by his own industry and enterprise, is a 
native of Shelby county, and was born within 10 miles of where he is 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1083 

now engaged in business, his natal day being the 27th of July, 1836. 
His father Nicholas Watkins, was originally" from Maryland, but his 
mother, whose maiden name was Margaret Anderson, was born and 
reared in Kentucky. The father was brought out to Kentucky by his 
parents, who settled in that State when he was quite young, and he 
grew up and was married there. He learned the saddler and harness- 
maker's trade and followed that in Kentucky until his removal to 
Missouri, which was in 1831. The following year he came to Shelby 
county and improved a fiirm here, also continuing work at the sad- 
dlery and harness-maker's trade. Selling the first place he improved, 
he then improved another place about 10 miles from Clarence, where 
James A. was born. He was married three times, having a family of 
children by each marriage, but James A., and one sister, "Mrs. W. C. 
Moffett, are the only ones of the first family living. James A. Wat- 
kins was reared on a farm and learned the saddle and harness-maker's 
trade under his father. January 16, 1862, he enlisted in Co. A, 
Eleventh Missouri State Militia Cavalry under Col. Lipscomb, and 
was out for over three years. During this time he participated in 
numerous engagements and in skirmishes almost beyond number. 
After his discharge in February, 1865, his term of service having 
expired, he returned to Shelby county, and engaged in his present 
line of business at Shelbyville. He continued in business at Shelby- 
ville until 1871, when he established himself at Clarence, where he 
has since carried on his house at this place. He carries a large stock 
of harness and saddles, etc., and has built up an extensive and profit- 
able trade. January 9, 1863, he was married to Miss Sarah B., a 
daughter of Jacob Sigler, deceased, formerly of Virginia. Mr. and 
Mrs. Watkins have four children: Mary S., James S., Clarence and 
Nicholas. They have lost one, Clifford, who died at the age of five 
years in 1871. Mr. W. has served as county assessor, for which 
office he was elected in 1868. He is a member of the G. A. R. and 
the A. O. U. W., and Mrs. W. is a member of the M. E. Church. 

GILES F. WEST 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence"). 

Mr. West is of New England parentage, but was himself born and 
reared in New York. His father was Joseph P. West, a native of 
Connecticut, and his mother, before her marriage, was a Miss Eliza- 
beth Corning, also of Connecticut. Both, however, were reared in 
New York. Joseph P. West was quite successful in life and became 
a man of considerable local prominence. He died in 1874. Giles 
F. was born at Pitcher, in Chenango county, N. Y., December 21, 
1841, and received a good education, taking a course at high school, 
supplemented with a term at Norwich Commercial College. He then 
taught school in Chenango a short time and engaged in farming. In 
January, 1869, he came to Missoiu-i and on "the 2d of March was 
married to Miss Vergie S., a daughter of William N. Doyle, whose 
sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. After his marriage Mr. 



1084 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

West located at Clarence, in Shelby county, where he bought 40 acres 
of land adjoining town, which he improved. He also taught several 
terms of school, but finally turned his attention exclusively to farm- 
ing. Both he and his wife are old school teachers. His wife is a lady 
of excellent education, having taught both in Chenango county, N. Y., 
and in Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. VV. have two children : Levi E. and 
Gracie E. They have lost one, Arthur E., who died at the age of four 
years in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. W. are members of the M. E. Church 
at Clarence, of which he is a leading official. Mr. West has a good 
place of 145 acres, nearly all of which is under fence and otherwise 
well improved. He is giving some attention to the raising of good 
stock, and has an excellent grade of Holstein cattle. He expects to 
make a specialty of thorough-bred Holsteins, which has been proved 
to be a profitable branch of industry. 

STEPHEN M. WHITBY 

(Merchant, of the firm of Whitby, Jacobs & Co.)- 

Mr. Whitby was born in Shelby county, January 5, 1844. His 
father, Augustus E. Whitby, a native of Maryland, grew up and 
married in his native State, but on the death of his wife, moved to 
Shelby county, Mo., where he met, loved and married Miss Catherine 
Miller, the mother of our subject. Before his death, in 1858, Mr. W. 
moved to Lewis county, and there Stephen M. lived until he reached 
his fifteenth year. The family then moved back to Shelby county, 
where Stephen spent the rest of his youthful years on the farm, 
principally educating himself. From 1866 he clerked at Clarence for 
Mr. Doyle, but in 1870, forming a partnership with A. J. Higbee, he 
went first into the grocery business, shortly after changing it to 
general merchandise. They continued in lousiness for about 14 years, 
when Mr. Higbee sold out to Jacobs. The present firm carry a large 
and well assorted stock, and are doing annually a $20,000 trade. It is 
solid and reliable house, and its head is of such unflinching honesty 
and integrity under all circumstances of life that he can not fail to 
inspire a well merited confidence in all who know him. Mr. Whitby 
married, November 30, 1871, Miss Fannie, daughter of Washington 
Lostuller, formerly from Indiana. Mrs. W. was born in Indiana, but 
reared in Shelby county. This union has been childless. Mr. Whitby, 
though never pushing himself forward, has yet been chosen to fill 
several local ofiices, being at the present time mayor of the city. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1085 

BETHEL T0W:N^SHIP. 



HAKRISON BAIR 

(Dealer in Groceries, Queen's-ware, Glassware, etc., Bethel). 

'Squire Bair comes of honest, thrifty old Pennsylvania stock, a 
class of people who almost invariably take rank among the l)est citi- 
zens of their respective communities. He himself, however, was 
born in Ohio, and principally reared in Missourij but his parents, 
Reuben and Mary A. (Berlin) Bair, were natives of the old Keystone 
State. They were married in Ohio, where Reuben Bair had located 
when a young man, where his wife's parents had previously settled. 
Reuben Bair°was born in Pennsylvania in 1805, and when a young 
man learned the wheelwright's trade in that State. Coming West, as 
far as Ohio, in 1832, two years afterwards, he was married and con- 
tinued to reside in Ohio for some 11 years. He then came to Mis- 
souri and settled in Shelby county in 1845. He resided here until 
his death, one of the respected old citizens of the county. He died 
in 1863. The mother, however, is still living, and is now in the 
seventy-third year of her age. Harrison Bair, born in Trumbull 
county, O., on the 22d day of July 1835, was 10 years of age when 
his parents came to Missouri. He was particularly fond of study, 
and as. he grew up acquired a good common English education. He 
subsequently taught school in this county for about 11 years. In 
1860 he was elected justice of the peace and he has continued to 
hold that office ever since, a period now of some 20 years. He was, 
also, for some time, deputy county clerk, and has been notary pub- 
lic for some years. From time to time 'Squire Bair has engaged m 
different lines of business, and almost invariably with good success. 
He engaged in his present business in 1875, and has since continued 
it. lie has a good stock of goods in his line and an excellent trade. 
'Squire Bair is"an intelligent, public-spirited citizen, and does his full 
share in keeping up the "trade and prosperity at Bethel. 

JOHN G. BAUER 

(Farmer, Druggist, Jeweler and Postmaster, Bethel). 

Mr. Bauer's father, whose name was also John G. Bauer, was 
himself a native of Germany. He came to America in 1839, and 
settled in the state of Iowa with his family, where he resided for 
about six years. He then came to Shelby county. Mo., but died the 
following year, in 1846. His wife was a Miss Anna B. Keller before 
her marriao-e, to whom he was married in Germany. She died m 
Germany in 1837. John G. Bauer, the subject of this sketch, was 
the fifth in their family of seven children, three of whom are_ living, 
and was born in Germany on the first day of December, 1835. Ten 



1086 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

years of age when the family came to Shelby county, he was there- 
fore reared in this county. In 1864 he was married to Miss Louise 
Stark, also formerly of Germany. They have had six children : 
August, who died in 1878 ; Jasper, who died in infancy in 1867 ; 
Julius, Christina, Louisa and Catharina. Mr. Bauer has been success- 
fully engaged in business at Bethel for over 20 years, and during all 
this time he has been postmaster of the place. He has a good stock 
of drugs and jewelry combined, and also has a good farm in the 
vicinity of Bethel, which he carries on. He started out when a 
young man quite poor, but is now in comparatively comfortable cir- 
cumstances and has made all he has by his own honest industry and 
good management! 

THEODORE, AUGUST AND DAVID BOWER 

(Farmers and Stockmen, Bethel). 

The Bower brothers, Theodore, August and David, among the 
leading farmers and stockmen in the northern part of Shelby county, 
and who also do a large business at Bethel in the general store line, 
were sons of John and Christina (Schnaufer) Bower, both natives of 
Germany, who came to this county from Indiana as far back as 1846. 
The father immigrated to America with his parents, or rather was 
brought to this country by them, in 1805. They settled in Pennsyl- 
vania, where John Bower grew to manhood and learned the cabinet 
maker's trade. Married in Pennsylvania, later along he removed to 
Indiana, and from that State to Missouri in 1846, as stated above. He 
died in this county in 1872, at the age of 72. His wife died in 1865, 
at the age of 54. They had a family of 12 children, of whom 
nine are living. Of the^e Theodore was the second, August the sev- 
enth and David the ninth. Theodore Bower was born in Pennsylvania 
on the 8th day of November, 1834 ; August was born in Missouri, 
October 24, 1846, and David was born in Missouri, December 22, 
1850. John Bower, who followed the cabinet maker's trade most of 
his life and with good success, and who was a man of sterling 
character and untiring industry, brought up his sons to the same 
habits of indefatigable industry, and ideas of honest, fair dealing, 
which characterized his whole life. Reasonably successful himself, 
leaving a comfortable estate at his death to be divided among his 
children, he taught his sons those lessons of economy and thrift which 
he had learned by his own experience. It is therefore not surprising that 
the Bower brothers have come to be, by close attention to business and 
good management, among the more successful agriculturists and busi- 
ness men of the county. In accumulating means themselves, they have 
of course been of value to the county in the work of developing its 
resources and enhancing its prosperity. Starting only on about 
$1,500 a-piece, they now have some 600 acres of as fine land, mostly 
improved, as is to be seen in the county, and they also handle stock 
on a large scale. In their store at Bethel they have an unusually full 
and complete stock of general merchandise, and their trade extends 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1087 

almost to the suburbs of Shelby ville, and up into the edges of Knox 
and Lewis counties, while it reaches nearly to the borders of Macon 
on the West and Marion on the East. In other words, they have an 
unusually large and lucrative trade, and are doing a heavy business. 
As citizens of the county, they are men whose usefulness and value 
could hardly be over-estimated. Each of the brothers is married and 
has a family of children. Theodore Bower was married to Miss 
Catherine Link, formerly of Ohio, in 1864. They have four children : 
William, John, Carl and Clara. Li 1874 August was married to Miss 
Priscilla Bair, of this county. They also have three children : Wesley 
A., Mary C. and Gertie E. Miss Malinda Bair became the wife of David 
Bower in 1883. They have but one child, Cora. Another brother, 
George Bower, was born in Missouri, September 20, 1852. Frederick 
C. Stecher, a brother-in-law to the Bower brothers, and now a 
prominent hardware merchant of the northern part of the county, at 
Bethel, like his wife's father, is also a native of Germany, and was 
born in Prussia on the 29th day of March, 1852. He was a son of 
George J. and Christina (NoUenberger) Stecher, and was brought to 
America by them in 1854, they settling in Ohio shortly after their 
immigration to this country. Frederick C. grew up in Ohio and 
received a good common English education in that State. He became 
a member of the Evangelical Association and in a short time was 
authorized to preach by that sect. He was an active minister of the 
church for some four years. Mr. Stecher came to Shelby county in 
1878. On the 26th day of December, 1879, he was married to Miss 
Miranda Bower, a sister to the Bower brothers. One child is the result 
of this union : William E. Mr. Stecher is one of the enterprising, 
enero^etic business men of Bethel, and has been eno;ao^ed in business 
at this place since 1879. He has a good trade and is quite a popular 
merchant. He was the first mayor of Bethel and is highly esteemed 
by all who know him. The firm is known as Bower & Stecher. 

S. BRAGG, JR. 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer). 

Mr. Bragg is the son of Sylvanus I. and Mary (McGraw) Bragg, 
natives of Kentucky, Avho came to Missouri in 1840. They still live 
in Tiger Fork township, Shelby county, where Sylvanus, Jr., was 
born, August 14, 1845. He grew up on the farm and was educated at 
Newark Academy, by Prof. James Batthrope. He left school in 1868, 
and for six years taught in the county schools of Shelby, Macon and 
Knox counties. In 1875, feeling the need of a home of his own, he 
married Miss Mary E., daughter of Elisha and Edmonia Moore, and 
soon after established himself at Newark, Knox county, in the drug 
business. After a year, however, he gave up and began farming. 
Mr. Bragg has a stock farm of 320 acres in Bethel township, where he 
usually keeps about 40 head. He is one of the most extensive ship- 
pers of stock in that section of the county. Mr. B. has never held 
any ofllce, but is now a candidate for sheriff and collector. The first 



1088 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Mrs, Bragg died March 10, 1880, leaving two children : Thomas 
Morton and Lena Moore, and Mr. B. married June 19, 1881, Miss 
Araminta Kutter, daughter of James Rutter, of Tiger Fork. Mrs. 
Bragg was born in La Plata, Macon county, December 3, 1861, and 
losing both parents at an early age, she was reared by her grandfather, 
Edmond Rutter, one of the old settlers of Tiger Fork township. By 
this marriage there are two children : Emma and Byron, Mr. Bragg is 
not a member of any religious denomination, but belongs to the 
Masonic order at Newark, Knox county. 

BEDFORD BROWN 

(Deceased). 

Died at his residence in this county, on the 20th of October, 1876, 
Bedford Brown, in the fifty-seventh year of his age. This brief an- 
nouncement marks the close of a life which, though not a long one, 
was useful and well spent, and unmarred from the beginning to the 
end by a breath of reproach. To have thus lived is to have triumphed 
over life and won a victory over the grave. For such, the reward of 
the future can not be doubted ; and it is a reward as lasting and pre- 
cious as the conscience of God. To the flesh it may be more gratify- 
ing to strut out our brief period in this world, to exhibit our gaudy 
feathers in the bright noonday sun and thus attract the envy of those 
as empty-headed as we thus prove ourselves to be. But to the man 
or woman of conscience, of soul, of sober, sturdy intelligence, noth- 
ing could be less enviable than such vanity. To live right, to live 
plain and honestly, to do one's duty in life faithfully and well, and to 
keep ever before our eyes the laws of humanity and the laws of God, 
observing them in all things dutifully and with an earnest free will, is 
the truest and best mission of man. It was thus that Bedford Brown 
lived and it was such a life as this that he left behind him when he 
died. Born in the state of Ky., February 25, 1820, while 3'et 
early in youth he was brought to Missouri by his parents. Judge Levin 
Brown and wife, nee a Miss Mary Kidd, who removed to this State 
and resided for a time in Marion county. The family subsequently 
removed to Shelby county, and here Mr. Brown's father, Judge 
Brown, became a prosperous and highly respected citizen. Reserved 
for some years as judge of the county court, and was otherwise a 
leading man in the community. Bedford Brown, deceased, was 
reared partly in Kentucky and partly in this State, and was brought 
up by his father to steady habits of ind^ustry and sober frugality and 
honesty. He learned the great lesson that if one wishes to succeed in 
life honestly he can succeed only by persevering industry. He, too, 
became a farmer and became quite well-to-do. He left a good farm 
at his death of nearly 300 acres. His life was one of unbroken indus- 
try and upright citizenship, an energetic farmer, a law abiding, intel- 
ligent citizen, a kind and highly esteemed neighbor, and an affectionate, 
faithful husband and father. He died in the full faith of the 
Redeemer, being at the time of his death, and for years before, an 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1089 

accepted and exemplary communicant in the Missionary Baptist 
Church. He left a family consisting of his widow and 10 children, 
the children being as follows: Anna E., the wife of Henry Nichol; 
Alexander, John, who is married and a resident of Vernon county ; 
Lucinda E., the wife of James Nelson, of Knox county; Benjamin 
F., who with his brother Alexander has charge of the farm; Julia, 
the wife of James Gentry, of Ralls county; Mary E., at home; 
Lillie, at home ; Kittie E., ditto ; and Joseph B., ditto. ^ Mrs. Brown, 
the mother of these, was a Miss Elizabeth Todd before her marriage, 
a daughter of William and Eleander Todd, who came to this county 
from Maryland in 1838. She was married in September, 1849. Two 
of her children besides those mentioned are deceased : James A., the 
eldest, and Alice, the third daughter. Mrs. Brown is also a member 
of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

JOHN G. BURCKHARDT 

(Owuer and Proprietor of Ivanhoe Stock Farm, Post-office, Bethel). 

Prominent among the more enterprising and successful farmers and 
stock-raisers of the Northern part of the county stands Mr. Burck- 
hardt, the subject of the present sketch. He has a handsome stock- 
farm of 300 acres, devoted to grain and grass. He has as fine 
blue grass pasturage as is to be seen in the county. Mr. Burckhardt 
makes a Specialty of raising fine stock, particularly thoroughbred 
short-horn cattle and draft horses, also sheep, both for mutton 
and wool. He has a handsome herd of 20 head of short-horns, and 
also a large flock of fine sheep, as well as some high-bred draft horses. 
He also has numbers of other stock, having his place well stocked 
with all kinds of good farm animals. Mr. Burckhardt is a native of 
Germany, born in Wurtemberg, September 24, 1842, and is a repre- 
sentative of the same ancestral family from which Judge George H. 
Burckhartt (originally spelled " Burckhardt "), of Huntsville, de- 
scended. The branch of the family to which Judge Burckhartt 
belongs, however, came over to this country from Wurtemberg, prior 
to our Revolution ; whilst the branch to which the subject of the 
present sketch belongs came over about a century afterwards, or in 
1853. John G. Biirckhardt's parents were John G., Sr., and Anna 
C. (Wahl) Burckhardt, who were married in 1836. John G., Jr., 
was 11 years of age when his parents came to America and was reared 
on Long Island, N. Y. In 1861, however, they removed to Pennsyl- 
vania, where the father lived until his death, which occurred at Allen- 
town in the winter of 1874-75. John G., Jr., as he grew up learned 
the iron worker's trade at Allentown, Lehigh county, Pa., which he 
followed afterwards, except while in the army, until 1869. He 
enlisted in the Union service early in the war (1861), and was a mem- 
ber of the Fourth New York Regiment, Second Army Corps, Army of 
the Potomac. He participating during this time in the battles of Antie- 
tam , Fredericksburg and Chancellorsv'ille. He then entered the Naval 
service of the United States, served onboard of U. S. Gunboat Ane- 



1090 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

inonie and was under Admiral Porter until the close of the war. 
After the war he resumed his trade, but in 1869 came to Missouri and 
improved his present farm, which is known as Ivanhoe stock farm. 
The following year after coming to this county, on the 18th of Decem- 
ber, 1870, Mr. Burckhardt was married to Miss Frances Vawter, a 
daughter of John T. and Permelia Vawter, formerly of Indiana. They 
have seven children : Sallie, Frederick, Lulu, Margaret, Elizabeth, 
George and Mamie. 

GIDEON P. CHENVRONT, M. D. 

(Physciau and Surgeon, and Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofl3ce, Bethel). 

Dr. Chenvront has been engaged in the practice of his profession 
for less than 10 years, but in that time, by his ability and clear-headed, 
close attention to the practice, he has succeeded in phicing himself in 
the front ranks of the physicians of the county, and has been not less 
successful in accumulating the substantial evidences of prosperity in 
property affairs. With a large and steadily increasing practice on his 
hands, he is vice-president of the County Medical Society, and is one 
of the substantial, thriving agriculturists of Bethel township. Dr. 
Chenvront is a native of West Virginia, born in Lewis county, Octo- 
ber 13, 1849. In 1856 his parents removed to Missouri and settled 
in Shelby county, where young Chenvront was reared. He was brought 
up to a farm life, and educated in the local district schools. When a 
young man 22 years of age, he began teaching school in the county, 
and taught with success for two years. During his second year of 
teaching he was also engaged in reading medicine under Dr. G. L. 
Smith, of Shelbyville. Continuing to read medicine a year longer, in 
1874 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Keokuk, 
Iowa, where he continued for two courses, graduating in 1876. He 
then immediately began the practice of medicine in his present neigh- 
borhood, in which he has since continued. On the 9th of March, 1880, 
Dr. Chenvront was married to Miss Fannie Allen, of Shelby county. 
They have two children, Edith and Carrie. In 1879 Dr. Chenvront 
bought a part of his present farm. Three years later he added to his 
first tract by another purchase, so that he now has a fine ftirm of 300 
acres. He is farming in a general way and raising stock, in both of 
Avhich he is havino; o^ood success. Dr. Chenvront is one of the lead- 
ing physicians of the northern part of the county, and one of its 
influential citizens. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his 
Avife is a member of the Baptist Church. 

THOMAS H. CLAGGETT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Betliel). 

Mr. Claggett is a native Missourian, born in Lewis county, Decem- 
ber 12, 1840. His parents, John D. and Margaret S. Claggett, are 
old and prominent residents of that county. Thomas H. was reared 
there on his father's farm, and attended the neighborhood schools, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1091 

principally during the winter months, as he grew up. Following the 
example of his father, he became a farmer, and has since followed that 
occupation without interruption. On the 7th of May, 1875, he was 
married to Mrs. Harriet Claggett, a widow, and a daughter of John 
H. and Sallie C. Stone, of Shelby county. After his marriage Mr. 
Claggett continued to reside in Lewis county until 1879, when he 
removed to Shelby county, where he made his permanent home. 
Here he has a good farm, embracing half of section 4, township 9, 
range 10. Mr. and Mrs. C. are members of the M. E. Church South. 
They have two children; Maggie and Minnie. Mr. Claggett's parents 
are both deceased, the father having died in 1872, and the mother in 

1878. They were residents of Lewis county for about 40 years. 

JAMES W. COCHRAN 

(Owner and Proprietor of the Holstein Stock Farm, Post-office, Bethel). 

Holstein Stock Farm is conceded to be one of the finest farms, both 
for stock-raising purposes and as a homestead, in the northern part of 
the county. Indeed, in point of improvements, it is without a superior 
if it has an equal in all the country round about. The farm is laro-elv 
run in blue grass for stock purposes, and his pastures are well watered 
and conveniently arranged for handling stock to the best advantage. 
Mr. Cochran has followed farming and handling stock from boyhood, 
and being a man of more than ordinary energy and intelligence, he has, 
of course, made a success of life in these lines of industry. He is one 
of those progressive, thorough-going men who never fail to go to the 
front in whatever they engage. Mr. Cochran is a native of Kentucky, 
born in Madison county, February 3, 1828. His father, Samuel 
Cochran, was originally from North Carolina, but was partly reared 
in Kentucky, and was married there to Miss Frances Wood in about 
1826. A farmer by occupation, he resided in Kentucky for some 
seven years after his marriage, and then removed to Missouri and 
settled in Shelby county. He resided here until his death, a prosper- 
ous farmer and highly respected citizen. For some years he was 
justice of the peace. He died in 1847 ; his wife died eight years after- 
wards. Of their family of eight children, James W. was the eldest, 
and, like his brothers, was reared a farmer. James W. Cochran has 
been twice married. March 22, 1853, he was married to Miss Mar- 
garet Martin, formerly of Madison county, Ky. She died August 5, 

1879, leaving him seven children, namely: Louisa, John R., William 
H., Nathaniel, Walter, Winnie and Thomas. Three, besides, are 
deceased. Mr. Cochran's present wife was previously a Mrs. Elvira 
Haman. Mr. Cochran's eldest daughter is the wife of James Nichol, 
now of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Cochran are members of the Mis- 
sionary Baptist Church. They have an adopted child, Charles W. 
Haamn, a son of Charles Haman, who was a brother-in-law to Mrs. 
Cochran. His present wife, Elvira E. Cochran, was born in Shelby 
county, Mo., April 9, 1838, and was the second daughter of Judge 



1092 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Robert Lair. She was first married in 1859, and again in 1865, and 
to Mr. C. April 14, 1881. 

JACOB CURRY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Bethel;. 

Mr. Curry settled permanently in Shelby county in 1882, when he 
bought the farm on which he now resides. He had previously spent 
two years in this county, but returned to Kentucky in 1877. Mr. 
Curry was born in Union county, Ky., March 4, 1842. The parental 
families of both his father and mother were originally from Virginia, 
but were long settled in Kentucky. His father, Benjamin Curry, was 
a farmer by occupation, and a consistent member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church. He died in Union county, that State, May 3, 
1884. Mr. C's. mother was a Miss Elizabeth Morgan before her mar- 
riage, a first cousin to Gen. John Morgan, of Confederate fame. She 
died in Kentucky November 12, 1868, Like her husband she died in 
the communion of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. They had 
a family of eight children, of whom Jacob Curry, the subject of this 
sketch, was the second. Reared in Kentucky, he followed farming 
there until his removal to Missouri. He was married November 7, 
1871, to Miss Missouri Hewitt, a daughter of Samuel M. and Caroline 
Hewitt, now of Shelby county. Mo. Mr. and Mrs. C. are members 
of the Baptist Church. Mr. C. is one of the worthy and well-re- 
spected citizens of the township. 

M. W. DARE 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Newark). 

Mr. Dare, born and reared in Indiana, has been a resident of Mis- 
souri for nearly half a century, and of Shelby county for just 30 
years this spring. Reared to a farm life, he has been engaged in 
farming and handling stock from boyhood. An upright man, indus- 
trious and enterprising, his life has been one of satisfactory success, 
and now as the twilight of old age beo;ins to shimmer against the 
Western horizon of his earthly career, he is blessed with an ample 
competence of the material comforts of life and with the physical 
health well preserved and a clear conscience to enjoy the fruits of 
his toil. He began when quite a young man, without a penny, and 
by his own industry and honest methods, has acquired what he now 
possesses. Mr. Dare has a good farm of over 200 acres in Bethel 
township, and has his place well stocked with good grades of cattle, 
horses, sheep, etc. He also ships considerable stock every year. Mr. 
Dare's father was Abel Dare, a native of New Jersey, as was also 
his mother, whose maiden name was Ellen Kent. His father was a 
tanner by trade, and served with conspicuous gallantry in the War of 
1812. Subsequently he settled in Franklin county, Ind., with his 
family, where Maskel W. Dare, the subject of this sketch, was born, 
December 20, 1816. There were two daughters and six other sons 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1093 

in the family, namely: Clement, Albert, Georgie, Keziah, John, 
Edmond, Ellen and Helen. The lather died in Indiana in 1832. 
Maskel W. Dare was reared in that State, and came out to Missouri 
in' 1840, and located in what was then Scotland, but now a part of 
Knox county. He resided in Knox county for 14 years, engaged in 
fiirmino- and dealino- in stock, but principally in the latter. In 1854 
he came to Shelby county, and has been a resident of this county 
ever since. October 18, 1864, Mr. Dare was married to Miss Laura 
Seber, of Lewis county. They have no children. The well^ known 
Clement Dare, a noted civil engineer of Indiana, is Mr. Dare s eldest 
brother He surveyed many o"f the public works of the North-west, 
one of the earliest being the Cincinnati and Brookville canal, in 
Indiana. 

JOHN J. ELLIS 
(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Bethel). 

Imono the more energetic and successful young men of Bethel 
township eno-acred in ai^riculture and handhng stock is the subject ot 
the present fketch. Mr. Ellis is an Ohioan by birth and bringing up 
and came to Missouri in 1868, a young man without a dollar. He 
located in Shelby county, and worked here during the cropping season 
of that year as a farm laborer at |14 per month. Rising in life by 
his own industry and intelligence, he now has a fine farm ot bUU 
acres, handsomely improved and well stocked with excellent grades ot 
cattle, etc. In fact, he is one of the leading farmers m the northern 
part of the county. He is also quite extensively engaged m raising 
and handling stock, being one of the prominent stock men ot the 
county This is a record that reflects no ordinary credit upon him 
who has made it. Mr. Ellis was born in Adams county, O., Ju y 8, 
1852 He is a son of Ephraim J. Ellis and wife, nee Margaret 1. 
Baldwin. Both parents were natives of Ohio, and after their niar- 
riao-e were prominent residents of Manchester where they held a 
position among the best families of that place. The father was a 
prominent and successful merchant and was engaged in merchandising 
at Manchester until the outbreak of the war. A man of brave, gen- 
erous and patriotic impulses, when the great struggle for the preser- 
vation of the Union came, he ardently threw himself into the conflict 
for the life of the Nation, and was active in enlisting troops tor the 
service Laying his business and all his business interests aside, he 
devoted himself with undivided zeal to the cause of his country, and 
became colonel of the Thirty-third Ohio Cavalry. He led his regi- 
ment with distinguished gallantry on many a hard-fought held ot 
battle, and until that terrible rencontre 2it Chickamauga, when the 
bugle-call to arms, before even yet the gray dawn had ht the eastern 
sky, summoned many a hero-patriot to a soldier's grave : — 



1094 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

<' To arms! To horse! the frantic cry 

Which startled dreaming birds at dawn, 
And ere the blood drenched day could die 

How many a gallant soul had gone! 
Forget them not whose spirits hang, 

Like formless sprites above the scene; 
Where the red flail of carnage swung. 

And dyed with crimson all the green." 

Col. Ellis, while leiidin<>: his reo^iment in the thickest of the fi2:ht at 
Chickamauga, was pierced with a ball from the enemy and fell faint- 
ing and bleeding in death on the field of battle. When the Union 
was threatened he sacrificed everything for the cause of his country, 
tearing himself away from his business interests and from the bosom 
of his family ; and now he had sacrificed his life. To-day, sleeping 
under the green sod of the South, where he was tenderly buried by 
his brave comrades, his children and his countrymen have the satis- 
faction of knowing that he sleeps where the bright folds of the flag 
for which he fought and died wave in triumph over a restored and 
reunited country. Thus, with those who fell around him, he will 
sleep on through the coming ages, bearing witness by his life and 
death and by the memory of his patriotism to the consecration of 
liberty and free government in the hearts of his countrymen ; and the 
memory of his devotion and of that of his compatriots to the cause 
for which Washington fought ; and the government which he founded 
will raise up other brave sons in the coming ages of time to fight and, 
if need be, to die for the same principles and institutions. There 
this patriotic soldier sleeps in a hero's grave ; and, if death must come 
to all, none could wish him a prouder destiny than the grave which 
enshrouds him. So may he sleep until the divine design of the Crea- 
tor of all shall have been accomplished : — 

"Brave Ellis is sleeping 
Whei'e night dews are weeping 
And pale leaves are falling 

Like gift gems around ; 
Where sad winds are sighing 
And sweet flowers dying 
To mingle their breath 
With the ashes they love." 

By the death of his father young Ellis was left with his own way 
to make in the world, for little or nothing was left of his father's 
estate by the time the work of administration was over. But he 
has proved himself worthy of the name he bears and by his own 
exertions and personal worth has come to be one of the best citi- 
zens of the county where he resides. On the 19th of June, 1881, 
Mr. Ellis, the subject of this sketch, was married in Lewis county. 
Mo., to Miss Belle Baldwin, a second cousin of his. She was 
reared in Lewis county, and was educated at the Monticello Semi- 
nary. Mr. Ellis has been engaged in farming and stock-raising from 
a youth. His mother finds a welcome and pleasant home in his 
household. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1095 

JUDGE MARION HOUGHLAND 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Newark). 

Judge Houghland came to Shelby county in 1881 and bought his 
present farm. He has a fine tract of hind of 200 acres in section 1, 
township 59, range 10, one of the choice farms of Bethel township. 
Judge Houghland had previously resided in Knox county, where he 
had been engaged in farming for about 22 years. He is a Kentuckian 
by nativity, and Avas for a number of years a successful and popular 
school teacher. Indeed, he was educated with a view to the educator's 
profession. Born in Trimble county, Ky., August 1, 1832, he was 
reared in that county, and took a course in the higher branches at 
Trimble Academy. He then engaged in teaching school, and taught 
for about five years in Kentucky. On the 25th of September, 1856, 
he was married to Miss Lucy J. Rouner. The following spring he 
removed to Missouri and located in Monroe county, where he taught 
school for two years. He then removed to Knox county, where he 
bought a farm, and engaged in farming and raising stock. Judge 
Houghland resided in Knox county from 1859 to 1881, coming thence 
to Shelby county, where he had bought his present farm. Judge and 
Mrs. Houghland have 11 children: Willie A., the wife of John T. 
Wilson; Edward D., Henry H., Mary E., the wife of W. H. Thor- 
oughman ; Minnie K., the wife of James Thoroughnian ; Susan L., 
Flora E., Lillie A., Joseph N., Malcohii and Benjamin A. Judge and 
Mrs. Houghland are members of the Shiloh Baptist Church, of which 
he is deacon and moderator. While a resident of Knox county Judge 
Houghland held different county offices, including those of county 
assessor and county judge, in each of which he acquitted himself with 
ability and with a hearty indorsement of his official record by the 
people. Mrs. Houghland's parents were Henry and Lucy R()uner, 
both now deceased. The Judge's parents were Isaac and Eliza 
(Morgan) Houghland, who are also both deceased. The Judge's 
brothers and sisters were John A., Edward C, Philip M., Amelia, 
Mattie, and Amanda A. He also has a half sister by his father's first 
marriage, Sarah. 

DANIEL KELLER 

(Proprietor of the Bethel Hotel and Dealer in Boots and Shoes). 

The Bethel settlement of Shelby county, one of the most prosperous 
and law-abiding communities in the county, was mainly established 
by Germans, either originally from the Old Country, or from Penn- 
sylvania. As every one knows, the people of this settlement are 
among the most law-abiding and worthy citizens of the county, and by 
their honest industry and solid, intelligent enterprise they have con- 
tributed their full share to the general prosperity of the county. 
Among the rest Mr. Keller, the subject of this sketch, has not been 
wanting in performing his full duty as a citizen. He has lived for 

64 



1096 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

nearly forty years, busily occupied with honest industry, and while 
accumulating something for himself has by his labor added to the 
o-eneral prosperity of the community. He was a son of Daniel and 
Marv (Forstner) Keller, both originally from Germany, and was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1834. Eleven years afterwards his parents removed 
to Shelby county and settled at Bethel. Here Daniel, as he grew up, 
learned the shoe-maker's trade. He subsequently worked at it continu- 
ously for nearly 25 years. In the course of time he established a boot 
and shoe store and is still engaged in this business, having an established 
custom that affords him a good trade. He is also running the Bethel 
Hotel, of which he is the owner and proprietor. In 1861 Mr. Keller 
was married to Miss Mary Bachert, formerly of Pennsylvania. They 
have eight children : Katrina, Christina, Frank, Sarah, Louise and 
Minnie. 

F. W. MAGRUDER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Bethel). 

Mr. Magruder is a brother-in-law and a near neighbor to Jacob 
Curry, whose sketch appears on a previous page of these biographies 
in this township. Like the former, he has a neat farm of 80 acres in 
township 59, range 10, and has made his own start as a fiirmer. His 
parents, Thomas and Martha J. (Rucker) Magruder, came to Shelby 
county from Kentucky in about 1838. His father, a farmer by occu- 
pation, died here in March, 1876, and the mother in February, 1882. 
F. W. was the sixth of 11 children and was born on the family home- 
stead in this county June 26, 1849. After he grew up he was married 
April 5, 1877, to Lillie Belle Hewitt and sister to Mrs, Jacob Curry. 
Mr. and Mrs. Magruder have one child. Since his marriage Mr. 
Magruder has been continuouslv engao;ed in farmings in this countv 
and in 1883 bought the place where he now resides. He has a neat 
home and is steadily coming to the front as a farmer. He is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and his wife of the M. E. Church. 

PHILIP MASON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Bethel). 

Mr. Mason has been a resident of this county only about two years, 
though he has resided in Missouri, across in Knox county, for the last 
20 years. On coming to this county he bought a good farm of nearly 
a quarter section of land in section 7, township 55, range 10, where 
he now resides. A man of industry, he is a valued acquisition to the 
community, and is well respected and esteemed by those who know 
him. Mr. Mason is a native of the Blue Grass State, born in Ken- 
tucky March 21, 1835. When he was about five years of age his 
parents, William and Mary (Spoonainore) Mason, removed to Illinois, 
where they resided for about 25 years. They then came to Missouri 
in 1865 and the father died here two years afterwards. Philip was 
the youngest of a family of 11 children and was reared in Illinois. 
January 13, 1859, he was married to Miss Susan McDaniel, a daugh- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1097 

ter of Josiah McDaniei, of Illinois. Six years later he, also, came to 
Missouri and located in Knox county, where he resided, engaged in 
farming, until his removal to Shelby county in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. 
Mason have five children: William E,., Abraham L., Benjamin F., 
Zerilda E. and Ernest. 

WILLIAM MOORE 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-shipper, Post-office, Tiger Fork). 

All old citizens of Shelby county remember Mr. Moore's father, 
Elisha Moore ; he was for many years a leading and wealthy farmer 
and highl}'^ esteemed and influential citizen of the county. He died 
here in 1852. William Moore, the subject of this sketch, was the 
eldest of four children by his father's second marriage, his mother's 
maiden name having been Miss Edmonia M. Brown. The other children 
of the family were: John H., Ann C, Mary E. By his father's first 
marriage there are two children, James C. and Lucy. James C. is the 
cashier of the Merchants' Bank, of St. Louis. William Moore was 
born on his father's homestead in this county, April 17, 1846. He 
completed his education at the Shelbyville High School, and on the 15th 
of February, 1870, was married to Miss Laura Rutter, a daughter of 
Edmund and Jane Rutter, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this 
volume. Mrs. Moore was educated at Newark High School. Imme- 
diately after his marriage, Mr. Moore settled on the farm where he 
now resides. He has 147 acres of good land, which is well and con- 
veniently improved. He is engaged in farming in a general way, and 
in raising and feeding stock for the markets. Mr. Moore is a man of 
energy and good business tact, and is steadily coming to the front as 
one of the substantial farmers of the township. 

JOSEPH W. PEPPER 

(Farmer aucl Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Bethel) . 

The subject of this sketch, a substantial, thorough-going farmer of 
Bethel township, is a native Missourian, born in the county in which 
he now resides December 20, 1836. His father is a well-to-do farmer 
now a resident of Marion county, and Joseph W. was brought up to 
habits of industry on the farm and to understand, the practical work 
and management of farm affairs and stock-raising thoroughly. His 
early life on the farm had the eflfect to give him a taste for farm life 
which led him to adopt it as a permament calling. On the 20th of 
July, 1858, he was married to Miss Nancy Cochran, a daughter of 
Samuel and Frances Cochran, of Shelby county. After his marriage 
Mr. Pepper resided in Marion county engaged in farming for some- 
thino- over seven years. He then bought the farm which is now his 
homestead, one of the choice farms of the vicinity, a plnce of 200 
acres well improved. Mr. Pepper makes a specialty of raising fine 
English draft horses, in which he has established quite a local reputa- 
tion, and been entirely successful. Mr. and Mrs. Pepper have eight 



1098 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

children: James R., John F., Lena, Rosalie, Gabriel, William and 
Edward. Three are deceased, Elizabeth F., Lucy A. and Sallie. 
Lena is the wife of Henry Gaines of this county. Mrs. Pepper is a 
member of the Baptist Church. 

HIRAM PICKETT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser. Post-office, Bethel, Mo.) . 

The fifth in a family of eight children, all of whom are now de- 
ceased excei)t three, Mr. Pickett was born in Fauquier county, Va., 
April 10, 1822. When thirteen years of age, in 1836, his parents, 
Sanford Pickett and Elizabeth, nee Rookwood, removed to Missouri 
and settled in Shelby county, where they reared their family and lived 
until their deaths. The father died here in 1845, and the mother in 
1853. Hiram Pickett, after he grew up, was married to Miss Eliza- 
beth Rookwood, a daughter of Hiram and Charlotte Rookwood, for- 
merly of Virginia, Mr, P. and his wife being cousins-germain. This 
has proved a singularly long and happy union, and has been blessed 
with 12 children, namely : Sanford, who married Miss Millie C. West ; 
Charlotte, the wife of Dr. George L. Turner, of Monroe City ; 
Catherine, the wife of James L. Rouner, of Knox county ; Hedge- 
man, who married Miss Kate Allen; Virginia, the wife of John Bue ; 
Anna, John, James, Sarah, Julia, Gabie and Oscar. Mr. Pickett 
resides on the old family homestead where his father settled nearly 
half a century ago. He bought the place soon after his marriage, and 
has resided here ever since continuously. It is a fine grain and stock 
farm, and contains 360 acres. Mrs. P. is a member of the Christian 
Church. Mr. Pickett was a brother to Judge Pickett, who died in 
this county some years ago. 

HAMILTON SHOUSE (deceased) 

(Bethel). 

For forty-two years the subject of this memoir was a citizen of Shelby 
countjs from the approaching meridian of life until its twilight faded 
into the darkness of the grave. For two score and more of years 
spent in this county were years of unceasing industry and of much 
usefulness to the county, for coming here in its pioneer days he was 
one of the early settlers whose labor transformed it from an uninhab- 
ited frontier country to that of a prosperous and populous community. 
He was a farmer by occupation and adhered with unfaltering resolution 
to his chosen calling. When at last he was called to join the innu- 
merable caravan that moves on to that mj^sterious realm, eternity, he 
was not unprepared to go, and when he had passed away he left a 
memory behind him that is cherished by those who knew him for the 
good deeds with which his name is associated. He is a successful 
farmer and left a comfortable estate to his family, including a fine 
farm of 490 acres, as well as other valuable property, all the fruit of 
his own honest toil and sober, frugal manner of living. He was born 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY, 1099 

in Montgomery county, Ky., December 20, 1809, and was reared in 
that State. Tiie second in a family of seven children of Abraham and 
Frances (Pritchett) Shouse, he was of German descent on his father's 
side and English ancestry on his mother's. The Shouses, however, 
settled in Pennsylvania prior to the War of the Revolution, several of 
whom served in the Continental army. His father was also a gallant 
soldier of the Republic, a dauntless volunteer under Jackson in the War 
of 1812. Hamilton Shouse, the sul)ject of this sketch, was married twice ; 
to his first wife. Miss Sarah Smallwood, in Kentuckjs in 1833. She 
died in Shelby county in 1850, leaving two children, Sanford N. and 
James P. To his wife, who still survives him. Miss Frances M. Smith, 
he was married January 2, 1851. They reared a family of five chil- 
dren : Sarah, William, Melvina A., Wilson L. and Philip D. Mrs. 
Shouse was a daughter of Thomas S. and Michael Smith, and was 
reared in Knox county. Mo. She is a worthy and exemplary member 
of the Christian Church, and resides on the old Shouse homestead in 
this county, the farm referred to above, which her sons conduct. Mr. 
Shouse died April 6, 1883, and his remains now rest in peace in the 
Bethel Cemetery, where he was interred, amid the sorrow and regret 
of all w^ho knew him that so good a man even at last had to be called 
away from those by whom he was so much loved and esteemed. 

J. J. SMOOT, M. D. 

(Physician aud Surgeon, and Fanner, Section 15, T.59, R. 10, Post-office, Bethel). 

Dr. Smoot was born in Marion county, March 21, 1847. His 
father was Josiah Smoot and his mother's maiden name, Harriet 
Whitaker. Both were born and reared in Loudoun county, Va., and 
were married there in 1829. The father was a Baptist minister and 
also owned a farm where he carried on farming and stock-raising. 
The other children of their family besides the Doctor, were Susan, 
Mary, Thomas, Samuel, Lucinda, John, Isaac N., Hattie and Abbie. 
In 1833 the father removed to Missouri with his family and settled in 
Marion county, where he and his wife resided until their deaths. He 
died January 26, 1856, but his wife survived until December, 1881. 
Josiah J. Smoot, the Doctor, was the eighth in the family of children, 
and was reared in Marion county. He was educated first in the dis- 
trict schools and then attended the select school in Marion county. 
He was but nine years of age at the time of his father's death and by 
this misfortune to the family was thrown upon his own resources. 
When 18 years of age he worked out at farm labor and with the pro- 
ceeds was able to attend school. He then taught school and after- 
wards attended school again, thus securing a more than average edu- 
cation in the common English branches. He was engaged in teaching 
for about five years, and meanwhile, during vacation and at other 
leisure times, studied medicine. His preceptor was Dr. Rains, of 
Emerson. In 1872 he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
of Keokuk, Iowa, from which he graduated with credit in 1875. 
During the vacations between his terms at the Medical CoUecre he 



1100 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

taught school, and with the proceeds was able to complete his course. 
He also taught a term after graduating, and in March, 1876, began 
the practice of medicine. In April he located in Shelby county and 
has since been continuously engaged in the practice in this county. In 
1879 he bought a small farm on which he located, and he has since 
added to it by successive purchases until he now has a place of 160 
acres. The Doctor has barely reached the meridian of life, but has 
already succeeded in building up an excellent practice, which is 
steadily increasing, and in situating himself comfortably in life. Sep- 
tember 18, 1877, "Dr. Smoot was married to Miss Mollie W. Wilson, 
of Shelby county. He and his excellent wife have a family of two 
children, a bright little one four ^^ears of age, Edward Mason, and a 
little daughter, not inappropriately named for the fairest of the earth, 
according to ancient history, Lena Cleopatra. The Doctor and Mrs. 
S. are members of the Shiloh Baptist Church. Kev. Thomas E. 
Smoot, pastor of the churches at Shiloh, Ebenezer, Mt. Pleasant and 
Prairie View, is a brother to the Doctor, and Eev. S. C. Taylor, of 
La Grange is his brother-in-law. Mrs. Smoot's parents are Kobert 
M. and Lavina Wilson, old and respected citizens of this county. 

JOHN T. AND JAMES E. WILSON 

(Farmers and Stock-raisers, Post-offlce, Bethel) . 

John T. and James E. were respectively the eldest and third in the 
family of five children of Robert M. and Levina (Lear) Wilson, the 
father originally from Loudoun county, Va., but the mother born and 
reared in Marion county. The father came out to Missouri when a 
young man and located in Shelby count}^ where he met and married 
Miss Lear, whose parents had also removed to this county. After 
his marriage Mr. Wilson, jpere, removed to Knox comity, where he 
bought the woolen factory, and saw and grist mill, at Newark. He 
ran the factory and mill there for al)out eight years, and then came 
back to Shelby county, and settled where his son, James E., now 
resides. He died here July 25, 1880. The mother is still living. 
She is a member of the Primitive Baptist Church, as was also the 
father. He was also a member of the A. F. and A. M. John T. 
Wilson was born at Newark, in Knox county, July 21, 1849 ; and 
James E., after the family removed l)ack to this county, October 16, 
1856. Both were reared on the farm in Shelby county, and John T. 
took a somewhat advanced course of study with a view to the teach- 
er's profession. He subsequently followed teaching for about three 
years, and on the 5th of October, 1879, was married to Miss Willie 
A. Houghland, a daughter of Judge Marion Houghland, whose sketch 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Prior to his marriage he had 
bought 50 acres of land, which he improved, and he has since added 
80 acres to his original purchase, so that he has a neat farm of 130 
acres. A man of good education, irreproachable character, and thor- 
ough-going industry and enterprise, he is steadily coming to the front 
as a substantial farmer and influential citizen of the township. He 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1101 

and wife have two children : Marion M. and Obea M. Both parents 
are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. James E., the sec- 
ond subject of this sketch, was educated at the State Normal School 
at Kirksville and taught school for a year or two. He was married 
April 9, 1882, to Miss Phoebe EJoin, a daughter of George and Belle 
Elgin, worthy and respected residents of this county. James E, still 
resides on the old Wilson homestead, of which he has the manage- 
ment and control. This is a good farm of nearly 200 acres, and he 
is conducting it with that energy and enterprise that stamp him one 
of the leading progressive farmers of the township. He can hardly 
fail of becoming a successful agriculturist and leading, influential 
citizen of this section of the county. He and wife are members of 
the Missionary Baptist Church. 

JONATHAN H. WRIGHT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Bethel) . 

Mr. Wright comes of brave old Carolina stock, his father, Joshua 
Wright, having been a native of the Palmetto State, and his mother, 
whose maiden name was Rebecca Sumner, having been a daughter of 
the Old North State. They early came out to Ohio and were mar- 
ried in Highland county, of that State, away back in 1809. In early 
life the father was a school teacher, and afterwards a physician. At one 
time he was quite well to do and was extensively engaged in farming, 
and also in merchandising. He reared his family in Ohio, but late in 
life went to Texas, where he died in 1851. The mother had preceded him 
to the grave in 1832. They had a family 13 children, of whom Jon- 
athan H. was third. He was born in Highland county, O., May 28, 
1813. After he grew up he was married in Indiana, March 5, 1835, 
to Miss Elvira Shaul, of Hamilton county, Ind. He then located in 
that county, and resided there engaged in farming for about 17 years. 
His wife died there in 1839. There is one child living of his first mar- 
riage, Lncinda ; William and Malinda are deceased. To his present 
Avife Mr. Wright was married August 6, 1843 ; when a maid her name 
was Miss Indian Moore. Soon after his second marriage Mr. Wright 
removed to Missouri. He settled in Shelby county in 1851. For 25 
years afterwards he was engaged in the nursery business, since that 
time he has been engaged in farming exclusively. He has a neat 
place of about 80 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have ten children, 
namely: Matilda J., Amos M., Elvira, Martha, Allen S., Ann, 
Louisa, John, George and Henry. Five of the above are married and 
are themselves the heads of families. 

HENRY ZIEGLER 

(Of Ziegler & Co. — J. G. Bauer and Moses Miller — Owners and Proprietors of the 

Bethel Flouring Mill). 

Like many of the better class of citizens of the northern part of 
the county, Mr. Ziegler is of sturdy, intelligent German stock, but is 



1102 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

himself a native of this country. His parents are John George and 
Sophia (Stoinbaeh) Ziegler, l)oth from the Fatherland beyond the 
Rhine. His father was born in Germany in 1810, and came to America 
when a young man, in 1831. He located at tirst in Pittsburg, Pa., 
where he was married in 1835. A blacksmith by trade, he followed 
that business in Pennsylvania until 1845, when he came to Missouri 
and settled in Shelby county. Here he ran a shop for many years and 
also became interested in farming. He died June 19, 1884. His 
good wife is still living and resides on the homestead in Bethel. They 
reared a worthy family of 13 children, and of these Henry, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was the fifth. He was born at Bethel, in this 
comity, on the 10th day of July, 1845, and was reared in this vicinity. 
For some years past he has been connected with the Bethel Flouring 
Mills, and is a partner in the ownership and management of the mill. 
This, as is well known, is one of the best mills in this part of the 
county. They do a general custom business, and their flour has a 
wide and enviable reputation. Mr. Ziegler, a man of industr}'^ and 
enterprise, is already well advanced on the road to substantial success. 
In 1873 he was married to Miss Clara Miller, a daughter of William 
Miller, formerly of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Z. have six children : Eddie 
W., Frank H., Samniie L., Clara K,, Louella G. and Sophia D. 



TIGER FORK TOWISTSHIP. 



JUDGE SYLVANUS I. BRAGG. 

(Farmer and Stock-i-aiser, Post-office, Cherry Dell). 

Of an old Virginia family, Mr. Bragg was born in that State, but 
was reared in Kentucky, and has been a resident of Shelby county, 
Mo., for 40 years. Judge Bragg's parents were Joel and Mary (Im- 
graw) Bragg, of Lunenburgh county, Va., and he was born there 
February 11, 1804. In 1812 the family removed to Kentucky, where 
they resided for nearly 30 years, but pushed on out to Missouri in 
1840 and settled in Shelby county, where they lived until their deaths. 
The father died in 1850, and the mother in 1854. They had a family 
of five children : Martha, Elizabeth, Sylvanus I., Mary J. and William 
G. Sylvanus I. Bragg was reared in Kentucky, and was married 
there to Miss Mary Baldwin in 1831. Nine years later he moved with 
his family to Missouri in company with his father's family. While in 
Kentucky he dealt quite extensively in stock, and has been engaged 
in raising stock in this county, as well as farming, ever since his 
removal here. He has a fine place of 569 acres. In 1856 he was 
elected a judge of the county court, and served for four years on the 
county bench. Judge Bragg's first wife died in March, 1836, and to 
his present wife he was married in October, 1839. She was a Miss 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1103 

Mary McGrevv, By his first wife Judge Biagg had three children : 
Samuel B., Mary A. and Charles W., only the first of whom is living. 
By his second wife there are ten children : Leonard, Eliza J., Martha 
W., Margaret, Sylvanus, John, Robert, James, Lycurgus and William 
K. Samuel Bragg married Miss Anna E. Stone ; Charles W. married 
Miss Josephene Stone ; Leonard married Miss Fannie Senare ; Syl- 
vanus married Miss Mary E. Moore; John married Miss Carrie E. 
Hendron ; James married Miss Mary Galhigher ; Lycurgus married 
Miss Delia West ; William married Miss Dora Simmons ; Martha 
married Elias Triplett ; Margaret married Thomas Deer. Judge aud 
Mrs. Brao-o; are members of the Christian Church. 

ALBERT G. CHAMBERLAIN 

(Farmer, Section 23, Post-ofRce, Oak Dale") . 

With 120 acres of good land, all under fence and otherwise 
improved, Mr. Chamberlain has a neat farm and comfortable home, 
and with this start is in a situation to advance with steady strides as a 
farmer and substantial citizen of the township. Mr. Chamberlain's 
parents, William Chamberlain and wife, nee Mary A. Rager, were early 
settlers in this region of country. They came here from Kentucky, 
where the mother was born and reared, but the father was originally 
from Westmoreland county, Va. They were married in Marion 
county. Mo. He died here in August, 1873, and the mother followed 
him to the grave three years later, dying September 30, 1876. Both 
were members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Albert G. was 
born on the farm in Marion county, August 31, 1850, and after he 
grew up was married in January, 1881, to Miss Elizabeth D., a 
daughter of. Magistrate Daniel Carlisle, of Tiger Fork township, but 
formerly of Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. C. have one child, Cora Lee, 
born in Januar}^ 1882. Mrs. Chamberlain is a member of the 
Christian Church and Mr. C. of the Missionar}' Baptist denomination. 

CHARLES L. JOYNER 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Cherry Dell). 

Mr. Joyner is a native of Shelby county. Mo., born March 11, 1839, 
and a son of Robert and Lucretia (Latimer) Joyner, formerly of Ten- 
nessee. They were reared in that State and married in Sumner 
county in 1820. Li 1823 they removed from Tennessee to Marion 
county. Mo., and 11 years afterwards settled in Shelby county, where 
they made their permanent home. The father died June 30, 1863. 
The mother is still living, and finds a welcome and pleasant home 
with her son, Edwin, on the old homestead. The father was a well- 
to-do farmer, and Charles L. Joyner was reared on the farm in this 
county. February 26, 1861, he was married to Miss Nancy V. Wat- 
kins. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army and served until 
the close of the war. In 1868 he bought a farm of about 100 acres, 
and subsequently traded that for his present place. Here he has a 



1104 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

good hoiiiestead of 160 acres. April 19, 1862, Mr. Joyner had the 
misfbrtuue to lose his first wife by death. Some six years later, March 
26, 1868, he was married to Miss Fannie Cochran. He has no children 
by his first wife. Those by the second are : Andrew, Demmie, Fan- 
nie, Anna and James. Mrs. Jojnier is a member of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. Mr. Joyner is an industrious, energetic farmer, and 
one of the well respected citizens of Tiger Fork township. 

JOHN R. LYDICK 

(Farmer, Post-office, Tiger Fork). 

It was back in 1832 that Mr. Lydick's parents, John Lydick and 
wife, ?iee AnnaBiddle, came to Missouri. They came from Kentucky, 
where the father, John Lydick, was a successful and enterprising 
fjirmer. On coming to this State, he bought the Robertson farm, 
near Palmyra, a fine place of 360 acres, then one of the best farms in 
the county. But a generous-hearted man, he became surety for a 
large amount of money on account of friends, and having this to pay 
he was broken up and his farm sacrificed. It is now a part of the 
Marion county poor farm. He saved enough, however, to get along 
by industry and economy, and died in Marion county in 1865. John 
R. was reared in that county, and at the age of 19 enlisted in the 
Southern army in 1861, under Gov. Jackson's first call for troops. 
He served under Gen. Price until 1863, when his health breaking 
down he was compelled to come home, but was shortly taken prisoner 
and made to take the iron-clad oath, which pledged him by all that 
was good and bad never to take up arms for the South again. In 
order to keep out of further complications, he w^ent West, and remained 
in the land of the setting sun until long after the cloud of war had 
lifted itself from over the country. Returning from California in 
1869, he resumed farming, and in October of the same year was 
married to Miss Martha G. Lake, a daughter of Judge George S. 
Lake, of Ralls county. In 1879 he came to Shelby county, and a year 
ago bought his present place, a good farm of 180 acres. Mr. and 
Mrs. Lydick have six children : Carrie M., Anna M., George W., 
Fannie W., Lulie G. and Jessie R. 

JAMES D. PARSONS 

(Farmer and Fine Stocl<-raiser, Post-office, Tiger Fork). 

Mr. Parsons has a stock farm of 700 acres, and makes a specialty 
of raising fine stock, which he handles on a somewhat extensive scale. 
At times he has had as many as 150 head on his place. He is one of 
the more progressive, enterprising farmers and stockmen of this part 
of the count}^ and is highly esteemed. Mr. Parsons was reared on 
the farm wdiere he now resides, where he was born December 28, 1839. 
His parents, James D. and Elizabeth H. (Cressup) Parsons, came to 
Missouri in about 1838 and settled on the place where James D. now 
lives, which his father improved. His father was engaged in farming 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1105 

and stock-raising here until his death, which occurred on the 14th of 
April, 1852. He was originally of Virginia, but his wife, James D.'s 
mother, was born and reared in Maryland. In 1863 James D. Par- 
sons was married to Miss Mary J. Durrett, a danghter of Richard H. 
and Sarah A. Durrett, of Marion county, but originally of Virginia and 
Kentuck}^ respectively. Mr. Parsons' first wife died ten years after 
their marriage, leaving four children : James D., Ellen C, Hattie E. 
and Richard S. To his present wife Mr. Parsons was married on the 
20th day of September, 1874. There are two children by this union, 
Elizabeth A. and Perry B. Mrs. Parsons' name before marriage was 
R. E. Baldwin, but at the time of her marriage to Mr. Parsons she Avas 
the widow of J. W. Morrow, who died in 1863. Mr. Parsons' farm 
is finely improved, and has every advantage for stock-raising, being 
one of the choice stock farms of the county. Mrs. P. is a member of 
theM. E. Church South. 

JOHN R. AND JOSEPH E. POPE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Pansy). 

These brothers, the eldest and the second, respectively, in the fam- 
ily of George H. and Frances (Sutton) Pope, of Marion county, 
were born on their father's farm in that county, John R., May 5, 
1852, and Joseph E., June 24, 1854. Both were reared in Marion 
county, as was their father who was brought to that county when in 
infancy by his parents, early immigrants to Missouri from Virginia. 
The Pope family came to Marion county in 1822. The parents of 
the subjects of this sketch still reside there, and the father is now in 
his sixty-third year. John R. Pope was married in August, 1874, to 
Miss Malinda, a daughter of Amos Walker, formerly of Illinois, but 
originally of Tennessee ; and Joseph E. was married in February, 
1877, to Miss Martha A., a daughter of Caleb Evans, formerly of 
Virginia. Both brothers with their families have become residents of 
Shelby county and are energetic young farmers of Tiger Fork town- 
ship. They have 160 acres of good land on which each of them is 
making a neat home. eTohn R. has three children : Rosana, Emma 
M. and Iva B. Joseph E. has two children : Claude H. and Joseph 
W. Up to the present writing the junior subject of the sketch has 
the honor of having killed the last gray wolf that has yielded its 
body to the earth again and its spirit to its Maker within the borders 
of the county. It was weighed by William Kemper — the body and 
not the spirit — and registered 49 pounds. 

JOSEPH RUCKMAN 

(Farmer and Blacksmith, Post-office, Pansy). 

This energetic, industrious and worthy citizen of Tiger Fork town- 
ship came to Missouri in 1856, and is a Virginian by nativity. He 
was born in Hampshire county, June 27, 1832, and was brought up a 
farmer, but also learned blacksmithing. He remained in his native 



1106 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

State, engaged in farming and blacksmithing, until he removed to Mis- 
souri. Prior to locating in his present phice he had followed black- 
smithing and farming at different points. Where he now resides, Mr. 
Ruckman has a good shop and is doing an excellent business. He 
also has 80 acres of land, where he carries on farming. During the 
war Mr. Ruckman saw some service in the army and participated in 
the battle of Kirksville under Col. Porter, of the Southern service. 
December 19, 1854, Mr. Ruckman was married to Miss Sarah Peters, 
a daughter of Branson Peters, of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. R. have 
five children : John H., William J., James W.,Ida May and Martha A. 
John H., the eldest, married Miss Eva Miller, a daughter of 'Squire 
Miller, and they have one child, Charles W. John is now a mail car- 
rier. 

EDMUND RUTTER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Bethel). 

In the history of the early settlement and the subsequent progress 
of this State in material and general development, the family of which 
the subject of this present sketch is a worthy representative, must 
always receive considerate and prominent mention. Mr. Rutter's 
father, Hon. Edmund Rutter, was one of the pioneer settlers of this 
section, and one of its leading representative citizens. Mr. Rutter 
himself has been an active and worth}' citizen of Shelby county for 
nearly half a century, and of this section of the State even longer 
still. The Rutter family on this side of the Atlantic, was originally 
settled in Virginia. From there it removed to Kentucky, in the Dan- 
iel Boone days of that State, when Mr. Rutter's father was quite a 
boy. As Edmund Rutter, Sr., grew up in Kentucky, he obtained 
quite a liberal education, considering the country and times in 
which he lived, for his father was a man of culture and comfortable 
means, whilst the son was a youth of bright, active mind, with a 
marked taste for study and mental improvement generally. He early 
became a school teacher in Kentucky, and achieved an enviable repu- 
tation in that profession, teaching even then the higher branches of 
mathematics. May 19, 1799, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Phil- 
lips, of Washington county, Ky., where he himself was principally 
reared. About this time he ensraofed in merchandisino; in Washinoton 
county, and afterwards acted as sheriff, discharging the duties of this 
position with credit and efficiency. Edmund Rutter, the subject of 
this sketch, was born in what was then Washington county, Ky., 
March 23, 1811, and was the fifth in his parents' family of children. 
There were afterwards three others, the names of the family of chil- 
dren being: Laura A., Emeline, Eliza, Martha A., Felix, Chambers, 
Edmund and James J. In 1817 the family removed to Missouri, in 
the territorial days of this State, and located first at Jackson, in Cape 
Girardeau county. There the fsither resumed merchandising, and con- 
tinued it at that place for nearly six years. While there, he was 
elected a member of the first Constitutional Convention of this State, 
and in the convention attracted general attention for his ability, learn- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1107 

ino" and great zeal for the cause of wise and free government in the 
formation of the fundamental huvs of the State. In February, 1823, 
being more favorably impressed with the natural advantages of North 
Missouri than with those of the Cape Girardeau country, he removed 
to this section of the State, and located in Marion county. la 
Marion county he laid out the town of Scipio, and built sev- 
eral business and other houses there, where he followed mer- 
chandising for a time. While a resident of Marion county he 
was elected to represent that county in the State Legislature, 
and as a member of the House took high rank among the lead- 
ing representatives in that body. While a resident of Scipio, Avhich 
was probably laid out with the idea that, like Scipio of old, it would 
overcome its rival, Hannibal, he bought land in Marion county, near 
the present site of West Ely, where he improved a farm. Later he 
removed his family to a farm in Shelby county and continued a resi- 
dent of this county, one of its honored and useful citizens, until his 
death, which occurred in 1856, in the eighty-second year of his age. 
His wife died in August, 1857. Meanwhile, Edmund Rutter, Jr., 
had grown to manhood, and had become, himself, the head of a 
family. He was married February 9, 1832, to Miss Jane Hollyman, 
of Marion county. About the time of his marriage he entered land 
in Marion county, which he subsequently sold, and with the proceeds 
entered a tract in Ralls county, to which county he removed and 
there improved a farm. Selling this after a few years' residence, he 
bought land in Monroe county and improved a farm there, and dis- 
posing of this, also, later along, he came to Shelby county, where he 
entered a part of the place on which he now resides. Here he im- 
proved his present farm. He has added to his place, from time to 
time, until he now has 348 acres of good land, all, save 18 acres, 
improved. He and wife have had eight children, namely : James, 
Catherine, Felix G., Elizabeth, Mary F., John H., Laura A. and 
Nancy G. Elizabeth is the present wife of George G. Morris, of 
Newark, in Knox county. Her first husband was Albert Hamilton. 
James is deceased and left a family, but his wife preceded him to the 
grave. Catherine is the wife of James W. Robey, of Cedar county. 
Laura A. is the wife of William Moore. Felix G. is married, and 
resides in Cedar county. Mary F. is the wife of Augustus Akers. Mrs. 
Rutter' s parents were John and Grace Hollyman. Mr. Rutter is a 
member of the Looney's Creek Primitive Baptist Church, and he has 
been a member of the church for 50 years. His wife was a member 
of the same denomination, until her death, the 1st day of February, 
1880. 

ANTOINE F. SEDELMEIER 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-feeder, Post-office, Cherry Dell). 

Mr. Sedelmeier, who has a good farm of 300 acres in Tiger Fork 
township, and is one of the respected citizens and energetic farmers 
of the township, is a native of Germany, born in Baden, on the 6th 



1108 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

day of February, 1849. His parents were Antoine and Caroline 
(Schneider) Sedelnieier, who were married in 1847, and came to Amer- 
ica in 1851. The father was a farmer by occupation and was a Baden 
soldier in the war of that Duchy against Prussia, serving for two 
years. He subsequently served four years in this country in the 
United States army. On coming to the United States with his fam- 
ily he located at Staten Island, where he resided for eight years. 
From there he removed to Quincy, III., and came to Shelby county in 
1865. He died in 1883, but his wife died in 1861. Antoine F. Sed- 
elnieier was reared in Quincy, 111., and came to this county with his 
parents in 1865. He was married here March 29, 1873, to Miss 
Jeanette E. EmhofF. Mr. and Mrs. S. have six children: Otto F., 
Anna D., Maria F. (deceased), Yetta M., George E. and Tonnie E. 
The mother of these died April 30, 1883. Her parents were Michael 
and Margaret Emhoff. Mr. S., besides farming in a general way, is 
quite extensively engaged in feeding and shipping stock. 

BENJAMIN F. TALBOTT and CHARLES H. CARTER 

(Farmers and Stock-raisers, Post-office, Cherry Dell). 

These gentlemen, who occupy the relation of father-in-law and son- 
in-law to each other, are both natives of the Old Dominion, the 
former born in Fairfax county, November 13, 1813, and the latter in 
Richmond county, March 19, 1842. Mr. Talbott came to Shelby 
county, Mo., as early as 1836, but Mr. Carter not until 1870. Mr. 
Talbott was a son of William and Mary Talbott, but while he was yet 
quite young he was left an orphan by the death of both parents. His 
mother died in Virginia when he was but little more than an infant, and 
his father then removed to Kentucky, where he also died shortly after- 
wards. Benjamin F. was then apprenticed to the tanner's trade, which 
he worked at until he was 18 years old. After this he worked at farm 
labor until he reached his majority. In 1834, being then of age, he 
returned to Virginia, and out there a year afterwards he was married 
to Miss Anna E. Balthrope. The next spring after his marriage Mr. 
Talbott came west to Missouri, and settled in Shelby county, where 
he has ever since resided. He has lived on his present farm for forty- 
eight years continuously. His place contains 160 acres of good land 
and is a comfortable homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Talbott have reared 
two children : Sarah M. and Mary M. Sarah M. is the wife of Charles 
H. Carter, one of the subjects of this sketch. Mary M. is a femme 
libre and is still at home. Mr. Talbott is a member of the Concord 
Christian Church. 

Charles H. Carter was a son of John S. and Nancy A. (Morris) 
Carter, his father being a descendant of that eminent family of Vir- 
ginia whose name he bore. He died March 25, 1869. The mother 
died May 1, 1869. They reared a family of seven children, namely: 
Arthur, John G. (deceased), Virginia A., Franklin L., William T., 
Ogle, John S. and Charles H. Charles H. Carter was 19 years of 
age when the war broke out and like the brave son of Vircjinia that he 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1109 

was, he promptly enlisted under the Southern standard for the de- 
fense of his mother State, and the homes and altars of her people. 
He was under Stonewall Jackson until the death of that gallant, 
Christian hero-soldier of the South. He was then under Gen. A. P. 
Hill until the close of the war. Under these gallant officers he of 
course participated in many, indeed most of the greatest death-duels 
of the war. Among others are remembered the battles of the seven- 
days' engagement around Richmond, Cold Harbor, Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Petersburg, 
and the fights preceding the final surrender at Appomattox Court 
House. He was severely wounded a number of times, but promptly 
rejoined the ranks as soon as able to shoulder arms again, and bravely 
did service for the cause he had sworn to defend until he was released 
by the surrender at Appomattox, when he was paroled. At Cold 
Harbor on the 27th of June, 1862, he received three wounds — 
one in the right breast, a second in the right arm and the third 
in the right side, the latter of which necessitated the extraction 
of two of his ribs. He lay on the field of battle after he 
was wounded from 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 27th until 
two o'clock of the following day, among the dead and dying, without 
even the hope of attention, or as much as a drop of water. The 
night he spent on the l)attle-field, broken by no sound but the groans 
of dying friends and foes, and himself suflering the most intense 
agony, he will never forget. Never expecting to see the sun rise 
again, for he was literally shot to pieces, he lay weltering in his own 
life blood with the corpse of a comrade as his pillow, thinking of 
home and friends and of the sad fate that had overtaken him. But 
never for a moment did he regret the course he had taken in the war, 
for he felt that he had done his duty in the defense of his country, 
and if die he must he was proud to die as a patriot soldier on the red 
field of battle and in the thickest of the fight. But as by a miracle 
he survived and the next afternoon was taken to a hospital, where for 
three months he lay trembling in the balance between life and death. 
But it was written in the law of Providence that he was to do further 
service for the cause of the heroic South, and on his recovery he 
promptly took his place in the ranks again. At Chancellorsville, on 
the 3d of May, 1863, in less than a year from the time he was first 
wounded, he received another terrible wound, being shot through the 
hip, the ball entering one side and going out at the other. For three 
months more he was in the hospital and was at last nursed back to 
life ajrain. Like the brave soldier he was, once more he shouldered 
arms and answered the morning bugle call of his -company, in which 
he continued until the close of the war, surrendering with Lee at 
Appomatox. Returning to his home in Virginia after the war, he 
remained there engaged in farming, until 1870, coming thence to 
Missouri. Locating in Shelby county, battle-scarred and without a 
dollar, he went to Avork with the same courage and resolution that he 
had shown on many a field of battle, to establish himself comfortably 
in life ; and proving by his own example that a faithful and brave 



1110 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

soldier makes a good and useful citizen, he is rapidly coming to the 
front as one of the substantial farmers and best citizens of the north- 
western part of the county. He already has a good farm of nearly 
a quarter section of land, bought and paid for by his own honest toil. 
He is also turning his attention to stock-raising, which is one of the 
most promising fields of agricultural industry for the present and 
future. January 28, 1874, Mr. Carter was married to Miss Sarah M. 
Talbott, a daughter of Benjamin F. Talbott, one of the subjects of 
this sketch. They have five children: Viola B., Benjamin T., Thomas 

N., Wade Hampton and William C. 

I 

NICHOLAS WATKINS 

(Deceased) . 

On the 27th of July, 1880, breathed his last Nicholas Watkins, one 
of the old and respected citizens of this county. He was in the sev- 
enty-second year of his age at the time of his death, having been 
born December 18, 1808. His life had been one of unremitting 
industry, and from its opening till its close was without the reproach 
of a wrong act. Substantially successful as a farmer, which he followed 
from boyhood, he left his family a comfortable estate at his death, 
all the fruit of his own honest toil. To have lived such a life as he 
did is not to have lived in vain ; he has left behind a name and memory 
worthy of all cherishment by his loved ones and all good people who 
knew him. Mr. Watkins was a Marylander by birth. When a young 
man 22 years of age he came to Missouri and located in Monroe 
county. Subsequently he removed to Shelby county, and made this 
his home until his death. However, he came to this State from Ken- 
tucky, where his parents had removed when he was quite young, and 
where he was reared, and subsequently married to Miss Martha A. 
Sage, a daughter of an early settler of Marion county. Of this union 
four children are now living: Lucy C, William W., Nicholas J. and 
Mao-orie M. Mrs. Watkins still survives her husband and resides on 
the old family homestead in Tiger Fork township; her two sons, 
worthy and energetic young men, are engaged in carrying on the 
farm. 

GRIFFITH T. WILLIAMS 

(Of Riverview Fine Stock Farm, and Veterinary Surgeon, Post-offlce, Pansy). 

Mr. Williams, a regularly trained and experienced fine stockman 
and an educated veterinary surgeon of long practice and established 
reputation, makes the handling and raising of fine stock a specialty, 
and is regularly employed from year to year in this line of business. 
He now has charge of the Riverview fine stock farm of Frederick & 
Sons, of this county, a handsome place of 1,100 acres, on which there 
are about 300 head of choice stock, including fine representatives of 
the Hereford breed of cattle, pure blooded Clydesdale horses and the 
best class of Cotswold sheep. Mr. Williams has been in this business 
for years, and in his time has had charge of some of the finest stock in 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1111 

the country, being specially employed by fine stock men for that pur- 
pose of national reputation. Some of the stock raised by him have 
brought the highest prices in the country. In 1876 he conducted a 
large sale at Dexter Park, Chicago, where 40 head of short-horn cattle 
sold by him averaged a per capita price of $600, One heifer, two 
years old, and raised in Shelby county, brought $3,600 ; a calf heifer, 
eight weeks old, brought $1,600 ; and a cow 12 years of age sold for 
$1,025. Col. Simms, of Kentucky, bought all three. In 1877 he 
effected another sale of 46 head, and which averaged $250 per capita, 
all sold to one man, a resident of Lincoln, Neb. Mr. Williams is a 
native of Wales, born January 1, 1833, but came over to this country 
with his parents when 12 years of age, and was reared in the State of 
New York. His father, Thomas Williams, was a Presbyterian 
minister, both in Wales and New York, and devoted his whole life to 
the work of the Gospel, preaching 35 years, and most of his time at 
Eome, N. Y. He was a man of fine education and great piety, and 
an able and eloquent minister. He died in New York in about 1871, 
at the age of 75. His wife, the mother of Griffith T., and whose 
maiden name was Grace Ellis, died in that State at the age of 74. 
Griffith T. was- educated in New York and Connecticut, and took a 
special course in veterinary surgery. Becoming a regular licentiate in 
that profession, he followed the practice in New York and also the 
handling of fine stock up to 1866, when he came to Missouri. In this 
State he located at Brookfield, where he resided until 1872. He then 
came to Shelby county and took charge of the Highland Fine Stock 
Farm, the property of L. W. Thorne, president of the Ft. Scott and 
Gulf Railroad. It was for Col. Thorne that the sales above referred to 
were made. From the Highland farm he came to the Riverview farm 
later. However, before coming to Riverview he was engaged in 
farming for himself for a time, having bought a neat place near Clar- 
ence. Subsequently Mr. Williams was married to Miss Mary Hughes, 
a daughter of John Hughes of Collinsville, N. Y., but originally of 
Wales. Mr. and Mrs. W. have reared four children : Miss Grace and 
Thomas, now both of Kansas, the former of Topeka aud the latter of 
Leavenworth; and Maria and John, the first at home and the second 
in Brookfield. The mother of these died May 13, 1877, and two years 
afterwards Mr. Williams was married to Miss Sarah L., a daughter of 
James H. C. Phillips, of Clarence, formerly of Marion county, but a 
native of Lebanon. Miss Hughes' (his former wife's) mother, came to 
this country with her parents in an early day. They were on the 
ocean three months, having been in a sail vessel, and all would have 
been starved had it not been for some gold her grandfather had, witia 
which he bought hard tack from a vessel passing by. They had given 
up all hope of ever landing, but finally landed at Quebec. There was 
much joy when it was found that Mr. William Griffith had the gold, 
which up to this time had been concealed around his waist in a belt 
made for that purpose. 

65 



1112 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

EPHRAIM B. WOOD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville). 

Mr. Wood's life has been one of more than ordinary activity, and 
now he is settled down in Tiger Fork township on a comfortable place 
to spend the remainder of his days free from the annoyances of busi- 
ness life. He is a native of Kentucky, born in Mercer county, Octo- 
ber 9, 1819, and was the eldest son of Dr. Gideon Wood and wife, 
his mother's maiden name having been Miss Mary Boyce. Mr. Wood 
o-rew up in that county, receiving a good common English education, 
and in 1834 came to St. Louis, where, for the next six or seven years, 
he was engaged in different pursuits. In 1871 he began boating on 
the Mississippi, which he followed for several years and with success. 
He then became a wholesale liquor merchant and a wholesaler in groce- 
ries, in both of which lines he continued until after the outbreak of the 
Mexican War, continuing also his boating interests. During the war 
with Mexico he joined Illinois troops and marched off to the music of 
the Union for the sun-scorched land of the Cactus Republic. He 
returned by way of Louisiana, but stopped for three, years in that 
State. Coming back from Louisiana, he now resumed the grocery 
trade in St. Louis. In 1858 he went South, but returned in 1866, 
having been superintendent of a brick-yard in Louisiana. He was in 
this same line of industry for two years in St. Louis after his return. 
He then removed to St. Charles county, where he engaged in farming. 
Mr. Wood came to Shelby county in 1881 and bought his present 
farm. He has a good place of 155 acres and is turning his attention 
to stock-raising. He is a man of sterling intelligence and untiring 
energy, and is of course bound to succeed as a farmer and stock-raiser 
at his new home. In 1845 Mr. Wood was married to Miss Carolina 
A., a daughter of James and Anna Humphrey, formerly of Birming- 
ham, England, but at the time of his marriage, of St. Louis. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wood have five children : George J., who married Miss Lizzie 
White, and novv in the furniture business at St. Louis; Francis G., 
who married Miss Brooks, and now in the furniture business in Colo- 
rado ; Thomas J., who married Miss Emma Buford, of this county; 
and James A., of Jefferson county. Mrs. Wood is a member of the 
Baptist Church, and he is a member of the A. F. and A. M. 

JOHN WRIGHT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Oak Dale). 

Of Massachusetts ancestry, Mr. Wright was reared in Indiana, and, 
therefore, by family antecedents, birth and education, was identified 
with the North, and its ideas of the government of the country. 
Hence, when the war broke out between the North and the South, in 
1861, he felt it his duty to fight for the interests of his section. 
Enlisting in the Union army early in the war, he followed the standard 
of the Union through all the vicissitudes and hardships of a soldier's 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1113 

life until the old flag waved in triumph from the center to the circum- 
ference of the whole country. He was in the Eighty-fifth Indiana, and 
until after the battle of Chickamauga was under Gen. Rosecrans. 
After this he was in the army of the Cumberland, under Gen. Sherman. 
The war over, Mr. Wright returned to Indiana, and remained there 
engaged in farming until 1870, when he came to Missouri, locating in 
Shelby county. He bought his present farm here in 1882. He has 
a neat place of 80 acres, comfortably improved. Mr. Wright Avas born 
in the State of Mass., March 1, 1826. His father, John C. Wright, 
removed to Indiana in an early day and settled in Putman county. 
He was a carpenter by trade, and followed that until his death. At 
the age of 19 the subject of this sketch started out in life for himself, 
and for several years was engaged in milling. Meanwhile, in 1856, 
he was married to Miss Cyntha A., a daughter of John B. and Mary 
Young. After quittiug the milling business Mr. Wright engaged in 
farming in Indiana, and continued until after the outbreak of the war. 
Mr. and Mrs. Wright have nine children: Jacob, John H., Mary E., 
Sarah F., Hester A., Edward, William, Charles, Anna and Frank C. 
Jacob married Catherine Combs, and Hester married Billy Culpin, the 
former now of Oregon and the latter of Knox countv- 



JACKSOK TOWISTSHIP. 



ABSALOM M. BABB 

(Farmer, Post-office, Warren). 

The 25th day of April, 1832, Mr. Babb first saw the light of day. 
The family then resided in Virginia, residents of Hampshire county. 
His father was Archibald Babb, an energetic and well-respected wagon 
maker. The mother before her marriage was a Miss Margaret Stone. 
They resided in Virginia until 1847, when they came to Missouri, 
finally settling on the Samuels' farm, in Marion county, near Hanni- 
bal, where they reared their family of children. There were 11 chil- 
dren in the family, most of whom grew to mature years, and became 
themselves the heads of families. Absalom M. was married March 
24, 1857, to Mary A. Shaw, a daughter of 'Squire Henry P. Shaw, 
formerly of Pennsylvania. He settled near Sharpsburg," in Marion 
county, in an early day. Mr. Babb in early manhood became a miller 
by trade and followed milling continuously for some 17 years. He 
was said to be one of the best millers of the country. From mill- 
ing Mr. Babb turned his attention to farming, and has since been 
engaged in that occupation. He has been -a resident of Shelby 
county for years, and is looked upon as one of the worthy and valued 
citizens of Tiger Fork township. He has a good form of 115 acres 
and, besides farming in a general way, raises some hogs for the 



1114 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

markets every yea)-. Mr. and Mrs. Babb have 13 children, namely: 
Mary, James W., Lewis C, George H., Reese C, Margaret E., Alex- 
ander G., Susie M., Catherine E., Sarah J., Jesse T., Charles and 
John. James is the husband of Miss Dolly Goodwin, a daughter of 
H. H. Goodwin, being the only one married. Most of the family are 
members of the Baptist Church. 

REASON BAKER 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Oak Dale) . 

Mr. Baker is a native of Indiana, born in Switzerland county on 
the 26th day of January, 1822. His parents were Edwin and Sarah 
Baker, from South Carolina. Reason Baker was reared in Kentucky, 
and in 1843 was married to Miss Dorinda, a daughter of William and 
Nancy Dudgeon, of Jessamine county, Ky., and of the same original 
ftimily of which William A. Dudgeon, of Fayette, in Howard county, 
Mo., druggist and county treasurer, descends. Mr. Baker came to 
Missouri in 1853 and settled in Shelby county, where he bought 240 
acres of land. Soon afterwards he added 80 acres, making a fine 
stock farm of 320 acres, on which he has since been engaged in raising 
grain and stock, the latter including horses, mules, cattle, etc. 
Durino; the late war he served about four months in the militia. 
Mr. and Mrs. Baker have eight children: James R., Amanda E., 
William M., Martha J., George E., Cornelius S., Reason C. and Rich- 
ard M. Three others died in infancy. 

HON. WILLIAM F. BLACKBURN 

(Post-office, Huunewell), 

William Francis Blackburn, a native of Kentucky, was born on the 
25th of February, 1825, being a son of Thomas R. Blackburn, and 
grandson of James Blackburn. His mother's maiden name was 
Elizabeth Francis, a daughter of William Francis, of Scott county, 
Ky. Both his grandfathers were among the early settlers of the 
*' dark and bloody ground," emigrating to Kentucky between the 
years 1780 and 1790, and both were originally from Virginia. William 
F. Blackburn was brought up on his father's farm, and received the 
chief part of his education in the common schools. Coming to Shelby 
county. Mo., in 1850, he engaged in farming. In 1851 he married 
Charlotte Maddex, and in December of that year went back to Ken- 
tucky. In 1856, he returned to Shelby county, where he entered 
ijito the mercantile business, and in December of the same year pro- 
posed to the officers of the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad Company to 
purchase the section of land on which Hunnewell is situated, and in 
that proposition agreed to lay out a town and give depot grounds to 
the company. This proposition was submitted to the board of di- 
rectors of that company in February, 1857, together with a plan of 
the town, and the directors declined to sell the land, but decided to 
lay out the town for the company and agreed to give Mr. Blackburn 



HISTORY or SHELBY COUNTY. 1115 

his choice of lots for residence and store-house, and he built on both 
lots during the spring and summer of 1857, at which time the road 
was compfeted to that point. The railroad company not being able 
to make a good title to the town lots, for the reason that the title to 
the land o-rant would not be confirmed to it till the completion of a 
certain portion of the road, much retarded the growth and prosperity 
of the town. Mr. Blackburn, with his partners, commenced business 
with ageneral stock of merchandise in the fall of 1857, and was appointed 
station agent and land agent by the railroad company, and did a pros- 
perous and successful business up to the breaking out of the Civil War. 
He was arrested in his office by Federal troops, the first that entered 
this part of the State, on the 13th of June, 1861, being the first mili- 
tary prisoner arrested north of the Missouri river. This expedition 
was commanded by Col. Curtis, afterwards Maj.-Gen. Curtis, who 
with his own regiment of Iowa Volunteers, and Co. B, of the Illinois 
Sixteenth Regiment, took formal possession of the Hannibal and 
St. Joseph Rtiilroad Company, the object being to prevent the people 
from rallying to Gen. Sterliug Price, under the proclamation of Gov. 
Jackson issu'ed that day. Many citizens were assembled on the depot 
platform that day to see the Union soldiers, and upon their arrival, 
by their insulting and threatening manner created great excitement 
among the people, and when Mr. Blackburn was arrested and the 
train started to move ofi", the people demanded his release. At this 
the train was stopped and Russell W. Moss was arrested and placed 
on the train, both prisoners being surrounded by excited soldiers with 
drawn arms, making threats and demonstrations, and it seemed with great 
difficulty that the officers could protect the prisoners from violence. 
The citizens becoming alarmed fled in all directions, and were pursued 
by the soldiers firing upon them. No one, however, was seriously 
hurt, one rider having his horse struck with a spent ball. Mr. Black- 
burn was then taken to Brookfield, where he was informed that he 
would have to take the oath of allegiance to the United States Govern- 
ment or be sent to prison. Much persuasion and many threats were 
made to induce him to take the oath, but he positively refused to take 
it, contending that he owed his first allegiance to his own State, the 
regularly constituted authorities of which were then in direct conflict 
with the Federal authorities. Finding all persuasion and threats un- 
availing, they started him to St. Louis, but by the intercession of 
influential friends was released on simple parole of honor, not to take 
up arms against the Federal Government, unless regularly exchanged, 
and he never took an oath in any form during the war. On his return 
home he found the village almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants, 
and hastily gathering up a few articles of clothing and household 
goods, moved his wife to her father's, in Ralls county. Returning to 
Hunnewell with his family in the fall of 1861, he remained there till 
the next spring, but being harassed, robbed and threatened, he was ad- 
vised by his friends to leave the country, and he went with his family 
to Canada, where he remained till the ftiU of 1864, when he returned 
to Quincy, 111., where he engaged as salesman with a dry goods firm, 



1116 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

with whom he remained till September, 1865. Then going to Shel- 
bina, Mo., he sold dry good there till 1867, when he returned to 
Hunnewell and re-established his old business as a dealer in general 
merchandise and real estate agent, which he has diligently pursued 
with marked success to the present time, and has full}' recovered his 
losses during the war. William F. Blackburn is conservative in 
business, and in politics and in political faith is a Democrat of the old 
school, and is the present representative of Shelby county in the State 
Legislature, and has declined a second nomination. The first wife 
died February 25, 1859, leaving five children: Elizabeth, William C, 
Cassius, Martha and Joseph Francis, all of whom are now living. He 
was married the second time June 5, 1860, to Emily J. Ely, daughter 
of William S. Ely, of Ralls county. Mo., by whom he has had born 
to him nine children, eight sons and one daughter, of whom Robert 
E., Edward L., Hattie, Jasper, Albert and Bruce are now living. 
Mr. Blackburn has never sought office, is fond of retirement and liter- 
ary and scientific study, aims to discharge his duty as a parent and a 
citizen, and enjoys the confidence of the people in a very high 
degree. 

JAMES M. BLACKFORD 

(Deceased). 

The last 10 or 15 years have been to the early settlers of 
Shelby county as autumn to the leaves of the trees — so rapidly have 
they fallen around us. But few of the sturdy old settlers of the '30s 
and '40s, who laid the foundations of the populous and wealthy county 
we now have, remain. Among those who have passed away is the 
subject of the present sketch. Mr. Blackford came to Missouri in 
1832 and settled in this county shortly afterwards. He resided here 
for over forty years and until his death, which occurred in 1874. He 
was a worthy representative of the early settlers of the county — 
brave-hearted and true, industrious and the soul of hospitality, a 
worthy, good man. He was born in Jessamine county, Ky., in 1810, 
and was reared in that early day of Kentucky, being brought up to 
know what hard work and pioneer hardships are from boyhood. In 
about 1831 he was married to Miss Eliza Deadmond, a daughter of 
John and Margaret Deadmond. The spring. following his marriage 
he came to Missouri and was engaged in farming in this county until 
his death. His widow and younger children still reside on the place 
where most of his life was spent. He became a member of the 
Masonic fraternity at Lexington as far back as 1832, and was a mem- 
ber in good standing the remainder of his life. He and his good wife 
reared a family of eight children, namely : Ophelia, the wife of 
Thomas Biggs ; Lucy, the wife of Charles Collier, now of Trenton, 
Grundy county; Mary A., the wife of William Finney; James, who 
married Mary Givens and resides in this county ; Clementine, who 
married Nicholas Anderson, and after his death J. B. Melson ; Susan, 
the wife of William Fitzpatrick ; Jessamine, femme libre, and Ben- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1117 

jamin Gr., who married Miss Bettie Geigley and has charge of the old 
family homestead. He is engaged in farming in a general way and 
in raising stock. He has one child, Carl. Mrs. Blackford, the 
mother, the wife of J. M. Blackford, is a member of the Christian 
Church. Three others of her children died in infancy, and two after 
they had reached mature years. She is an excellent lady and is much 
beloved both in her family and by her neighbors. 

JOHN V. COX 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Hunnewell) . 

With a good farm of 450 acres well improved, Mr. Cox may be said 
to be in comfortable circumstances. His life has been one of industry 
and frugal, intelligent management, so that he well deserves the com- 
petence he has accumulated. The 7th of March, 1819, was the day 
that he was called into being, and to begin that career in life which, if 
continued to the end, as it has thus far been run, must ultimately 
result in a happier and better home beyond the grave than has been 
his fortune to enjoy in this world, peaceful and contented as it has 
been. Mr. Cox is a native of Virginia, and was 13 years of age 
when he was brought to Missouri by his parents, James and Elizabeth 
(Gills) Cox. They settled in Monroe county, where both lived until 
their deaths. Mr. Cox, himself, resided in that county until 1843, 
and then came to Shelby county, in which he has since made his home. 
In April, 1843, he was married to Miss Martha E. Howell, a daughter 
of John Howell, of Marion county. Her mother is still living at the 
advanced as^e of 89. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have had eis^ht children, seven 
living : Charles, Ellen, James, Mary, Ida, John and Mattie. Mr. 
and Mrs. C. are members of the Methodist Church. 

GABRIEL DAVIS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Hunnewell) . 

This respected old citizen of Shelby county has been a resident of 
the county for 54 years, and came originally from Simpson county, 
Ky., where he was born October 18, 1809. His father, James Davis, 
was from North Carolina, and his mother, whose maiden name was 
Mary Davis, was from South Carolina. In 1828 Mr. Davis came to 
Missouri, stopping 10 years in Marion county, and from there came 
to Shelby, where he has since resided, leading an industrious, worthy 
life, and commanding from the first the good opinions of all who 
know him. His labors have been rewarded with a sufficiency of this 
world's goods for all the necessities and sober comforts of farm life. 
He has a good farm of 200 acres, averagely improved. Mr. Davis 
has been married three times. His first wife was a Miss Cynthiaua 
Kincaide, who bore him five children, four of whom are living, John 
T., Andrew, Wallace and William. The mother of these died in 1846, 
and afterwards Mr. Davis was married to Miss Martha Harrison, also 
a native of Kentucky, as was his first wife. At her death she left him 



1118 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

two children, Francis S. and Charles S. His third, nee Matilda Har- 
rison, was a sister to his second wife. Mr. Davis' farm is in section 
36, of Jackson township. 

ELY C. DAVIS, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Hunnewell). 

Dr. Davis' parents. Judge John Davis and wife, who was a Miss 
Elizabeth Dick before her marriage, were from South Carolina, and 
were among the early settlers of Marion county. They removed to 
that county from South Carolina in 1820. His father entered a large 
body of land and improved a good farm, on which he lived until his 
death. He was a man of considerable local prominence, a judge of 
the county court, and previously a magistrate for a number of years. 
He died in 1859. Dr. Daris' mother died in 1873. The Doctor was 
born in Marion county in 1830 and reared on a farm, receiving a good 
common school education. At the age of 21 he came to Shelby 
county, and afterwards followed teaching school here in order to get 
means to prosecute his medical studies. He had already decided to 
become a physician, and he persevered in this purpose, working his 
way along by teaching school for his expenses, until he at last tri- 
umphed over all obstacles and became a regular licentiate in the medi- 
cal profession. He received his medical education at the medical 
department of the State University of Iowa, where he graduated 
among the first in his class in 1858. He then located at Hunnewell, 
where he has ever since been engaged in the practice. He has been 
entirely successful, and has taken the position of one of the leading 
physicians of this part of the county. He is also the proprietor of a 
drug store at this place, which has an excellent trade. In 1858 Dr. 
Davis was married to Miss Susan Day, a daughter of Thomas Day, 
formerly of Virginia. The Doctor and Mrs. Davis have had 12 chil- 
dren: Adoniram J., who died at the age of 13 years ; Lilly J., who is 
now the wife of Charles Cox ; Edward O., who died at the age of 11 
months; John T., Mary V., Susie A., Herman C.,Myrta E., Ida, 
Cassie E., who died at three years ; Effie and Alice G. Dr. Davis is a 
member of the A. F. and A. M., and of the I. O. O. F., having filled 
most of the offices in both orders. 

JOHN T. DAVIS 

(Farmer and Carpenter, Post-office, Hunnewell). 

Born October 22, 1833, in Marion county, Mr. Davis is a son of 
Gabriel and Cynthiana (Kincaide) Davis, originally of Kentucky, and 
early settlers in Monroe county, removing to this State in 1828. Ten 
years later they removed to Shelby county, where the father now 
resides, at the age of 75, and has been married twice since the death 
of John T.'s mother, having also lost his second wife. By the first 
marriage there were five children, l)y his second two, and none by the 
last marriage, there being six children now livingr. John T. was 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1119 

reared in this county, and in 1864 enlisted in Co. F, Thirty-ninth 
Missouri State Militia, and served until the close of the war. October 
7, 1868 he was married to Miss Matilda Davis, a daughter of Francis 
Davis, formerly of New York. They have two children living, Alvine 
E. and Lines L. He and wife are members of the Methodist church, 
and he has 50 acres of good land where he resides. Mr. Davis is a 
carpenter by trade and is an energetic, skillful workman as well as 
industrious farmer. 

SAMUEL W. DE HAVEN, (deceased) 

(Bethel) . 

Among the better class of settlers in Shelby county since the war 
was the family of the subject of this memoir. The De Haven family 
is of Swedish origin and came of the nobility in that country. A 
branch of the family settled in France where they became adherents 
of Hugo, the French Protestant leader of the sixteenth century, or in 
other words they became French Huguenots. With the thousands of 
other French Protestants who fled to America from persecution at 
home, came several of the De Havens, and the family in this country 
settled in Pennsylvania. Being people of marked character and intel- 
ligence, they soon took a prominent position in affairs at their new 
home. Hugh De Haven, the father of the subject of this memoir, 
born and reared at Philadelphia, became a leading citizen of the place. 
He accumulated a large fortune and was a heavy stockholder in the 
first United States Bank of Philadelphia, of which he was cashier. 
He was also an extensive land holder in different parts of the country, 
including Illinois and Missouri. Among other holdino;s in this State 
he owned a section in Shelby county, which is now the homestead of 
Mrs. De Haven, the widow of his son, Samuel W., the subject of 
this memoir. Hugh De Haven's wife was a Miss Zippora White, of 
the well known family of that name in Delaware. They had a family 
of five children, and both died at Philadelphia at ripe old ages, widely 
and profoundly mourned, for they held a place among the better peo- 
ple of that city. Samuel W. De Haven was born in Philadelphia, 
August 3, 1833, and was given an advanced education. After gradu- 
ating among the first in his class he entered the bank under his father 
to learn the banking business, for which he was intended. On the 
9th of November, 1859, he contracted an appropriate and happy 
marriage with Miss Emma Thompson, an accomplished young lady of 
Philadelphia. She was also a graduate and of one of the best families 
of the city, a daughter of Joseph H. Thompson, a prominent business 
man of Philadelphia. After his marriage Mr. De Haven engaged in 
the banking business and stock brokerage on his own account at Phil- 
adelphia, and continued it there with success until his removal to 
Missouri. Meanwhile the close confinement necessary in banking life 
and the atmosphere of the city seriously affected his health, and he 
decided to come West and enofa^e in farmino; on that account. He 



1120 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

accordingly settled on the tract of land in Shelby county which his 
father had bought years before and became a farmer and stock-raiser 
of this county. Mr. De Haven resided on his farm in Shelby county 
until his death, January 9, 1877, or but little more than seven years 
after his removal to Missouri. He was a man of fine culture and high 
character, a gentleman by natural instinct not less than by education. 
It is extremely sad that a citizen whose life would undoubtedly have 
been of great value to the county had he lived, was taken away so 
soon after making his home among his new neighbors. But although 
he was spared for only a short time, he had made a most favorable 
impression on all around him before his death, and was looked upon 
as one of the best men of the county, intelligent, public-spirited, a 
kind and generous neighbor and a useful citizen. Mrs. De Haven 
resides on the family homestead in this county, and has her family of 
four children with her, namely: Anabel, Hugh, Sarah and Amy. She 
and her eldest daughter are members of the Episcopal Church. 

RICHARD H. DURRETT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Oak Dale). 

It was in 1870 that Mr. Durrett purchased his present farm, and 
since that time this place has continued to be his permanent home. 
It is an excellent farm of 160 acres, and its improvements are above 
the average, it being one of the choice homesteads of the vicinity. 
Mr. Durrett, besides being a good farmer in general, is making some- 
thing of a specialty of stock, in which he is having excellent success. 
He was the eldest in a family of five children of William A. and 
Sallie (Gay) Durrett, the latter from Kentucky, but the former came 
to Missouri from Virginia, in 1825, and settled in Shelby county. 
Here they reared their family, and the mother died here in the spring 
of 1861. The father is still living at a venerable age, and has a pleas- 
ant home with his daughter, Mrs. Thomas Sharp, in Colorado. 
Richard H. Durrett saw considerable service in the Confederate army 
during the war, and bore himself bravely on the field of battle. He 
was under Col. Porter, the thrilling adventures of whose command 
would make one of the most readable books of the literature of the 
war. February 21, 1867, Mr. Durrett was married to Miss Paulina 
Gupton, daughter of Argentine Gupton, formerly of Kentucky. 
They have two children, Richard C. and Emma. Mrs. D. is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church. Mr. Durrett is a man of marked energy 
and industry, and occupies a leading position among his neighbors as 
a farmer and citizen. He is highl}^ esteemed and influential in his 
vicinity. 

REV. HARRISON EATON 

(Baptist Minister, and Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbyville) . 

Rev. Mr. Eaton is a younger brother to Rev. John Eaton, whose 
sketch appears elsewhere, where something of an outline of the family 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1121 

history hcas been given. Rev. Harrison Eaton was born after the 
family removed to Shelby county, at the family homestead in this 
county, April 4, 1838. Like his brother, he was reared to a farm 
life, and received a common school education. In 1862 he enlisted 
in the Union service and served with credit for two years and three 
months, receiving an honorable discharge. By reason of surgeon's cer- 
tificate of disability in 1864, he returned home and resumed farming, 
which he has since followed. Later along he also gave his attention to 
stock-raising, and finally to dealing, to some extent, in stock. He 
has a gfood o;rade of stock on his farm, which he is steadilv improv- 
ing. Rev. Mr. Eaton has an excellent stock farm of nearly 400 acres. 
After his return from the army, in 1864, he studied for the ministry, 
and was licensed to preach in 1865. He was ordained a Baptist min- 
ister December 30, 1866, and for five or six years afterwards devoted 
himself largely to church work. Since then, however, he has prin- 
cipally engaged in farming and stock-raising. In 1870 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary, a daughter of William and Eliza Stalcup, formerly 
of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. E. have two children, George W. and 
Anna M. 

JOHN FINNEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina) . 

If one were to judge by the number of people who have left Ken- 
tucky, he would conclude that none remained in the State, for nearly 
every township in Missouri, and indeed, south-west of the Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers, is settled more largely by Kentuckians than from 
any other State. Among this class of settlers in Jackson township, 
of Shelby county, were the parents of the subject of this sketch, 
Andrew and Lucinda Finney, who came here from Kentucky in 
1845. Andrew Finney was a plasterer by trade, and followed that 
business here for a number of years. He also engaged in farming, 
in which he had satisfactory success. He died on his farm in this 
county in 1875. His wife preceded him to the grave in 1874. Both 
were exemplary members of the Missionary Baptist Church. They 
had a family of five children, of whom John Finney was the eldest. 
He was born in Kentucky, on the 26th da}'- of December, 1832. 
Reared, however, in this county, he was able to obtain only a lim- 
ited education in the occasional schools of the district. In young 
manhood he went out to work as a farm hand, and thus made his start 
in life. In 1862 he was married to Miss Millie McGleaham, of this 
county, but formerly of Kentuckv. Mr. Finney settled on the farm 
where he now resides in 1870. He has a good place of 180 acres, 
and is giving most of his attention to raising cattle and hogs for the 
markets, in which he is meetino; encourao-ino- success. Mr. and Mrs. 
Finney have two children, Joseph and Thomas. During the war Mr. 
Finney did gallant service in the Confederate army. He first went 
out under Col. Porter, but was captured on Salt river and taken to 
Alton prison. From there he was sent to Mississippi for exchange, 



1122 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

after which he resumed his place in the ranks of the Southern army, 
and served until the close of the war. 

EGBERT J. FINNEY 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Hunnewell). 

Five years of age when his parents came to Shelby county, Mr. 
Finney, born in Jessamine county, Ky., December 10, 1834, was reared 
in this county, and at the age of 19 went to Randolph county, where 
he lived for 14 years. Returning then to Shelby county, he has since 
made this his home. Mr. Finney was reared a farmer and has made 
that his occupation for life. He has a neat place of 80 acres and has 
it comfortably improved. Mr. Finney was married March 10, 1857, 
to Miss Mary E. Jeter, a daughter of Clement Jeter. Mr. and Mrs. 
F. have four children : SusanM., John C, William B. and James H. 
He and wife are members of the Christian Church and he is a meml)er 
of the Masonic order. Mr. Finney was a son of John and Anna (Mc- 
Connell) Finney, his father a native of Kentucky, but his mother 
originally of Virginia. She died in Knox county in 1876, but he had 
preceded her to the grave by 31 years, dying in Shelby county in 
1845. They had six children, five of whom are living. 

CHARLES G. GILCHRIST 

(Deceased) . 

In 1872 died at his homestead in this county the subject of the 
present memoir, who for 40 years had been a resident of the county, 
and one of its worthy farmers and respected citizens. He was a native 
of Indiana, born in Washington county, on the 11th day of January, 
1820. He came to Missouri in about 1842, locating in Shelby county, 
and on the 6th of November, four years afterwards, he was married 
in this county to Miss Desira, a daughter of Anthony and Elizabeth 
Blackford, who came here from Kentucky in about 1832. Mr. Gil- 
christ first settled about five miles south-east of Shelbyville, where he 
resided until 1856. He then moved to the present homestead of the 
family, where he died in 1872, as stated above. He was a worthy 
member of the A. F. and A. M., and was buried with the honors of 
that order. His widow still survives him and resides on the farm 
which is conducted by her sons, Charles and Joseph. It is an excellent 
place of 320 acres, and her sons are engaged in stock-raising. 
Except about a year, during which Charles was in Dakota in the tim- 
ber business, and about a year previous to this in 1871, in Arkansas 
and Tennessee, both sons have been on the farm continuously from 
boyhood. They are worthy, energetic young men and deserve no 
ordinary credit for the energy and enterprise they show in managing 
the farm. There were three others in the family, James, who married 
Miss Alice, a daughter of Dr. Elliott; Walter D., who died in 1881 ; 
and John G., who married Miss Sarah, a daughter of Samuel Faulk. 
Mrs. Gilchrist, the mother, is a member of the M. E. Church South. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1123 

JAMES GOOCH 

(Farmer, Justice of the Peace and Postmaster, Oak Dale). 

'Squire Gooch comes of that old and honored Virginia family, whose 
name is fiimiliar to every one even in the least acquainted with the his- 
tory of the Old Dominion, a family descended from the best nobility 
of England, and eminent on both sides of the Atlantic. Sir William 
Gooch, it will be remembered, was appointed Governor of Virginia 
by George II. immediately after the accession of the latter, in 1727. 
Gov. Gooch presided over the destinies of Virginia for 22 years, and 
was the most popular executive who ever occupied the gubernatorial 
chair under the British Crown. Several of his family made their per- 
manent home in Virginia, and from these the Goochs of the South 
and West are descended. Of a noble family in England, Gov. Gooch 
had done distinguished service for his country in the British army, 
and held the rank of major-general at the time of his appointment 
to the Governorship of Virginia. 'Squire Gooch now has in his 
possession an old family heirloom which was the property of Sir 
William Gooch and brought over to this country by him — a walnut 
chest hewn out of solid wood and about three and a half feet long b}'' 
two feet wide and 19 inches deep. The lid is two inches thick. 
This chest is believed to be more than 150 years old. He also has a 
History of the Church of Scotland, published in 1689, a relic from 
Gov. Gooch's library. 'Squire Gooch's branch of the family early 
settled in Kentucky, and in Jessamine connty, of the latter State, he 
was born August 25, 1817. His parents were James, Sr., and Deziah 
Gooch, who had a family of nine children, of whom James, Jr., was 
the fourth. In 1832 the family removed to Missouri and located at 
Palmyra. There the father died June 3, 1833. The following year 
the mother, Mrs. Gooch, came to what is now known as Shelby county 
and entered and bought about 200 acres of land, where she resided 
with her family of children for some 15 years. Meanwhile James 
Gooch, Jr., had grown up and bought another place, to which the 
family removed, renting the old homestead, which was adjoining the 
new place. In 1843, then a young man 26 years of age, James 
Gooch, Jr., was elected justice of the peace, which office he tilled for 
three years and until he was elected county assessor. The tirst 
couple he married while serving as magistrate, and before he him- 
self was married, was James Evans and Callie Owen, and the bride 
looked so fair and fascinating that several times during the ceremony 
he came very near substituting his own name for that of the bride- 
groom. But this of course would not have done, at all. However, 
he had the exquisite delight of kissing the bride as soon as the cere- 
mony was over, it being the law at that time to place this, his seal, 
on the contract. From this time on he did a flourishing business in 
the matrimonial line, and finally got his nerves so highly wrought up 
that he could not resist the temptation of marrying himself, or, rather, 



1124 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

marrying a young lady, whom he had learned to greatly love and dream 
about. 'Squire Gooch and Miss Louisa J. Wood were married in 
1849. She was an accomplished daughter of Dr. Adolphus E. Wood, 
formerly of St. Jago, in the island of Cuba. He came to Shelby 
county with his family in 1834. 'Squire Gooch continued farming in 
this county, and with excellent success. He has a fine farm of 352 
acres and is comfortably situated in life. His married life has been 
one of great happiness and has been blessed with six children : Mary 
v., now the wife of James A. Martin, a railroad man; Caroline L., 
now the wife of William E. Wiley, mercantile traveler, of Iowa ; 
Charles W., Matilda C, married John Hopewell, a farmer from Vir- 
ginia, living on the adjoining farm ; James A. and Belle L. The 
'Squire and Mrs. G. are members of the Christian Church, and he is 
a member of the A. F. and A. M. He is the second oldest living 
settler in Shell\y county. He is at present justice of the peace and 
has held that office for a number of years ; he is also postmaster at 
Oak Dale. The 'Squire has the Justice's Docket of 'Squire George 
Trimble (who is long since deceased), dated in 1822. He also haa a 
hymn-book published in 1804. Another souvenir of " Auld Lang 
Syne " is one of Pike's Written Arithmetics, now 76 years old; he 
also has a price list of corn for the year Gov. Gooch first administered 
the affairs in Virginia, in 1727 ; he likewise has a cane that has been 
in the family since the beginning of the present century, and a Scotch 
magazine published at Edinburgh in 1775, as well as a French Dic- 
tionary dated in 1812. The 'Squire is one of the sterling citizens 
of the county, a man of strong mind and character, and of wide 
and varied information. He is highly and universally respected by all 
who know him. 

EICHARD D. GOODWIN 

(Manager of the H. H. Goodwin Stock Farm, Post-office, Warren). 

The Goodwin family were early settlers in this vicinity. Mr. 
Goodwin's father and mother, H. H. and Mary E. Goodwin, were 
originally of Bath county, Va. On coming to Missouri the father 
improved a farm here and engaged in farming and stock-raising, 
which he followed Avith success until his retirement from active labor 
on account of advancing years. Richard D. is now managing the 
farm and inherits much of the energy and enterprise that character- 
ized the career of his father. He is one of the most active and thor- 
ough-going farmers and stock-raisers in this vicinity. The farm 
contains nearly 300 acres and is well improved and well stocked. 
Mr. Goodwin, Jr., makes a specialty of raising and handling stock, 
including mules, cattle and hogs, and ships large numbers annually 
to the wholesale markets. His father is still living and is spending 
his days in ease and retirement on the farm, although he takes 
marked interest in the afiairs of the place and sometimes takes a 
hand in helping the work along. The mother has been dead 
a number of years. They had a family of eight children, 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1125 

namely: Judith T., Richard D., Robert W., William O., Vir- 
ginia B., Mary E., Harriet H. and Sarah R. Richard D., the second 
in the family, was born November 19, 1846, and was reared on the 
farm. He is still unmarried, but often feels that he ought to have a 
wife to make brighter and more attractive his pathway in life. Of 
course he enjoys the flowers on either side, but none are his, for he 
has never yet chosen a posy from among them. It is believed, how- 
ever, that in the midst of all the fair ones around him he will not 
much longer deny himself the exquisite beatitude of claiming one for 
his own. 

JAMES A. McAFEE 

(Farmer, Post-office, Oak Dale), 

One hundred and twenty acres constitute the farm of the subject 
of the present sketch. It is a neat place and is well manao-ed, Mr. 
McAfee being one of the energetic, intelligent farmers of Jackson 
township. He was the fourth in a family of seven children of Albert 
C. McAfee and wife, nee Eliza T. Martin, and was born February 16, 
1838. His parents came to Missouri in 1831, and resided for about 
eight years in Marion county, where James A. was born. When he 
was about a year old they removed to Shelby county, where the father 
improved the present place. He died here May 12, 1869, but the 
mother survived until September 8, 1874. But four of their family 
of children are now living, two older than James A. and one younger, 
namely, Lutitia A., now Mrs. Vaughn ; Jennie E., now Mrs. Kenning ; 
and George W. Both parents are members of the Missionary Bap- 
tist Church. In 1867 James A. McAfee was married to Miss Pau- 
lina, a daughter of ex-magistrate David Kenning, Avho came to 
Missouri from Indiana in about 1857, and settled in Shelby county. 
Mr. and Mrs. McAfee have four children : Alma T., James D., John 
C. and Emma C. Mrs. McA. is a member of the Christian Church. 

THOMAS P. MEGLASSON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Oak Dale). 

Born in Mason county, Ky., January 24, 1839, Mr. Meglasson 'was 
principally reared in that county, being brought up on a farm. In 
1852, however, when he was 13 years of age, the family removed to 
Missouri, and located first in Marion county, settling in Shelby county 
11 years afterwards. The father, Wilson T. Meglasson, died here 
April 29, 1824 ; but the mother, whose maiden name was Carolina L. 
Anderson, is still living, and makes her home with her children, of 
whom there are seven, namely : John D., Phoebe A., Thomas P., 
Eliza G., George B., Martha W. and Charles P. In 1861 Thomas P. 
enlisted in the Southern army, under Col. Green, afterwards Gen. 
Green. Later along in the war he was under Gen. John Morgan, of 
Kentucky, and was present when the latter was killed, and saw 
Dougherty capture the Confederate flag at Mt. Sterling, at that time. 
He was not in the service during all the war, however, on account of 



1126 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the loss of his health. In 1867 he was married to Miss Susan R. 
Ryan, a daughter of Thompson Ryan, of Kentucky. The year before 
he had settled on the place where he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. M. 
are members of the Baptist Church. They have seven children : 
Sarah E., James M., Elizabeth F., Martha C, Eliza G., Thomas S. 
and Rachel W. 

JAMES W. MARTIN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Hunnewell). 

This old and respected citizen of Tiger Fork township was born 
and reared in the Old Dominion, where he resided for many years 
afterwards, and until 1869, when he came West in order that his chil- 
dren might have better opportunities to establish themselves in life 
than were available in their native State. Mr. Martin was born in 
Rockbridge county, Va., November 26, 1814, and was married March 
26, 1839, to Miss Mary C. Greer, born in the same county June 22, 
1822. He was engaged in farming and trading in stock in Virginia 
until his removal to Missouri, in 1869, when he settled in Shelby 
county. He bought his present place in 1877, and has since made 
this his permanent home. Mr. Martin is afflicted with rheumatism, 
and has been for a year or two past. He and his good wife have 
reared 12 children : William, Alexander, Reuben, Sarah E., James H., 
Charles B., Mary F., John M., Samuel M., Gilford L., Alfred A. and 
Emmett Lee. Mr. Martin had three sons in the Confederate army 
who went clear through the war from the beginning to the close, all 
without a wound, except one, who was shot through the body while on 
picket duty, but recovered. One of his sons died in 1869, from the 
effects of an accident received on a boat while coming to Missouri. 
He fell through the hatch of the boat, and died about 12 hours after- 
wards. He was brought, however, to Hunnewell for interment. Mr. 
and Mrs. Martin are members of the Baptist Church. 

ROBERT K. AND JAMES C. MAYES 

(Farmers and Stock-raisers, Post-office, Hunnewell). 

Robert K. Mayes, the father of James C, was born in Bath county, 
Va., July 5, 1800, and was a son of James and Mary Mayes ; his 
mother was of Pennsylvania birth. In an early day they removed to 
Kentucky and settled in Simpson county, where Robert K. was reared, 
and where he was married in June, 1823, to Miss Drusillia Davis, a 
daughter of Gabriel Davis, one of the forefathers of his country. 
Ten years after his marriage Mr. Mayes removed to Missouri and 
located in Marion county, but the year following he settled in Shelby 
county, where he still resides. They were both members of the Bap- 
tist Church. His wife died here in March, 1879, and had borne him 
10 children, seven of whom are living : James C, Mary A., John G., 
William T., Lucretia A., Joseph B. and W. E. Mr. Mayes has fol- 
lowed farming from boyhood, and though commencing for himself 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1127 

when a young miin without a dolhir, he has come to be one of the 
substantial men of the township. He has about 500 acres of land 
with nearly 300 in cultivation, which is his homestead, upon which 
there is no incumbrance. 

James C. Mayes, his father's eldest son, was born in Simpson 
county, Ky., June 14, 1826, but was principall}^ reared in Shelby 
county. In 1849 he was married in this county to Miss Lucretia 
Howe, a dano-hter of Richard Howe. They have three children : 
James A., Alice and August. Mr. Mayes, following the example of 
his father, has been a farmer all his life, or from the time he was able 
to work on the farm. He has been quite successful and has a fine 
farm of 480 acres. He and wife are members of the Baptist Church, 
of which his mother was a member before her death, and his father is 
still a member. 

ELIJAH ORR 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Hunnewell). 

Among the riiore energetic, progressive and well-to-do citizens of 
Jackson township, the subject of the present sketch occupies an envi- 
able position. Early in life a successful school-teacher, and after- 
wards an enterprising merchant for many years, his education and 
experience in aflairs have been such as to mark him as a man far above 
the average in intelligence and information. Through a long and 
varied experience he has shown the energy and business ability to get 
along successfully in the world and to accumulate a comfortable estate, 
a competency for himself and those dependent upon him in his later 
years of life. Mr. Orr has been a resident of Shelby county for the 
last 12 years, and has taken the position in Jackson township as one 
of its worthiest and best citizens. He has a fine farm of 480 acres 
and good improvements and in excellent condition. He was born in 
Harrison county, Ky., July 9, 1814. His father, James Orr, came 
from Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1777, and was a weaver and 
farmer by occupation. Mr. Elijah Orr's mother was a Miss Catherine 
Williams, of Pendleton county, Ky. She was born in Virginia in 
1777, and came to Kentucky in an early day, and lived there until her 
marriage, in 1804. James Orr was a gallant soldier in the War of 
1812, and was a man of sterling character and reasonably successful 
in the affairs of life. He had a" family of nine children, and four are 
still living. Elijah was the fifth in his parents' family of children 
and received a good education as he grew up on his father's farm. 
He afterwards taught school, then engaged in merchandising, which 
he followed at different points in Kentucky for a number of years. 
He was also interested in buying and raising stock in that State. In 
1872 he came from Anderson county, Ky., "where he had resided for 
the previous 27 years, to Shelby county. Mo. He was married in 
Woodford county, Ky., November 24, 1839, to Miss Elizabeth A. 
Utterback, a daughter of Henry J. Utterback, of that county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Orr have had nine children, five living: Martha S., Davis, 

66 



1128 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

James H., John E. iiud William S. Orr. Mrs. Orr is a member of 
the Christian Church, as is also Mr. Orr and the daughter and sons. 

WILLIAM D. PARKER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Oak Dale). 

When Mr. Parker's father, George Parker, settled in Shelby county 
with his family in 1831, there were but two houses in the present 
limits of the county. Mr. Parker can, therefore, claim with truth to 
be of one of the pioneer families of the county. He was then in 
infancy, or about two years of age, having been born April 18, 1829. 
His mother was a Miss Ann Vandiver before her marriage, and he 
was the sixth in the family of nine children. Both parents were 
Virginians, and came from that State direct to Shelby county. 
The parents died here, the mother in 1843 and the father in 1852. 
William D. Parker was reared a farmer, and on the 7th of April, 
1853, was married to Miss Rebecca Buchanan, a daughter of George 
and Margaret Buchanan. Mr. and Mrs. P. have four children : M,ag- 
gie B., Mary E., Robert B. and Lewis F. There are two deceased, 
the second and third, Virginia and Charles W. Mary E. is the wife of 
Jerome Broughton and Maggie E. is now Mrs. James Elliott. Mr. 
Parker has been fairly successful as a farmer and has a place of over 
a quarter section of land substantially improved. He is one of the 
well respected citizens of the township. 

GEORGE J. PARKER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Contractor and Builder, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Parker, who is one of the leading agriculturists of Jackson 
township, and as a contractor and builder in former years has erected 
several well known public buildings, is by nativity a Marylander, and 
was horn in Wicomico county, March 3, 1830. His father was Dr. 
Daniel Parker, a successful physician of that county, and his mother, 
before her marriage, was a Miss Margaret Wallop. She was of Vir- 
ginia and they were married in Virginia in 1820. They made their 
permanent home, however, in Dr. Parker's native State, Maryland. 
He died there in 1834 and she two years before.- George J. was the 
third in their family of four children, and was reared in Wicomico 
county. His education was received in the local schools, and before 
he was 16 years old he went to Philadelphia and learned the carpen- 
ter's trade. In May, 1851, he came West and located at Hannibal. 
In 1856 he removed to Fayette, Howard county, and engaged in 
erecting the Central College building, and in 1858, in connection 
with Joseph McGravv, built the Howard county court-house. He 
removed to Shelby county in 1860 and located on a farm. In 1866 
he removed to Shelbina and was engaged in the lumber business 
there two years; then returning to his farm until 1871, he bought a 
half interest in the Shelbina flouring mills, which he sold in the fall 
of 1874, and in the fall of 1875 he, in connection with others, organized 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1129 

the Farmers' Tobacco Association. This enterprise was a success 
until he severed his connection with it, which he did in the fall of 
1876. In 1878 he again returned to his farm where he now resides. 
Mr. Parker has a fine farm of 533 acres — one of the best farms in. 
Jackson township. On the 29th of October, 1858, he was married to 
Miss Emrette Faulkner, a daughter of Jeptha and Ann Faulkner, of 
Orange county, N. Y. Mrs. P. received her early education there 
and graduated at Charlotteville College in her native State. Mr. 
and Mrs. Parker have five children. 

JUDGE JOHN T. PERRY 

(Farmer and Judge of the County Court, Post-offlce, Oak Dale). 

In 1880 Judge Perry, then but 30 years of age, was elected to his 
present office, one of the most important and responsible official posi- 
tions in the county. This was a compliment of no ordinary signifi- 
cance and was as well deserved as it was worthily bestowed. Nor 
has the sober second thought of the people disapproved of the choice 
they first made, for in 1882 he was re-elected by an increased majority 
and he is now nominated by the majority party in the county for a 
third election to the same office. Thus it is seen that he has fully 
met the expectations of the public and has given entire and general 
satisfaction as an upright, capable judge and worthy, faithful official. 
Judge Perry has been a resident of Shelby county only since 1871, 
andcame to this county from Kentucky, beiug at that time barely 21 
years of age. He was born and reared in Anderson county, Ky., 
and is a son of Berry Perry, now of this county, and wife, nee Polly 
Searcy, who were married in 1849, and resided in Anderson county 
until 1852, then removing to Clay county. Mo. But on account of 
the bad health of his wife and loss of their second son, he removed in 
1855 to Anderson county, Ky., thence to Washington county, Ky., 
in the year 1858. There they resided till 1863, when they returned 
to Anderson county, Ky. Mr. Perry, the Judge's father, is now one 
of the worthy and respected citizens of Jackson township, Shelby 
county. Mo., and a substantial farmer. He was a gallant soldier in 
the Mexican war and fought at Beuna Vista under Taylor, where he 
was severely wounded. Judge Perry, who was the eldest in a family 
of 12 children, obtained a good, common English education as he 
grew up, and when quite a young man became a school teacher, an 
occupation he has followed, though not continuously in late years, for 
about 17 years. In 1861 he was elected captaiu of the militia of his 
township of Washington, Ky., resigning in September of the same 
year. His company, under the leadership of a new captain, thence 
marched South to quench the Rebellion ; but for his outspoken oppo- 
sition to the war and for his Democratic declarations, he was incar- 
cerated in prison at Lebanon, Ky., then at Louisville, and subsequently 
at St. Louis and Chicago, from whence he was released in March, 
1863, upon taking the oath of allegiance. On the 4th of Septem- 
ber, 1873, he was married in this county to Miss Rosa A. Snyder, a 



1130 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

daughter of John H. and Sarah Siijder, and a most estimable lady. 
Their happy union has been blessed with four children : Mamie May, 
Maffoie Maud, Edna Bell and John O. Since his marria<j:e Judi»:e 
Perry has been engaged in farming and he has an excellent place of 
100 acres in sections 16 and 17, township 57, range 9, of the munici- 
pal township of Jackson. The Judge is justly esteemed one of the 
influential men of the county. A man of high character and marked 
intelligence, he is naturally regarded as a leading man of the com- 
munity. He takes a deep interest in the welfare of the county and 
has the name of having made one of the best juflges the county 
ever had. 

JONATHAN RODGERS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Hunnewell). 

Mr. Rodgers is a native of Pennsylvania, born March 27, 1813, and 
a son of Col. George Rodgers, a prominent citizen of North Hampton 
county, that State, and a gallant officer in the War of 1812. Col. 
Rodgers was from the north of Ireland, and a man of fine education 
and high character. He was surveyor of Northampton county in 
Pennsylvania, and held other positions of local prominence and 
influence. He was a leading member of the Masonic Order, and was 
noted as a man of great public spirit and a leader among those 
around him. His wife was a Miss Catherine Grover before her mar- 
riage, a young lady of Pennsylvania birth. They have nine children, 
four of whom are living. Both were members of the Presbyterian 
Church. Jonathan Rodgers, the subject of this sketch, was reared in 
Pennsylvania and became a skillful millwright, which he followed in 
that State and also bridge building, besides running a farm and rais- 
ing stock. In 1862, however, he bravely enlisted in the war for the 
defense of the Union, becoming a member of Co. H, Missouri Volun- 
teer Infantry, serving until after the close of the war. In 1836 Mr. 
Rodgers came to Missouri, and settled in Shelby county, where he 
has since been engaged in farming. He has a place of 200 acreg, and 
is comfortably situated. February 13, 1844, he was married to Miss 
Ellen E. Davis, formerly of Kentucky. Seven children are the fruits 
of their union : Lucy C, Elizabeth S., Martha J., Maggie, Ellen L., 
Willie C. and Robert. 

PHILIP RUTH 

^Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Oak Dale) . 

Mr. Ruth came to Shelby county in 1865, and was then compar- 
atively a young man, and just beginning to get a start in life. He 
was industrious and economical, and going to work as a farmer on 
the fertile soil of this county, he, of course, was bound to succeed. 
He rented land for five years, and was then able to buy a place of 
his own. He bought 160 acres in section 26, near Oak Dale, where 
he has one of the valuable and well improved farms of the vicinity. 
He is steadily increasing in stock and worldly possessions, and, no 



HISTORY OF SHKLBY COUNTY. 1131 

doubt, before the shadows of old jio:e be2:iii to full around hira he 
will be in easy circumstances. He is a law-abiding, good citizen, 
and contributes his full share as a farmer to the prosperity of the 
community. Mr. Ruth has been twice married. His first wife, who 
was a Miss Hattie Smith, of Ohio, died two years after their mar- 
riage. His [)resent wife, nee Miss Mary A. Kennel, was originally 
of Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jose[)h and Sarah Kennel, who moved 
to Ohio, then to Missouri in 1876, returning, however, to Ohio the 
following year, where he died in 1882, and the mother a year after- 
wards. Mr. and Mrs. Ruth have five children : Hiram B., Emma E., 
Mary A., Sarah R. and Joseph A. Mr. R. is a native of Germany, 
born March 30, 1837, and came to America in 1855, settling in Ohio. 
Thence he came to Missouri ten years afterwards. 

HENRY SCHILLING 

(Farmer, Post-office, Oak Dale). 

Mr. Schilling is a thrifty, energetic German-American farmer, who 
came out to Missouri from New York in 1879 and settled in Jackson 
township, where he now resides. He had started to Kansas, and, 
indeed, had purchased tickets to that State, but was so pleased with 
the appearance and evident fertility of the lands of Shelby county 
he decided to stop here. He accordingly bought a farm, on which he 
has since resided, having made his permanent home in Shelby county. 
He has a good place of 160 acres and is prospering quite up to his 
expectations. November 19, 1859, Mr. Schilling was married to Miss 
Katrina, a daughter of Bernhardt and Jacobina Eitelmann, formerly 
of Germany, but then of Columbia county, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. 
Schilling have five children: Heinrich August, Christian F., Bern- 
hardt E., Peter A. and John C. Mr. and Mrs. Schilling are members 
of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Schilling was born in Bavaria, 
August 31, 1829, and was a son of John and Susan (Stauerwaldt) 
Schilling, l)oth of old and respected German families. Mr. S. was 
22 years of age when he came to America. He settled at Canaan, in 
Columbia county, N. Y., where he resided until he came to Missouri 
in 1879. 

JEPTHA R. SMITH 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Warren). 

Prominent among the substantial and leading farmers of this town- 
ship must be mentioned the subject of the present sketch, Mr. Smith. 
A man of marked character and intelligence himself, and a worthy 
representative of the best citizenship of the township, he is also related 
to several Well known and excellent families. Mr. Smith is a native 
Missourian, born in Marion county, December 24, 1840. His [)arents 
came to that county from Kentucky in about 1879. His father, Elijah 
Smith, was a man of singular courage and enterprise, and, withal, a 
man of most estimable character. For a number of years he was a 



1132 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

thorough-going, progressive farmer, but when the California gold 
excitement broke out, possessing the spirit he did, he of course was 
drawn into the stream of emigrants that flowed westward to the Pac- 
tolian coast of the Pacific seas. He spent about four years engaged 
in mining in California, and then returned to the bosom of his family 
at his old home in Marion county, where he lived a worthy and 
respected life until the summons came for him to depart in peace. 
His memory is cherished as that of one of the good men of Marion 
county. He was for many 3^ears a consistent member of the Primi- 
tive Baptist Church, as was his wife, who was a Miss Eliza Mildred 
Huch before her marriage. They reared a family of six children, 
of whom the subject of this sketch was the fourth. Reared 
in Marion county, and of the Southern family he was, Jeptha 
R. Smith, when the blast of war sounded in 18(51, gallantly went to 
the front in the defense of Southern rights and institutions. He 
enlisted under Capt. Priest, of Col. Green's regiment, and bravely kept 
step to the music of the Confederate drum until it was silenced to be 
heard no more. He was in several of the hardest foug-ht battles of 
the war and now bears two honoral)le scars in proof of the unfaltering 
part he took in the great struggle between the Southern and Northern 
States. At the battle of Corinth, October 3, 1862, he received a 
terrible wound, his recovery from which seemed almost a miracle. 
He was shot through the body from his right to his left side, just 
under the arms, sin ounce ball passing in at one side and out at the 
other. Notwithstanding the severity of his wound, however, he soon 
recovered and bravely resumed his place in the ranks with his com- 
rades. A cause that rallied to its defense the hundreds of thousands 
of brave and true men who fought in the ranks of the South, many of 
them to the death, deserved better fate than that which befell it. 

"Ah! never shall the land forget 
How gushed the life-blood of her brave, 
Gushed, warm with hope and courage yet, 
Upon the soil they fought to save." 

After the war Mr. Smith did not return immediately to Missouri, for 
while campaigning in the sunny Southern Southland he had met and 
come to love one to him dearer than the earth. He accordingly 
lingered under Southern skies until he made her his bride, which was 
the 11th of October, 1865. Returning then to Missouri, though not 
laurel-crowned with victory from the tented field, but smiling amid 
orange blossoms from the hy menial alter, he now went to work with 
a light heart and resolute purpose to establish himself in life. A few 
years afterwards he came to Shelby county, where he has since resided. 
Having made a brave soldier during the war, since its close he has 
been an industrious, successful nnd useful citizen. He has several 
hundred acres of fine land, the fruit of his own industry, and his farm, 
containing 180 acres, is one of the best in the township. Mr. Smith 
is handling stock to a considerable extent and with good success. He 
and his excellent wife have two worthy children, Lucretia V. and 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1133 

Rufus I. Mrs. Smith, whose maiden name was Miss Martha V. Pat- 
terson, was a daughter of Major Ira Patterson, a wealthy phinter of 
Alabama, but onginally of North Carolina, Her father is now 
deceased, but her mother still resides on the old family plantation iu 
Alabama. 

JAMES O. STRIBLING 

(Farmer aud Carpenter, Post-office, Lakenan). 

Born in Monroe county, October 8, 1840, Mr. Stribling was a son 
of Taliaferro and Jane C. (Bogg) Stribling, his father from Kentucky, 
but his mother originally from Pennsylvania. The father died in 
1847, but the mother survived until 1872, when she died in this county. 
They had a family of three children, and of these James O. was the 
eldest. He came to Shelby county in 1864, but previously he had 
served in the Confederate army, enlisting under Geu. Price in 1862. 
Mr. Stribling was married April 28, 18(58, when Miss Susan D. Ham- 
ilton became his bride. She was a daughter of C. A. Hamilton, orig- 
inally from Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Stribling have been blessed 
with six children, five of whom are living, namely: Jane O., Harry 
L., Anna A., Clement and James O., Jr. Mr. S. has a neat farm of 
80 acres. His wife is an exemplary member of the Catholic Church. 

JAMES W. TURNER 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser, and Tobacco Grower, Post-office, Warren). 

Mr. Turner has been a resident of Shelby county since 1866, and 
has been engaged in farming pursuits during all this time. He has a 
place of 1860 acres, and, considering the size of his farm, is doing 
quite an extensive business in the stock line. He has a good grade of 
horses, mules, cattle, sheep, hogs, etc. However, Mr. T. makes a 
specialty of raising tobacco, which he finds one of the most profitable 
crops he can grow. Like most of the residents of Jackson township, 
he is a native Kentuckian, born in Garrard county in 1839. The 
following year his parents came to Missouri and settled in Marion 
county. James W. was reared in that count3% and remained there 
until his removal to Shelb3^ During the years 1862 and '63 he was 
engaged in carrying the U. S. mail between Warren and Palmyra. 
In 1865 Mr. Turner was married to Miss Martha, a daughter of Pas- 
chal W. and Caroline McGleason, of Shelby county, but formerly of 
Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have four children: Emmet L., 
Laura B., Alice V., and Sterling J. ; Carrie died in infancy. He 
and wife are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Turner's father, 
Thomas W. Turner, died in Marion county. His mother, whose 
maiden name was Margaret W. Tucker, is still living. They had a 
family of 11 children, of whom James W. was the eldest. 



1134 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

GEORGE UTZ 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Miller, Post-office, Hunnewell). 

FroQi boyhood Mr. Utz has been actively identified with farming, 
and was exclusively so until 1879, when he l^ought an interest in the 
mill which he has since been interested in running. He has a good 
farm of 165 acres, and is a thoroui>h-ojoinoj farmer and stock-raiser. 
He handles horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, and has a considerable 
number of stock each year for the markets. Very justly he is re- 
garded as one of the prosperous and go-ahead farmers and stock- 
raisers of Jackson township. Mr. Utz was born and reared in 
Shelby county, and was the youngest of three children of John and 
Mary Utz, old and respected residents of this county; his father, now 
deceased, was originally of Kentuckj^ his mother was born in Vir- 
ginia. They were married in Kentucky and came to Missouri in the 
pioneer days of this State, locating first in Ralls county, but after- 
wards settling in Shelby county. The father died here, a man who 
was highly respected by all who knew him. The mother is still liv- 
ing, a most estimable and motherly old lady, much beloved by all 
who had the pleasure of her acquaintance. She is a worthy member 
of the Christian Church. Her other son, William, also resides in this 
county, and her daughter, Emily J., is the wife of W. H. Barker, 
originally of Pennsylvania, who died in 1880. George Utz, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, is a worthy member of the A. F. and A. M. at 
Hunnewell. 



TAYLOR TOWJSrSHIP. 



DANIEL A. CARMICHAEL 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leonard) . 

The Carmichael family is well known in Missouri as one of the old 
and respected families of the State, as is also the Louthan family, of 
which Mr. Carmichael is a representative on his mother's side. Both 
families came originally from Virginia and branches of each settled in 
different parts of this State in an early day. Several members of 
both families have become prominent and well known in public life 
and in the professions. Mr. Carmichael's parents, however, Avere not 
among the early settlers of Missouri. They were reared in Virginia, 
where they were married, and afterwards continued to reside until 1866. 
They then came out to Missouri and located in Shelby county. The 
father, Robert Carmichael, was an energetic farmer and held oflSces 
of trust while living in Virginia and was one of the worthy and 
respected citizens of the State. Daniel A. was the second of six chil- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1135 

dren and was born in Hampshire county, Va., September 26, 1843. 
Reared in Virginia, in 1861, like the worthy ephebian he was, of the 
Old Dominion, he bravely enlisted in the Confederate service and 
fought gallantly under Jackson, the great Christian commander of the 
CivTl War, until that irresistible hero-general of the South went down 
m conflict and was buried in the soil of his native State he had fought 
so bravely and well to defend. Young Carraichael was then under 
J. E. B. Stuart until the battle of Wilderness Church was over. He 
was then under Gen. Jubal A. Earljs and for meritorious conduct at 
the battle of Gettysburs; was made first lieutenant and assigned to 
Lieut. -Gen. R. S. Hill's staff. In many of the great death-duels of 
that long and terrible struggle, he bravely bore himself as a true 
soldier of the South, facing death without a halt or tremor wherever 
dut}^ called. At the battle of Gettysburg he was severely wounded 
and left bleeding on the field, but on being cared for and properly 
attended at the hospital he finally recovered and once more answered 
the roll-call in the ranks of those who dared to do and to die, if neces- 
sary, for the cause they had sworn to defend. The year after the war 
he came to Missouri with his parents, and the 16th of September, 
1869, he was married in this county to Miss Isabella Turner, a 
daughter of Abel and Mary E. Turner. Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael have 
four children : Minnie L., Daisy I., Arthur F. and Charles M. He 
and wife are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Carmichael, who 
made a good and true soldier during the war, has made equally as 
good a citizen and successful farmer in these piping times of peace. 
He has been industrious, energetic and enterprising, as he still is, and 
has succeeded admirably well in the accumulation of that which both 
enriches him and makes the country prosperous indeed. He has a 
fine farm of 240 acres, all well improved, and annually puts on the 
markets large quantities of farm products and stock. 

JOSEPH F. COCHRANE 

(Farmer, Section 1). 

Mr. Cochrane was born May 6, 1853, in Knox county. Mo. Here he 
grew to maiihood, and became a farmer. He married, March 25, 
1875, Miss Elizabeth Boggs, who was born in Kansas, but reared in 
Adams county. 111. They have one child, Carrie L. In 1882 Mr. 
Cochrane changed his place of residence from Knox to Shelby county, 
where he now has a fine farm of 120 acres, beautifully situated and 
splendidly improved. A young man of Mr. Cochrane's mental and 
moral caliber must be a success in life. Given certain qualities, a cer- 
tain result must be compassed. If quick intellect, steady habits and 
unflagging industry and perseverance are necessary, Mr. C- will at 
no distant date be at the head of those men who, with true wisdom 
and independence, have chosen agriculture as their occupation in 
life. He is the son of James Cochrane, a Kentucky farmer, who emi- 
grated to Missouri. He settled in Knox county, and there marrying 
Miss Elizabeth Shaw, a native of Marion count}', he raised a family of 



1136 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

six children, of whom Joseph F. was the fourth. His brothers and 
sisters were : Virgiline, Lavinia, Violet, Catherine, Emma and Thomas. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cochrane, Sr., were devout members of the Christian 
Church. 

SHELTON L. DODD 

(Farmer, Post-ofHce, Leonard) . 

Mr. Dodd is of an old and respected family of Fauquier county, 
Va., and his father was born there away back in 1778. Allen Dodd, 
the father of Shelton L., was reared in Fauquier county, and was 
married there to Miss Mary Priest, of which union seven children 
were born, including the subject of this sketch, but only two are 
living. Shelton L. Dodd was born in Fauquier county January 29, 
1819. In 1835 the family came to Missouri, and located in Ralls 
county, where the parents lived until their deaths, the father becom- 
ing a substantial citizen of that county. He died here in 1852. 
Shelton L. grew up on the farm in Ralls county and remained there 
until 1855, when he removed to Knox county, where he engaged in 
farming for 10 years. He then came to Shelby county, and has since 
been a resident of this county. He has a good farm of 162 acres. 
January 4, 1846, he was married to Miss Sophronia Jamison and they 
have been blessed with seven children ; William, James, John, Joseph, 
Anna, Sallie and Ella. He and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. Mrs. Dodd was a daughter of William and Anna Jamison, 
early settlers in Ralls county. 

WILLIAM T. GAINES 

(Farmer, Sections 1 and 2, Post-offlce, Leonard), 

John B. Gaines, father of William T., was born in Virginia, in 1802. 
He was a farmer and school teacher. He went from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky, where he married Miss Sidney Patterson, a Kentuckian by birth. 
They then moved to Monroe county. Mo., making it their permanent 
home. There were born to them seven children, of whom five are 
living: Samuel P., Lucy A., Mary E., John B. and William T., the 
subject of this sketch. He was the youngest child, and was born in 
Monroe county, Mo., August 28, 1842. He grew up in Shelby county, 
his early training preparing him for the occupation of a farmer, which 
he embraced upon coming of age. He has 102 acres of land nicely 
improved and making a comfortable and attractive home. He is ener- 
getic and industrious, and, in consequence, prosperous. Mr. Gaines 
married, January 5, 1881, Miss Mary R. Stuart, born March 4, 1854, 
in Shelby county, Mo. Heaven has l)lessed them with six children, 
four of whom are now living : Clara B., Bertie, Thomas A. and Laura 
E. Though quite a young man, Mr. Gaines was elected in 1882 to 
the dignified office of justice of the peace, the duties of which he dis- 
charges with much credit to himself and satisfaction to the public. 



i 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1137 

CHARLES W. GAY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leonard.) 

It was in 1836, nearl}^ 50 years ago, when the subject of this sketch 
was yet a child only about three years of age, that his parents left 
Kentucky, where they had been reared and made their homes after 
their marriage, for the then new State of Missouri. They first stopped 
in Marion county and then removed to Mucon county, but in 1849 
they came to Shelby county, where they resided for nearly 20 years. 
However, they returned to Marion county, and the father died there 
about 13 years afterwards, in the spring of 1881. He, the father, 
Caleb W. Gay, was born in Fayette county, Ky., in 1802. The 
mother, whose maiden name was Emily Hall, was born in Scott 
county, Ky., in 1809. They had three children, William H., Mary 
E. and Charles W. Charles W. Gay was born in Woodford county, 
Ky., May 8, 1833. He was principally reared in Missouri, and came 
with his"^ parents to Shelby county in 1849, or rather with his father 
and family, for his mother had died the year before. His father sub- 
sequently married again, of which union there are five children living. 
Charles W. was married August 12, 1855. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Catherine T. Sharp, was also from Woodford county, Ky., 
a daughter of William Sharp. They have no children living, but two 
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Gay are members of the Christian Church. 
Mr. Gay has made farming his life occupation and has a good place, 
containing about a quarter of a section of land. 

LEWIS H. GILLASPY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leonard) . 

This venerable and respected old citizen of the county, one of the 
fathers of Shelbyville, and a man whose name for nearly half a century, 
ever since he came to the county, has been a synonym for honest and 
worthy citizenship, is, like many of the early settlers of the county, 
a sturdy old Kentuckian by nativity. He was born in Shelby county, 
Ky., from which Shelby county, Mo., was named, on account of so 
many of its early settlers being from the former county, on the 6th of 
July, 1806. His parents, Alexander and Sarah (Griffith) Gillaspy, 
were from Virginia. Originally, however, the Gillaspy family was 
from Pennsylvania, where it had been settled from the founding almost 
of that colony. The Hon. James G. Blaine's mother, a Miss Gill- 
aspy, for which the G. in his name stands, was a representative of the 
same family. Mr. Gillaspy's father was a farmer and miller by occu- 
pation. In 1825 the family came to Missouri and located in Marion 
county. Eleven years afterwards they settled in Shelby county, svhere 
the fiither died in 1853. Lewis H. was principally reared in Kentucky, 
but came to Missouri with his father's family. He came to Shelby 
county the year before they did, and bought the land now a part of 



1138 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the site of Shelbyville. He was one of the founders of that phice, and 
contributed ten acres of the ground for the town site. He was 
married the same year he came to Shelby county, his wife having been 
a Miss Lucinda Manuel, of Fayette county, Ky. She came to 
Missouri, however, with her parents, Thompson and Catherine Manuel. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gillaspy have reared three children: Sarah C, John 
A. and William L. He is still residing on his homestead, where he 
has lived for many years, an excellent farm of 216 acres. 

SAMUEL GREENFIELD 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leonard). 

The Greenfield family settled in the first instance in Maryland after 
their immigration to America from England. From there it has dis- 
persed itself over many of the States of the Union, and its representa- 
tives are to be found in every section of the country. The family, as 
far back as it can be traced, comes from the Rev. William Greenfield, 
an eminent theologian and oriental scholar who flourished from about 
15(52 to 1630. He was the author of a Comprehensive Bible which 
gives, or purports to give, the codes of all religions, or all that has been 
made known by means of letters. Mr. Greenfield's parents, the father 
and mother of the sulyect of this sketch, Robert Greenfield and wife, 
nee Anna Austin, were both natives of Maryland, and Mr. G., him- 
self, was born in Talbot county, of that State, July 5, 1812. In about 
1820, he then being a lad some eight years of age, the family emi- 
grated West, and settled in Hocking county, O. L;i.ter along they 
removed to La Grange county, Ind., in about 1835. The father died 
there some years afterwards. Samuel Greenfield was principally 
reared in Ohio, and was married in La Grange, Ind., in about 1841, 
to Miss Hannah Michael, formerly of Virginia, and four years his 
junior. Mr. G. was himself the fifth in a family of eight children, 
and his wife was the first of eight children of David and Sarah 
Michael. Three of his father's family are living, and five of her 
father's. After a residence in Indiana for five years he came to Mis-' 
souri and settled in Shelby county. He has been living in this county 
for 45 years, and has been continuously engaged in farming. He has 
a good farm of 400 acres, and is comfortal)ly situated. On the 4th of 
December, 1873, Mr. Greenfield had the misfortune to lose his wife. 
She left him the following children at her death, namely: Sarah Ann 
Hoff'er, George Washington, Deniza Susan Cox, Samuel Austin, Mary 
Francis Cox and Samuel. D. M. and R. L. Greenfield, were old 
enough to go in the Federal army, where they lost their lives. 

CHARLES L. HARRIS 

(Farmer, Section 12, Post-office, Leonard). 

Mr. Harris was born March 19, 1827, in Alleghany county, Md. 
His father, Jesse Harris, a farmer of Loudoun county, Va., was born 
July 3, 1805. He moved to Maryland and there lost his heart to Miss 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1139 

Delilah Fry, a ntitive of Alleghany county. They were married in 1826 
and a few years afterwards moved to Marion county, Mo., where 
they reared a family of six children : Mattiias F., James B., George W., 
David S., Lydia H. and Catherine E. Mr. and Mrs. Harris were 
members of the Christian Church. Charles L. Harris was reared in 
Marion county and was engaged in farming until he was 22 vears of 
age, when he became a merchant. In 1850 he took a trip to Califor- 
nia, mining and trading there for two years. On his return he 
resumed his agricultural pursuits, with which he has ever since been 
occupied. His farm contains 115 acres and is well improved. Mr. 
H. is an intelligent and successful farmer and is an honest and good 
citizen. He is highly respected by the community and has filled, for 
the last 16 years, with much ability, the office of justice of the peace 
in Taylor township. Mr. Harris was married April 1, 1852, in Shelby 
county. Mo., to Miss Mary E. Gaines, who was born August 3, 1833, 
in Howard county. Mo. There are six children by this marriage, all 
living: John W., Lucj^ E., Sidney P., Mollie M., Jame's B. and Jas- 
per L. Mrs A. is a member of the Christian Church, and her hus- 
band is connected with the Baptist denomination. He also belongs 
to the Masonic order. 

ANDREW J. HILTON ^ 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leonard). 

The Hilton family settled originally from England in New York 
State, and from there, some time prior to the Revolution, a branch of 
it became located in Virginia. The subject of this sketch comes of 
the Virginia branch of the family. His grandfather removed to Ten- 
nessee, where his father was born and reared and was married. Judge 
Hilton, of New York City, the counsel of the great American mer- 
chant prince, A. T. Stewart, is a descendant of the original New York 
family. Andrew Hilton, the subject of this sketch, a son of Joseph 
and Catherine (Robinson) Hilton, of Tennessee, was born in Sullivan 
county, of that State, December 5, 1839. The following year his 
parents removed to Missouri and settled in Shelby county. The father 
became a prosperous farmer of this county, and a man of local 
influence and consideration. He was justice of the peace for a number 
of years, and died here about the time of the outbreak of the war. 
His mother survived him for about 15 years. They had a family of 
six children, but only two of whom are living, Mary L. and Andrew 
J. Both parents were ardent Methodists in their church connections 
and sympathies. Andrew Jackson Hilton was reared in Shelby 
county, and besides learning the practical work of farming, he became 
a man of good common school education, having taken a course in the 
district schools of his neighborhood. He has followed farming from 
boyhood, and has prospered satisfactorily well. He has a good farm 
of 400 acres, worth at a fair valuation $10,000 at the least. Mr. 
Hilton is not married, although now in his forty-fifth year. He is, 
nevertheless, not a stranger to the divine passion which Cupid, with a 



1140 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

wave of his magic wand, like the mysterious power that was said to 
issue from the trident of Neptune, inspires in the hearts of men. 
Venif vidi, sed non vici Mr. Hilton ma}^ with all truth say ; but, per- 
haps, acta hac res non est finaliler. Any way it is but little to be 
feared that in the end he will prove a marital maledict. 

MILTON J. HOLLIDAY, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon). 

One of the most successful of the rising young physicians of the 
county is Dr. Milton J. Holliday. He was born in Monroe county, 
Iowa, of George R. and Sarah T. Holliday, both natives of Ken- 
tucky. His father was a physician of wide reputation and is still liv- 
ino- in Sullivan county, Mo. Of a family of 13 children there are 
nine living: Benton A., William P., Americus, Joseph, Samuel N., 
Barnett M., James M., Susan R. and Milton J. The latter grew up 
in Monroe county, Iowa, and embraced his father's profession. He 
studied medicine in Kansas City, Keokuk and Chicago and now has a 
laro"e and lucrative practice, enjoying the full confidence of the entire 
community. Dr. Holliday has been thrice married. His first wife, 
whom he married August 1, 1867, was Miss Sarah N. Brown, of 
Wavne county, Iowa. Four children in rapid succession were laid in 
the' grave, but his first wife is still living. The second Mrs. H., 
formerly Miss Joseph A. Hughart, of Pike county, Mo., after the 
birth of one child, which died also, closed her eyes in death and Dr. 
Holliday chose for his third spouse Miss Henrietta Upchurch, who 
was born March 14, 1865, in Sullivan county. Mo. Mr. and Mrs. H. 
have one child, Martha L. They are members, respectively, of the 
Presbyterian and Christian Churches. 

JOHN J. HOLMES 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Leonard) . 

Born July 25, 1841, Mr. Holmes is a native of Indiana, and a son 
of William and Emeline (Hardsock) Holmes, of Pulaski county, that 
State, but his father was originally of Fairfax county, Va., and his 
mother from Shelby county, Ky. They were married in Owen county, 
Ind., and reared a family of five children, one other having died 
before it reached years of maturity. John J. was the fourth in their 
family, and was reared in Owen county, where he subsequently studied 
law, attending the Michigan University. In 1872 he removed to 
Missouri and located in Audrain county, but two years later he came 
to Shelby county, where he has since resided. He has a neat farm in 
Taylor township, and is one of the intelligent, energetic farmers of the 
community. He was married August 21, 1873, to Miss Carrie Blount, 
of Will county, III. They have three children; Mary J,, Howard 
B. and John G. Mr. Holmes served as justice of the peace in Indiana, 
and two terras as school commisioner of Shelby county, Mo., and 
was a man of considerable prominence and influence in his community, 
as he is at his new home in Shelby county. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1141 



JOHN HORN 

(Farmer, Sections 1 and 4, Post-office, Cherry Box). 

John Horn was born March 20, 1817, in Hampshire county, Va., 
and is the son of Andrew and Catherine (Enimett) Horn, natives of 
the same county. Mr. H., Sr., was a prosperous ftirmer and a 
devoted member of the M. E. Church South. John Horn, the sec- 
ond child, grew to manhood in Hampshire county, pursuing the occu- 
pation of a farmer; he was married March 1, 1840, to Miss Maria 
Howard, who was born in Frederick county, Va., on the 15th of 
August, 1816. There was born of this union 10 children, all of whom 
are living. Their names are respectively Ellen C, Job S., Eliza A., 
John R., William H., Albert B., Eusebius P., Charles J., Mary E. 
and Maud H. Mr. Horn owns as the reward of his industry and per- 
severance a fine farm of 240 acres ; his practical and highly intelligent 
mind has rendered him one of the most skilled agriculturists in the 
county and the strict conscientiousness with which he fulfills his 
duties as a citizen has won for him the unbounded respect of the entire 
community. 

ANDREW HORN 

(Farmer, Section 3, Post-office, Chierry Box.) 

Mr. Horn was born September 3, 1836, in Hampshire county, Va. 
His mother, Susan Shores, was a native of the same place. His father 
was a successful farmer in the neighborhood. In 1864 they moved to 
Shelby county. Mo., where they speedily took their natural place in 
society. They were much thought of in the Presbyterian Church, to 
which they were attached. A family of eight children were born to 
them, of whom but three are living: Mary, Susan and Andrew. 
Andrew Horn grew up in Hampshire county, Va., and was trained to 
be a farmer. In 1861 he left his native State and came to Shelby 
county. Mo. In 1864 he changed his residence to Marion county, but 
in 1868 he returned to Shelby. He is one of the most reliable and 
experienced farmers in the township, and has a beautiful farm of 100 
acres, whose improvements compare favorably with any in the neigh- 
borhood. Mr. Horn is regarded with the highest esteem by all who 
know him, and is a valuable citizen in every way. Mr. H. was mar- 
ried in September, 1870, in Knox county. Mo., to Miss Delia Barnet, 
a beautiful and charming young Canadian. They have five children : 
Minnie, Olga, Berdella, Ray and Evealena. Mr. Horn is a member 
of the Presbyterian Church. 

EUSEBIUS P. HORN, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, and Druggist, Leonard). 

Dr. Horn, a regular graduate of medicine and a young physician of 
excellent qualifications and superior natural gifts for the profession, 



1142 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

h:is been engaged in the active practice at Leonard for the last five 
years, or ever since his gradnation. While young men are usually 
sJow in getting a start in the professions after they are prepared 
for them, on "account of what is perhaps a natural distrust, that 
older men have in the knowledge, care and ability of their jun- 
iors. Dr. Horn's experience has been altogether different from this. 
Almost at the very beginning he was made the recipient of a good 
practice, being promptly called into some of the best families in the 
community, as their physician, when medical attendance was re- 
quired. This confidence so early shown him, time and his own suc- 
cess in the practice have fully justified. Already he is justly classed 
among the well established representative physicians of this part of 
thecount}^ In connection with his practice he is also the proprietor 
of a drug store at Leonard, so that buying his own drugs he is always 
certain that no inferior quality is used in the compoundation of his 
prescriptions. Dr. Horn is a native of Virginia, born April 24, 
1853. He came with his parents (his mother's maiden name was 
Maria T. Howard) to Missouri when 15 years of age. They settled 
in Shelby county in 1868. The Doctor is the seventh of 10 in the 
family of children, and was reared to a farm life. About 1877 he 
began the study of mediciile, and two years later entered the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, lo., Avhere, after a regular 
course of two terms, he graduated in the spring of 1879. He has 
since been engaged in the practice of his profession at this place. 

JOHN H. KEITH 

(Farmer, Section 1). 

Mr. Keith was born October 12, 1853, in Marion county. Mo. His 
father, John H. Keith, was born in Virginia in 1808, and was a farmer 
by occupation. He emigrated in 1830 to Ralls county, and in 1850 
to Marion. In 1865 he came to Shelby, where he married Miss Eliza 
Pierce, a young lady from Virginia. He was a man of truly Christian 
character, and a consistent member of the Baptist Church. He has 
five children: Forge, William, Belinda, Catherine and John H., who 
was the youngest of the family. He grew up in Marion and Shelby 
counties, and in time became a farmer. On the 9th of February, 
1876, Mr. J. H. Keith was married in Shelby county to Miss Emma 
E. Turner, a native of that county, by whom he has three children : 
Ellen, John S. and Kate. Mr. R. is an enterprising and intelligent 
farmer, and his place of 137 acres is an ornament to the county. He 
has placed upon it every improvement of modern invention, and in 
every thinof is well up with the times. He and his family are charm- 
ing additioiis to the society of the township. Mr. K. is a member of 
the Christian Church. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1143 

JACKSON KING 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Leonard). 

In 1856 Mr. King, then a young man past 19 years of age, was 
married in Harrison county, Ky., to Miss Riithie A. Rankins, of that 
county, and the same year of their marriage they came to Missouri, 
and settled in Shelley county, arriving here in November, something 
over a month after their marriage ceremony was performed. They 
were young and brave and true-hearted, and went to work with a will 
to establish themselves comfortably in life. The years came and went 
and they steadily prospered by their industry. The small tract of 
land which they first began to improve ex[)anded by subsequent addi- 
tions and improvements into a fine farm of 320 acres, and now 
they are classed, and for years have been, among the substantial, 
well-to-do people of the township, — worthy neighbors and valued 
residents of the county, esteemed and respected by all who know 
them. Providence has kindly favored them with a worthy family of 
children, five in number, namely: Bettie, Callie, Hattie, Jack and 
Paul. Mr. King's father, Paul King, born in Harrison county, Ky., 
was married three times, and in his three families were 20 children: 
four in the first, 11 in the second, and five in the third, and 14 are 
living. Mr. King, the subject of this sketch, was by his father's first 
marriage, his mother's maiden name having been Miss Mahala Gar- 
rett. He was born July 23, 1837, also in Harrison county, Ky., 
and is the only one of the first family of children living. 

JOHN KIRKWOOD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Leonard). 

Characteristic of the sturdy men of his native country, Mr. Kirk- 
wood, a Scotchman by birth and bringing-up, has become a more than 
ordinarily successful farmer since he transferred the scene of his 
industry to the fertile land of Shelby county. Mo. He has a fine 
farm of 440 acres and is justly classed among the best farmers of 
Taylor township. All he has he has made by his own industry and 
intelligence and enterprise. He was born in Scotland, November 2, 
1828, and was one in a family of three children of John Kirkwood, 
Sr., and wife, nee Martha Easdale. Reared in his native country, he 
remained there until 1858 engaged in farming, and then removed to 
America, and settled in Shelby county. Mo. He was married in Scot- 
land, August 10, 1855, to Miss Elizabeth Lang, who was born in the 
same county where he was reared, in 1830. Mr. Kirkwood is a man 
of sterling character, marked intelligence and untiring industry, and 
is highly esteemed among his neighbors. 

67 



1144 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

WILLIAM McCULLY 

(Farmer, Section 16, Post-office, Cherry Box). 

One of the most influential and prosperous farmers in the township 
is the subject of this sivetch. His parents, John and Sarah (White) 
McCully, were both natives of Tennessee, and moved first to Illinois. 
In 1820 they again moved to Randolph county, Mo., where Mr. 
McCully became a man of weight and prominence. He took a great 
interest in public aflairs, and was made collector of the county. 
William was one of eight children: Valentine, John, Isaac L. and 
Mary. Two are deceased. His mother died when still quite young, 
and his father married, in 1846, Miss Lucy Brainer, from Kentucky. 
By this marriage also there were eight children, of whom six are still 
living: Martha, Belle, Manty, Thomas, Lee and Frank. William, 
who was the third child of the first union, was reared in Randolph 
county, Mo., and became a farmer. In that county, on the 21st of 
March, 1850, he was united in the bonds of holj^ wedlock to Miss 
Frances C. Yates, a native of Kentucky. Ten years after his marriage 
Mr. McCully moved to Shelby county, where he is naw one of the 
leading men. He owns a farm of 920 acres, all in the best condition, 
and contributes largely to the general prosperity. Mr. and Mrs. McC. 
have seven children: John M., William C, Sarah C, George E., 
Thomas M., Lucy, Virginia and Mary E. Most of his family are 
members of the Presbyterian Church. 

ROBERT D. MAGRUDER 

(Farmer and Merchant, Post-office, Cherry Box). 

Thomas G. Magruder, the father of Robert D., was born in Febru- 
ary, 1811, in Frederick county, Va. He was a farmer by occupation. 
He moved to Marion county in 1838 and the following year to Shelby 
county. Mo., where, for a number of years, he filled with much ability 
the office of justice of the peace. He was a highly respected citizen 
and a prominent Mason. His wife to whom he was married in 1836, 
in Shelby county, Ky., was formerly Miss Martha J. Rucker, born in 
1818, in Woodford county, Ky. There were nine children in the 
family, of whom six are living: Thomas E., Frank W., Mary S., 
Vasie E., Martha A. and Robert D. The last named was the third 
child and first saw the light in Shelby county. Mo., on the 22d of 
March, 1843. His youth was spent partly in Kentucky, partlj' in 
Missouri. Upon reaching manhood he became a farmer but has also 
been extensively engaged in merchandising at Cherry Box, a thriving 
village which sprang to life in 1880, and which gives fair promise of 
great future prosperity. Mr. Magruder is one of the stanchest and 
most reliable merchants in the place. His sterling integrity makes it 
a safe thing and his obliging manners a most pleasant thing to deal 
with him. He richly deserves the extensive patronage he enjoys. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1145 

He carries on a farm at the same time, showing rare business capacity. 
His phice contains 371 acres and is one of the best conducted in the 
township. Mr. M. married December 12, 1866, Miss Laura W. Gart- 
rell, born April 24, 1840, in Shelby county, Mo. They have three 
living children : Harriet B., Robert S. and William B. Mr. and Mrs. 
Magruder are consistent members of the M. E. Church South. 

THEODORE P. MANUEL 

("Dealer in General Merchandise, etc., etc., Leonard). 

Mr. Manuel engaged in his present business at Leonard in the 
spring of 1884, and has met with satisfactory success. He brought on 
a good stock of goods antl started out with the determination to please 
the people, both as to prices and quality of goods, if possible. Nor 
has he been disappointed in the retdization of this object. He has 
securely established himself as one of the popular and prosperous 
business men of this part of the county. He is accommodating and 
deals fairly with every one, so that no complaint is heard against him. 
Mr. Manuel was born and reared in Shelby county, his primal birth- 
day being the 19th of January, 1859. His parents were from 
Kentucky, early settlers in this section of tho State. His father, 
Preston Manuel, was from Frankfort, Ky., and his mother, Adeline 
McAfee, was also from Kentucky, or rather her parents were. Theodore 
P. was the third in their family of four children. His mother died 
when he was only six years old, leaving him under the watchful care 
of a kind father who was called to his long home in 1876. Thus an 
orphan at the early age of 11, he was reared on the farm in this county 
and educated in the common schools. Several years before com- 
pleting his youth or ephebiage, however, he commenced to teach 
school and continued to teach for some five years. Since then he has 
been engaged in merchandising at Leonard. On the 20th of February, 
1879, Mr. Manuel was married to Miss Ella Harrison, a daughter of 
Richard and Laura W. Harrison. Mr. Manuel and wife are members 
of the Christian Church. He has a comfortable residence at Leonard 
in addition to his business interests. 

BENJAMIN T. PERRY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Cherry Box) . 

Mr. Perry's parents, or, rather, his father, Ambrose B. Perry, 
was from Jessamine county, Ky. He came to Shelby county while 
yet a young man and was married to Miss Elizabeth H. Baker, of 
an early family in this part of the State. His father followed farm- 
ing as his permanent calling, and led a well-to-do and comfortable 
life. There were 12 children in the family, eight of whom are living. 
Benjamin T. was born December 3, 1846, and was reared on his 
father's farm. On the 30th of November, 1882, he was married to 
Miss Malinda A. Evans. They have one child, James W. Mr. 



1146 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Perry has a neat farm of 90 acres, the result of his own industry 
and good management ; he is steadily accumuhiting property around 
him and coming to the front as a substantial citizen of the township. 
His wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. P. belongs to 
the Christian Church. 

ADOLPHUS E. SINGLETON 

f Farmer, Post-office, Leonard). 

Mr. Singleton's father came from Rappahannock county, Va., in 
1881, and first located in Marion county. From there he crossed 
over into Shelby county, and there he met and married Miss Susan C. 
Vandiver, also originally from Virginia. Eleven children are the 
fruits of their union, eight of whom are living. The parents still 
reside in this county and are both members of the church, the father, 
William Singleton, of the Baptist Church, and the mother of the 
Methodist Church. Adolphus E. is the fourth of their family of chil- 
dren and was reared on the farm. He was married February 20, 
1879, to Miss Allie E. Magruder, a daughter of Thomas J. Magruder. 
Mr. Singleton has a good farm of 183 acres, and is one of the enter- 
prising young farmers of the township. On the 22d of next Novem- 
ber he will be 30 years of age, and is therefore still comparatively 
a voung man. Mr. and Mrs. Singleton have one child, Walter T. 
Mrs. S., an estimable lady, is a member of the Baptist Church. 

JOSEPH M. STUART 

(Farmer, Section 11, Post-office, Leonard). 

Mr. Stuart was born December 25, 1823, in Harrison county, Ky. 
His father, William Stuart, was born in Pennsylvania, but moved 
at an early age to Kentucky, where he in time became a farmer. He 
married in Harrison county. Miss Catherine Hounier, a native of the 
same county, and in 1837 moved to Ohio. They had a family of 10 
children, of whom but four reached years of maturity: William R., 
Catherine, Isabel and Joseph M. The old people were members 
respectively of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. Joseph 
M. was reared in Harrison county, Ky., and accompanied his parents 
to Ohio. In 1844, he removed to Shelby county, Mo., where he 
now lives. He owns 120 acres of land, which he has beautified by 
every improvement that could be desired. He is thrifty and hard- 
working, and having a pleasant manner and kind heart, he is deserv- 
edly popular among his neighbors. He was married August 9, 1844, 
to Miss Elizabeth Garnett, who was born in 1827, in Harrison county, 
Ky. Of this union were born 12 children, of whom 11 are still liv- 
ing: Martin L., George A., Nancy, James L., Rebecca, Virginia A., 
David T., William H., Lahulda, Joseph S. and Maret E. Losing his 
first wife, Mr. Stuart married a second time, the bride being Miss 
Nancy Dunbar, who was born December 18, 1837, in Madison county, 
Ky. There are by this marriage three children: Willard C, Abben 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1147 

T. and Arthur M. Mr. Stuart and family belong to the Christian 
Church. 

MARTIN L. STUART 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, and Justice of the Peace, Leonard) . 

'Squire Stuart is a native of Shelby county and has made it his 
home from the time the light of heaven first streamed into his being 
through the windows of his soul, or in other words, from the time of 
his birth. He, too, is of an old family of this county, which came to 
this State from Kentucky, but was originally from the OM Dominion. 
The 'Squire was the eldest of 14 in the family, 13 of whom are living. 
His father, Joseph Stuart, was from Harrison county, Ky., and his 
mother, who was, previous to her marriage, a Miss Sarah E. Garnett, 
was from the same State. They were married in Shelby county. 
'Squire Stuart was born on his father's farm in Shelby county, Novem- 
ber 11, 1845. He was brought up a farmer and followed that occu- 
pation after he grew to manhood until about seven years ago. March 
8, 1869, he Avas married to Miss Harriet E. McWilliams. They have 
one child, a daughter, Pearl. In 1877, 'Squire Stuart and his brother, 
George A., formed a partnership in the mercantile business at Leon- 
ard, and have since been engaged in the business at this place. They 
carry a good stock of goods in their line and have an increasing trade. 
In 1878 he was elected to his present office, justice of the peace, and 
is still holding this position. 

JAMES L. VANDIVER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Cherry Box) . 

Mr. Vandiver was the ninth in the family of 17 children of Samuel 
and Ann (Crane) Vandiver, (her father being a captain in the Revolu- 
tionary War), of Hampshire county, Va. The father, who was 33 
years of age at the time of his marriage, lived to see the youngest of 
his children married and comfortably settled in life. He died in the 
eighty-sixth year of his age. He was a farmer by occupation, and a 
sturdy, industrious, thrifty tiller of the soil, and a worthy, well 
respected citizen. James L. was born on his father's homestead, in 
that county, January 16, 1822. At the age of 18, in 1840, the fam- 
ily removed to Shelby county. Mo., and James L. came with them. 
On the 16th of July, six years afterwards, he was married to Miss 
Frances E. Elgin, formerly of Frederick county, Va. After his mar- 
riage, and indeed, before, Mr. Vandiver had started out in life as a 
farmer for himself. He has continued farming from that time to this, 
and has met with good success, or, rather, by his industry, energy 
and good judgment, has achieved success. He has one of the largest 
and best farms in the county. His place contains 1,400 acres, and is 
well improved. Such a result as this shows the advantage of l)eing in 
a country so greatly favored with all the elements for successful 
agriculture as is this section of Missouri, particularly Shelby county. 



1148 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Nature has been indeed generous in bestowing upon this fair hind the 
advantages which fit it for the homes of a [)rosperous, enlightened com- 
munity. Where coukl soil and climate, and mostother natural conditions 
be found more favorable? Nor have the accidents of population and 
artificial advantages been less i'ortunate. An intelligent, sturdy race 
of men from Virginia, the mother State of all the North-west, from 
west of Ohio to the plains, and practically also of the South-west — 
indeed, of the fairest, and greatest and best section of the Imperial 
Republic — came into this part of North Missouri, as they also spread 
themselves over all other sections of the Union, not fenced in by New 
England exclusiveness and bigotry, and made the whole land blossom 
in the beauty of an advanced civilization. Men of Virginia, and of 
her daughter States, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, came ; they 
also came from Tennessee, North Carolina and the other Southern 
States ; some, likewise, came from Pennsylvania and the Middle 
States — a few from New England — all came to unite their brain and 
muscle in the great work of developing this magnificent region, for 
which Nature has done so much. Hence, it is not surprising to see 
the sons of the sturdy pioneers who opened the way into this fruitful 
land, now among the most prosperous, well-to-do, substantial and 
worthy citizens of all the country. Their fathers, in possessing them- 
selves of broad acres of fertile land, have fixed the fortunes of their 
families on a sure foundation, as the ancestors of the wealthy land- 
holders of England did centuries ago. Families of wealth and 
consideration are now being established in this country, and have been 
established, by this system of investment in real estate, which will 
preserve their identity for generations and generations to come. Mr. 
Vandiver, already a large land holder, is steadily adding to his pos- 
sessions, and he is impressing upon his son the great lesson which all 
experience and all history teach, that land is the safest, surest and 
best property which one can have — which can not run away, nor be 
carried away, which is not affected appreciably by stock fluctuations, 
but is idem cUuy m the same place, to-day, to-morrow, and for- 
ever ; and by good husbandry will ever bring forth abundant harvests 

" Until the moon grows old, 
And the sun grows cold, 
And the leaves of the Judgment Book unfold." 

In 1880 Mr. Vandiver had the misfortune to lose his first wife. She 
was a most excellent lady, greatly esteemed by all her neighbors and 
acquaintances, and one of the most affectionate of wives, one whose 
whole life seemed to be an unbroken effort to make her home bright 
and happy. After a lonely, sad life of some years, his home desolate 
and almost broken up, Mr. Vandiver was again married to a most 
amiable lady and true-hearted, good woman, one who has proved in 
every way worthy of his affection. She was a widow lady at the time 
of her marriage to him, a Mrs. Mary E. Allen, formerly Miss Creek- 
mur, of Kentucky. This union has been blessed with a son, James 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1149 

L., the only one Mr. Viindiver has to inherit his good name and his 
comfortable estate, and who is a bright youth of estimable character 
and excellent promise, well fitted by nature and the manner of his 
bringing up to succeed his honored father. Mr. and Mrs. Vandiver 
are members of the church, the father of the Methodist denomination 
and the mother of the Christian communion. 

JOSEPH VAN VACTER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leonard). 

Mr. Van Vacter's farm contains 140 acres and is comfortably 
improved. He has been engaged in farming from boyhood and owes 
his success, that is, what he has accuinuhited, almost alone to his own 
industry and jrood management. He is one of the worthy farmers 
and respected citizens of Taylor township. Mr. VanVacter was a son 
of Benjamin and Anna (Smith) VanVacter, his father originally of 
Virginia and a descendant of Holland ancestry, but his mother a 
native of Ireland. So, in the veins of the subject of this sketch 
courses the blood of two nationalities, one noted for its mirth and 
wit and love of country, and the other, sturdy Teutonic stock, for its 
solid, sterling worth, its industry and thrift, and its steady, even 
habits of life. The family came to Missouri, or rather the father did, 
in an early day, and he was married here, where he made his perma- 
nent home. He died in Shelby county, Februar}'^ 18, 1867. The 
mother, aged 67, is still living. Three of their family of five children 
are also living. Joseph H. was brought up on the farm to be a 
farmer and stock-raiser, which he has ever since followed, and with 
the success noted above. August 26, 1868, he was married to Miss 
Mary, a daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Lorentz, formerly of 
Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. V. have three children of the six born to 
them, namely: Nora E., Addie B. and Annie E. Mr. and Mrs. V. 
are members of the Christian Church. 

PRESTON A. WRIGHT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Leonard). 

Among the more thorough-going farmers and intelligent, progres- 
sive citizens of Taylor township is the subject of the present sketch, 
Mr. Wright. His parents were early settlers in Boone county. Mo., 
and subsequently removed to Monroe county, where the mother died 
in 1877, and his f\ither the year following. His father, Andrew H. 
Wright, who was born July 12, 1796, in Bourbon county, Ky., came 
out from Virginia to Kentucky with his parents in an early day, 
where he afterwards met and married Miss Elizabeth Harris, of Bour- 
bon county. They had a family of 14 children. He died at his 
home in Monroe county, eight miles north of Paris, November 30, 1878 ; 
he had lived in Monroe county 47 years, all that time on the farm 
where he died. After leaving Kentucky he lived about one year in 
Boone county, this State, before coming to Monroe. He had been a 



1150 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

member of the Christian Church for over 50 years, having joined in 
his early manhood in Kentucky, under the preaching of Elder P. M. 
Allen. Mr. W.'s mother, Elizabeth Harris, was born April 6, 1802, 
in Virginia, and moved to Kentucky when she was seven years old ; 
she was married in the sixteenth year of her age. She joined the 
church the same time her husband did. All of the 14 children except 
one are members of the Christian Church. Preston A. Wright was 
born in Monroe county December 27, 1838, and was reared in that 
county. April 18, 1867, he was married to Miss Elizabeth E. Baker, 
a daughter of William and Sar;ih Baker, of Shelby county. Mr. 
Wright had previously come to this county, and he has ever since 
made his home in its borders ; he and his good wife have six chil- 
dren : William A., Mary B., Nottly P., Sarah H., Lonnie P. and 
John L. Mr. Wright's farm contains 428 acres, and he is comforta- 
bly situated. He has been a member of the Christian Church since 
1866 ; his wife joined the denomination in 1864. 



JEFFERSOK TOW:^SHIP. 



ELIAS T. BARTON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Duncan's Bridge). 

'Squire Philip Barton, the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
one of the pioneer settlers of Missouri. He came to Marion county as 
far back as 1819, and was soon afterwards married in that county to 
Miss Rachel Thrasher, Both were originally from Kentucky. In 1837 
they removed to Monroe county, where 'Squire Barton improved a 
farm, and, indeed, improved two farms in that county. He lived 
there for nearly 20 years, and came to Shelby county in 1856, settling 
on the place where Elias T. now resides. In 1866 he built a residence 
in Shelbina and made that place his home until his death two years 
afterwards. His wife is still living, having been born October 3, 
1793. Elias T. was the fifth of a family of seven children, five 
brothers and two sisters. He was bora in Marion county, March 26, 
1832, and was reared in Monroe county. In 1861 he enlisted in the 
Southern service, and was out first under Brace and Price, then 
Bevier and Little and Bouin, until the close of the war. He lost 
four brothers in the Confederate service — 1 killed in battle, 1 killed 
by the militia, 1 died in Alton prison, and one in the hospital at Vicks- 
burg. Elias T. was in numerous engagements, large and small, and 
was wounded at Baker's Creek, Miss., I)eing shot through the upper 
parts of both legs, which disabled him from further active service, but 
he continued to do detached service until the final surrender. Return- 
ing home after the war, he located on the old homestead farm and 
engaged in farming. February 3, 1869, he was married to Miss 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. \ 1151 

Mollie E. Roe, a daughter of William J. Roe, now of Shelbina, but 
formerly of West Virginia, where Mrs. B. was born and reared. They 
have six children : Carrie D., Walter A., Ira W., Georgia V., Gracie 
F. and Elias A. Mr. Barton owns the old Barton homestead, a good 
place of 180 acres, Mrs. B. is a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. 

SAMUEL H. BAYNUM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Shortly after his mother's death, which occurred in 1852, Mr. Bay- 
nuni, who was then in childhood, 11 years of age, was taken by John 
Nelson, an old citizen of Marion county, to rear. Brought up in that 
county, as soon as he was old enough to work out, he worked by the 
month as a farm laborer at the usual small wages then paid. But 
being industrious and persevering, he kept it up for nearly 10 years, 
and during this time, by close economy, saved about $750 in cash. 
On the 17th of November, 1864, he was married to Miss Mary F. 
Bush, daughter of John Bush. She is a sister to John S. Bush, of 
Hannibal ; William Bush, of Monroe City ; George Bush, of Palmyra ; 
Dr. Franklin Bush, of Palmyra, and the late Mrs. James McWilliams, 
who died in Texas. After his marriage Mr. Baynura rented a form 
in Marion county, and resided there for a year. He then improved 
his present farm. He has one of the best farms in Jefferson town- 
ship, a place containing 200 acres, which he can contemplate with the 
satisfoctory reflection that it is all the fruit of his own toil. He is 
engaged in raising stock, and has good success in this line of indus- 
try. In 1879 he removed to Shelbina to educate his children, but 
returned to the farm in 1882. He and wife have six children : Rosie 
Lee, Ida May, Charley B., Willie C, Lutie and Bessie. Nora died 
in infancy*. Mrs. Baynum's father was one of the first settlers of 
Marion county, and commencing a poor young man, making rails at 18 
cents a hundred, he rose by good industry and good management 
until at the time of his death he was worth $75,000. 

THOMAS A. BEAN 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-offlce, Clarence). 

All old residents of Bucks county, Pa., familiar with the people 
and affairs of that county during the ' thirties and ' forties, remem- 
ber very well the father of Mr. Bean, William W. Bean. He was a 
prominent man of the county, an active politician, and a thorough- 
going, uncompromising Democrat. He has been dead, however, for 
many years, dying in about 1849. Mr. Bean's mother (Thomas A.'s), 
was a Miss Frances Brittain. Thomas A. Bean was born in Bucks 
county, November 4, 1837. At the age of 16 he went on a whaling 
vessel to become a sailor, and was on the sea about 18 months. 
During this time, among other distant points he visited were the 
Sandwich Islands, where the natives still have fried missionary for 
breakfast whenever they can catch one. Returning to Pennsylvania, 



1152 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

he became foreman under his brother, a successful contractor of street 
construction, of PhUadelphia, and had charge of about 50 men. He 
continued in that business until he was of age, when he cast his first 
presidential vote, throwing it for the Buchanan electors in Pennsyl- 
vania, and then came west, to St. Louis. From there he came to 
Paris and went to work for an older brother as a carpenter. The 
year following he worked at farm labor by the month, and this 
brought him up to the outbreak of the war, when he promptly en- 
listed in the Confederate service, under Jackson's call for the six 
months ' State Guard. After this he enlisted in Elliott's battalion, 
and in the spring of 1864 he joined that dashing and irresistible cav- 
alry leader, Gen. Joe Shelby. Taken prisoner, however, later along, 
he was held at St. Louis until the close of the war. Meanwhile, 
January 32, 1863, he was married to Miss Sarah, a daughter of Ander- 
son and Mary N. Meadows, early settlers in Monroe county, from 
Kentucky. After the war, Mr. Bean returned to Monroe county and 
he en^faofed in farmino; and trading; in stock. He bought his present 
farm in Jefferson township, of Shelby county, in January, 1884. He 
has a neat place well improved. Mr. Bean has had varying success as 
a stock-dealer, sometimes making considerable money, and once being 
entirely broken up. At another time he suffered a heavy loss by the 
death by cholera of over 150 fine hogs. He is now repairing his losses, 
however, and is steadily coming to the front again. Mr. and Mrs. B. 
have seven children: Fannie L., Daniel O., James A., Samuel C, 
Warren, William P. and Ada M. They have lost two in infancy. 
Mr. B. is a member of the A. O. U. W., and a prominent member of 
the I. O- O. F. 

JAMES BISHOP 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

Whether Mr. Bishop is closely related to the Hon. James G. Blaine, 
the present Republican candidate for the Presidency, the writer is 
not informed, for the question was not asked when the notes of this 
sketch were taken. But doubtless he is at least distantly related to 
the distinguished standard-bearer of the Republican party and one of 
the ablest and most brilliant men this country has ever produced. Mr. 
Bishop's mother was a Miss Fanny Blaine, before her marriage, and 
he was born in Westmoreland county, Penn., January 21, 1826. Hon. 
James G. Blaine was born just across the county line in Washington 
count}', Penn., January 31, 1830. If they are not cousins they are 
unquestionably related in some degree, for both came of the Blaine 
family, long settled in the south-western part of Pennsylvania, and 
were born in adjoining counties, about the same time, or within four 
years of each other. But whether they are related or not makes as 
little difference to the subject of this sketch as to the distinguished Repub- 
lican candidate, for he needs no reflected credit to entitle him to the 
respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens. His life has been one of 
intelligent, well directed industry, rewarded with sober, substantial 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1153 

success, one upon which no reproach has ever fallen, and a 
value to the community in which he lives. Mr. Bishop com- 
menced for himself when a young man without a dollar, and by 
his own efforts and worth has made all he now has. He is 
one of the substantial farmers of the county, and has over 800 acres 
of fine land, included in several farms. This he has accumulated 
since a resident of this county, for he commenced here nearly 30 years 
ago with entering a small tract of 80 acres, to which he has ad<led 
from time to time as his means increased. His home place contains 
300 acres and is well improved, being one of the choice farms of Jef- 
ferson township. Mr. Bishop's father, Vincent Bishop, died in West- 
moreland county. Pa., in 1840. The mother, nee Miss Blaine, died 
about five years afterwards. The father came from New Jersey, or 
was brought from that State to Pennsylvania in a very early day by 
his parents, where he was reared and subsequently married Miss 
Blaine. He Avas of the same family of Bishops of which Hons. James 
and William D. Bishop, the first of New Brunswick, N. J., and the 
second of Bloomfield, N. J., sprang, both leading men of New Jersey 
and for years distinguished members of Congress. Mr. Bishop, the 
subject of this sketch, was reared in Westmoreland county and received 
a good common school education. On the 4th of October, 1846, he 
was married to Miss Elizabeth Carnes, a daughter of William Games, 
of Westmoreland county. He followed farming in that county for 
six years after his marriage and then, during the California gold 
excitement, went to the gold mines, making the trip overland. He 
spent two years in California, engaged principally in dealing in pro- 
visions and clothing. He then returned to Pennsylvania and shortly 
afterwards came to Missouri with his family and settled in Shelby 
county, on the land on which he now resides. His career as a farmer 
has been noted above. He has served for 12 years as justice of the 
peace, and during the war he served for about nine months in the 
Missouri State Militia on the Union side under Col. Benjamin. Mr. 
Bishop's first wife died in 1876. She was a devoted wife, a loving 
mother, a kind and hospitable neighbor and a most exemplary Chris- 
tian lady. Her death was profoundly mourned both by her own loved 
ones and all her neighbors. She left him nine children : Thomas M., 
William C, Alexander C, J. K., Sarah E., the wife of Isaac Baker; 
Frances J., the wife of Thomas Vaughn; Levi H., Ella and Samuel 
P. The older sons are married. Three are deceased, two in infancy 
and Vincent at the age of 17. To his present wife Mr. Bishop was 
married February 20", 1878. She was a widow lady, Mrs. Jemima 
Spires, relict of William Spires, and a daughter of John Mayfield, 
formerly of Kentucky. She is an exemplary member of the Baptist 
Church and an excellent lady. 

FREDERIC G. BLAI^EY 

(Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Post-oflBce, Maud). 

Mr. Blakey, one of the progressive young agriculturists of Shelby 
county and a highly respected, influential citizen of Jefferson town- 



1154 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

ship, is a son of Hoii. M. D. Blakey, a sketch of whom and whose 
family antecedents appears elsewhere in this work> among the biog- 
raphies of Clay township, in Monroe county. Mr. Blakey, Jr., was 
born at Paris, in Monroe county, December 29, 1852, and was reared 
in that county. His opportunities for an education were good, which 
he did not fail to improve to the best advantage. He had the benefit 
of instruction in the best schools of the country, and afterwards took 
a course at Christian University in Canton, Missouri. After conclud- 
ing his education, or rather, career at school, he engaged in teaching 
and continued to follow that occupation for about seven years, prin- 
cipally during the winter months, however, for he was occupied with 
farming during the cropping seasons on his father's homestead. On 
the 6th of March, 1879, he was married to Miss Nora, a daughter of 
James Gillespie, deceased, late a prominent citizen of Monroe county. 
Mrs. Blakey was educated at Christian College, of Columbia, Mo. 
They have been blessed with three children : Roy G., Susie and Anna. 
After his marriage, Mr. Blakey came to his present farm, where he 
has since resided. He has a good place of nearly 200 acres in an 
excellent state of improvement. Mr. Blakey makes a specialty of fine 
stock. He has fine short-horn thorough-bred cattle, and a stock of 
fine Poland-China hogs. His thoroughbred cattle and hogs are eligible 
to record and among the best in the county. 

JOHN BOWLING 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-oftice, Maud) . 

Mr. Bowling is a native of Kentucky, born in Bourbon county, 
November 20, 1834, and a son of Robert Bowling and wife, nee Jane 
C. Neal, formerly of Virginia. The family removed to Missouri in 
1837, and located on land through which the Monroe and Shelby county 
line passes, where they made their home, their house being partly in 
Monroe and partly in Shelby county. As Mr. Bowling's father was a 
resident of both counties, as much of one as of the other, it was a 
question which county he was entitled to vote in, for he apparently 
had as much right to vote in one as the other, and as he had a right 
to vote in either, that he had the right to vote in both. Being a 
good Democrat was an additional and a very strong argument that he 
should have two votes, for it is a rule of morals that there can never 
be too much of a good thing, whatever may be the law of physics in 
this regard. He finally relieved the authorities, however, of all embar- 
rassment, by deciding to vote only in Monroe county. He lived on 
his farm on the county line until his death, one of the respected 
farmers of the community. John Bowling was reared on tlie old 
family homestead, and was married March 29, 1860, to Miss Louisa 
E., daughter of Richard Thompson, deceased, of Pike county, but 
formerly of Virginia. After his marriage, Mr. Bowling followed form- 
ing in the north-eastern part of Monroe county for four years. He 
then sold his place there, and removed to the neighborhood in which 
he now resides. Since then he has sold out and bouofht farms several 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1155 

times, and for a time lived in Texas, where he owned a phice, but 
since 1873 he has resided on his present farm. He has a good ph\ce 
of about a quarter of a section of hmd, substantially and comfortably 
improved. He feeds stock for the wholesale markets, usually about a 
car load annually, in which he has good success, Mr. and Mrs. B. 
have seven children : John C, Robert P., Willis R., Ora J., Mary D., 
Elba and Guyangus. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

THOMAS P. BREWER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

It was in the spring of 1882 that Mr. Brewer sold his farm, four 
miles east of Moberly, which he had improved himself, and where he 
had resided for nearly 30 years, coming thence to Shelby county and 
buying the place which is his present home. Here he has 160 acres of 
good land, all under fence and with good improvements on it. It is 
a good farm and he expects to make it his permanent home. Mr. 
Brewer is a native Missourian, born in Marion county, July 25, 1831. 
His father was Thomas Brewer, who came out from Virginia, when a 
young man, to Kentucky, and was there mai'ried to Miss Mary Evans. 
From Kentucky they come to Missouri, or rather the mother and 
family came to this State, for the father died in Kentucky in 1832. 
The mother afterwards married William Haley, and they came to 
Missouri in 1846, locating in Randolph county about four miles east 
of where the city of Moberly now stands. There Thomas P. grew 
to manhood, and on January 23, 1854, was married to Miss Sarah J., 
a daughter of Foster Burnham, of Howard county. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Brewer, who had previously bought raw land near Moberly, 
improved a farm on his land and resided there, as stated above, until 
his removal to Shelby county. Mr. and Mrs. B. have six children : 
Daniel B. (married), of Randolph county ; William U. (also married), 
of Macon county ; James W., now of Colorado ; Levia, a young lady 
at home ; T. Foster, and Minnie. 

HARLEN BUTNER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-officej Duncan's Bridge). 

For two years a gallant soldier of the Republic during the Mexican 
War, and afterwards a doughty Argonaut to the golden coast of the 
Pacific, later along Mr. Butner returned to old Missouri and settled 
down to a quiet, successful farm life. He has been a resident of 
Shelby county for over 30 years, and first improved a farm in Jeffer- 
son township, of this county, on which he resided for 11 years, sell- 
ing it then and purchasing his present place. He has 200 acres in this 
farm, all well improved, and 30 acres of tributary timber. He also 
has a good tract of improved land in Monroe county. He makes a 
specialty of raising and feeding cattle for the markets, in which he has 
had satisfactory success. In 1848 Mr. Butner was married to Miss 



1156 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

Eviileiia Ray, of Macon county, but formerly of Kentucky. She died 
in this county in 1858, leaving five cliildren, namely : William, Fidelia, 
James W., Felix and Edward. To his present wife Mr. B. was mar- 
ried October 2, 1859. She was a Miss Nancy A. Barton, a daughter 
of 'Squire Barton. There are six children by this union: Sarah E., 
the wife of Silas Wood, of Monroe county; Elias H., Stephen H., 
Daniel M., Lacy M. and Anna M. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of 
the M, E. Church South. Mr. Butner was born in Madison county, 
Ky., July 15, 1825. His father was William Butner, and his moth- 
er's maiden name Nancy Lowry. They came to Missouri in 1835, 
and finally settled in Marion county, residing first in Howard, then in 
Macon and then Monroe. They finally returned to Kentucky, where 
the father died in 1862. 

JOHN BYRUM 

(Farmer, Post-office, Leutner) . 

For three months and a half Mr. Byrum was on the road in 1850, 
bound for the golden coast of California, where he hoped by hard 
work and economy to at least get a start in life in a comparatively 
short time. And he was not disappointed. He made enough at 
mining to enable him to return home and purchase a farm and engage 
in farming. He has since continued to. reside on his place in this 
county, a good farm of 160 acres adjoining the town of Lentner. 
He has resided on this place for the last 25 years, and here has reared 
his family. He was married March 12, 1856, to Miss Rhoda Morris, 
a daughter of Shelby Morris, of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Byrum 
have nine children: Lucy M., Sarah M., John H., Maggie E., Mollie 
T., E. Wesley, Carrie G., Claude M. and Harry E. Two, besides, 
are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Byrum are members of the M. E. 
Church South. The district school-house is on one corner of his 
farm, where school is kept from seven to eight months in the year, so 
that he has good school advantages for his children. Mr. Byrum was 
born in Marion county May 12, 1833, and was a son of Morris and 
Martha (Whitler) Byrum, originally of Kentucky, who came to 
Missouri in 1834, but afterwards returned to Kentucky, finally coming 
back to Missouri in 1837 to remain permanently. Some years after- 
wards they settled on land six miles west of Shelbina, where the father 
died in 1847, leaving a widow and 10 children, namely (the chil- 
dren) : Elizabeth Emdire, Martha J., Hulda, Amanda, John, William, 
James J. and Henry, all of whom are living except Martha. 

FREDERICK C. CASLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence) . 

Of German-American parentage, Mr. Casler was a son of Fred- 
erick and Margaret (Miller) Casler, both originally of Bavaria, and 
was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., July 18, 1835. Reared in 
that county, he received a good common school education, and was 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1157 

brought up a farmer. On the 25th of December, 1856, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Catherine, a daughter of Peter Henson. Mr. Casler con- 
tinued farming in Montgomery county until early in 1882, and had 
good success there. However, he sold out in New York and came 
direct to Shelby count}^ Mo., where he soon afterwards bought the 
farm on w^hich he now resides. He has a place of 240 acres, all 
under fence, including 200 acres in cultivation. His residence is a 
good two-story building with a one-story ell, and the other buildings 
on the place, including barn, granary, implement house, etc., are of 
an excellent class, and in good condition. He also has a bearing 
young orchard. Mr. and Mrs. C. have three children, Emma E., 
Jennie E. and Frank F. He and wife are members of the M. E. 
Church. Mr. Casler's father, who came from Bavaria in 1834, is 
still living in Montgomery county, N. Y., at an advanced age, but he 
is quite active. 

JUDGE JOHN S. CHICK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

Judge Chick has been a resident of Jefferson township for over 25 
years, and has resided in the same neighborhood and on the same farm 
during all this time. Having lived for a generation in one community, 
those around him are therefore able to speak of the character of man 
he is ; and the results of his exertions and management as a farmer 
testify to his industry and intelligence. His high standing among 
those who have known him so long and well is shown by the irre- 
proachable name he bears, and the confidence reposed in him as a man 
and citizen, by his election to the responsible office of county judge ; 
while the ample competency he has accumulated shows that his life 
has been one of marked energy, directed by good, sound business 
judgment. Judge Chick has a fine farm of about 400 acres, over 
three-fourths of which is in meadow or active cultivation, most of 
the balance being excellent timbered land, fenced and used for pas- 
turage. His place is well improved and well stocked, and, in a word, 
he is one of the substantial, comfortable farmers of the townshipi 
All he has accumulated is the fruit of his own toil and intelligence, 
for he started out for himself without any help from others, 
and has made what he has, while at the same time rearing a large 
family of children, by whom he did and is doing a good part. 
Judge Chick, a prominent man of his township, esteemed for 
his sterling good sense, sober judgment, business qualifications 
and estimable qualities as a neighbor and citizen, was selected 
in 1872 from among the leading men of the county for the 
office of county judge, and was elected to that office by a highly 
complimentary majority. He served in office for six years and fully 
met the expectations of the public as a capable, upright judge. At 
the conclusion of his term as county judge, he again centered his whole 
attention on his farming and stock-raising interests, leading an 
industrious, useful life, and in the enjoyment of the confidence and 



1158 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

esteem of the people of the entire county. One of the best things 
that can be said of any man may be said of him with truth — tliat all 
his neighbors speak well of him. Judge Chick was 17 years of age 
when he came to Shelby county with his parents, Capt. William Chick 
and wife, 7iee Mildred G. Harding, from Kentucky, in 1840. He was 
born in Bracken county, April 13, 1823. His father was in the 
Federal service during the time of the elder Adams' administration, and 
participated in the military ceremony attending the burial of Gen. 
Washington. He was originally from Virginia, as was also his wife. 
In this county Capt. Chick entered land and improved a farm, on 
which he lived a worthy and respected life until his death. He 
reached the advanced age of 95 years, dying in 1874. His wife had 
preceded him to the grave by nearly 30 years. Judge John S. Chick 
completed his youth in this county, and after attaining his majority 
continued with his parents as their only reliance and support until 
they had lived out the measure of their lives and been gathered 
to the bosom of their loved ones who had passed beyond 
the mystic river. For an education he had to rely mainly 
on his own application to study during his leisure time at 
home. After his mother's death he was married, August 31, 1848, 
to Miss Mary E., a daughter of Joseph C. McCarty, formerly of Vir- 
ginia. Twelve children are living of this union, eight sons and four 
daughters. Two years after his marriage. Judge Chick went to Cali- 
fornia with the general rush to the Pacitic coast and was engaged in 
mining and trading out there for about a year. After his return he 
followed farming at different places until 1859, when he bought land 
and improved his present farm. Previously, however, he had been in 
the brick business at Palmyra for about three years. Judge Chick's 
farm is in section 10, about six miles from Clarence. None are exempt 
in this life, neither the just nor the unjust, from misfortune. John 
Milton, the great epic poet of England, the profound scholar, gifted 
genius and voluminous writer, the philosopher and sociologist, and 
one of the purest and best men the world has ever produced — he had 
a Cross to bear, a galling, heavy Cross; worse far than the blindness 
with which he was afflicted, a Cross of domestic unhappiness, of con- 
jugal estrangement and antipathy, — the same Milton who wrote from 
his heart : — 

** Hail wedded love, mysterious law, true souree 
Of human offspring, sole propriety 
In Paradise of all things common else! 

******* 

***** By thee, 

Founded in reason, loyal, just and pure, 
Relations dear, and all the charities 
Of father, son, and brother, first were linown." 

His wife failed to appreciate the high duties and obligations, the ten- 
der, sacred nature of the marriage relation. She became unkind, 
rude and offensive to her husband, and they separated. Milton thought 
it was best that they should separate — better far, than to live in 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1159 

constant antagonism and mutual aversion; and in his great work, his 
♦♦ Treatise on Divorce," where he presents arguments founded on 
reason, on common sense and on the natural sentiments of the human 
heart, which have never been answered and never can be — the great- 
est work on that subject that has ever been written ; he fully justifies 
himself and boldly lays down this broad, just principle ; " That indis- 
position, unfitness, or contrariety of mind, arising from a cause in 
nature unchangeable, hindering and ever likely to hinder the main 
benefits of conjugal society, which are solace and peace, is a greater 
reason of divorce than natural frigidity." Judge Chick has been made 
a victim of a similar misfortune to that which Milton suffered. He 
and his wife are not now living together. And while the Judge is too 
manl}^ to speak unkindly of their separation, it is but just to him to 
say that in the opinion of all his neighl)ors he shares none of the blame, 
but the wonder is, that he submitted so long to the unhappy domestic 
life he was compelled to lead. Mrs. Chick resides at Clarence, where 
she is properly provided for. The Judge is a promineut member of 
the Masonic fraternity. 

ELIJAH G. S. CHINN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence) . 

Mr. and Mrs. Chinn, among the highly respected and well-to-do 
families of Jefferson township, were both reared in this county, and 
came of two of its pioneer families, respectively. Judge William S. 
Chinn and Joseph West, Esq. Judge Chinn and his wife, Lucy A., 
whose maiden name was also Chinn, came to Missouri from Harrison 
county, Ky., about the beginning of the " thirties" . They first located 
in Marion county, but the year following settled in the northern 
part of Shelby county, away back before the town of Shelbyville 
was even thought of. They resided on the farm in that part of the 
county many years until their family of children had grown up. 
They then moved to a place two miles west of Shelbyville, where 
Judge Chinn died in 1856. He was a prominent farmer of the county, 
and for years a member of the county court. In the family there 
were seven brothers and three sisters who grew to years of maturity, 
and five brothers and a sister are still living. Elijah G. S. was born 
before his parents came to Missouri, in Harrison county, Ky., Sep- 
tember 25, 1825, but was reared in this county. He was married to 
Miss Cassandria West, September 26, 1848. Her father came to 
Missouri in its territorial days and located first in Callaway county. 
Subsequently he was one of the first to open a farm in Shelby county, 
and became a well-to-do farmer of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Chinn 
have five children; James W. (married), George E., Thomas S., 
Joseph W. (married) and Anna L., the wife of Posey Chiy. Mr. 
and Mrs. C. are members of the Christian Church. After his mar- 
riage, in 1848, Mr. Chinn settled on a farm two miles west of Shelby- 
ville, where he followed farming for over 10 years. He then removed 
to where he now resides. Here he has 700 acres, all under fence and 

68 



1160 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

about 560 acres in cultivation. The balance is in pasturage. For 
years Mr. Chinn has made a business of handling stock, feeding them 
for the wholesale markets, and he ships annually about 100 head of 
cattle. He also handles mules and has raised a large number of 
horses in former years. He is a man of industry and energy and an 
excellent business-like farmer, successful and well respected. 

JOHN S. COLVEET 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

John R. Colvert, now and for the past six years a resident of 
Lafayette county, Avas an early settler in this county and one of its 
old citizens and highly successful farmers. He resided here for a 
period of over 25 years, and at one time owned over 1,600 acres of 
fine land in the county. Mr. Colvert, Sr., was from Virginia and was 
married after he came to Missouri, in Marion county, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Griffith. Soon after his marriage he settled in Shelby county, 
where he lived for many years, as stated above. In 1872 he removed 
to Saline county and eight years afterwards to Lafayette county, 
where he now resides ; he and his good wife reared a family of 10 
children, five sons and five daughters, all but two of whom are mar- 
ried and have families of their own. John S. Colvert, the subject of 
this sketch, was born on his father's farm near Shelbina October 11, 
1847. On the 30th of March, 1869, then in his twenty-second year, 
he was married to Miss Delilah Perry, a daughter of Richard Perry, 
an early settler of Shelby county. Mr. C. followed farming after his 
marriage in this county until the following year, when he sold out 
and moved to Saline county, but in 1871 returned to Shelby and 
bought a place in the eastern part of Jefferson township : he farmed 
there for nine years and then bought the farm where he now resides, 
two miles south of Clarence. He has a good place of 160 acres, which 
besides being otherwise improved has a fine orchard on it, including 
every variety of fruit, large aud small. Mr. and Mrs. Colvert have 
seven children: Luah C, Minnie M., Lonnie R., Myrtle E., Naoma 
R., R. Warren and Rola. Both parents are members of the M. E. 
Church South. 

THOMAS J. CROSS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Clarence). 

Mr. Cross' father died when he was about five years of age, and his 
mother three years afterwards, so that from boyhood he was left an 
orphan with his own way to make in the world as best he could. He 
lived with relatives and friends in Harper's Ferry, Va., where he was 
born, July 3, 1824, until he was about 14 years of age, when he came 
West with some friends to Quiucy, 111. A year later he went to Zanes- 
ville,Ohio, and there learned the tailor's trade, serving an apprentice- 
ship of four years. He afterwards worked at the trade at Zanesville 
for some three years, and in 1846 returned to Quincy, 111., working 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1161 

at the tailor's trade here until 1847, he then enh'stecl in the service 
for the Mexican War under Capt. Diinhip, detached cavalry. During 
his service he was once wounded, receiving a shot in the left leg, by 
which the bone was fractured, and he was disabled from further 
service. He was therefore honorably discharged and returned to 
Qnincy, where he resumed work at his trade. In 1850 he went over- 
land to California and was for three years engaged in mining and 
freighting on the Pacific coast. After this he began the livery busi- 
ness at Quinc}^ and carried it on with success until 1858, \yhen he 
came to Missouri, locating in Randolph county. He bought land near 
Renick and improved a farm, on which he resided for 23 years. He 
sold that place in the spring of 1881, and bought his present farm in 
Jefferson township. Here he has 210 acres, and is comfortal)ly situ- 
ated. July 9, 1849, Mr. Cross was married to Miss Malinda A., a 
daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Owen, formerly of Pennsylvania. 
They have nine children: Quincy A., now of Sedalia ; George A., 
now the wnfe of William Brewer, of Macon county ; Rebecca, relict 
of William Dent; Ada F., a young lady; Thomas R., Willis and 
Willie, twins, and Lizzie and Lettie. They have lost two, both in 
infancy. Mr. Cross was postmaster at Renick during Grant's admin- 
istration. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. 

HENRY C. CROSS 

(Farmer aad Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

Mr. Cross, a representative of one of the pioneer families of Central 
Missouri, came to Shelby county in 1860, and has been a resident of 
the county ever since, for a period now closely approaching 25 years. 
A man of sterling industry, and thorough-going enterprise, as a farmer 
he has been quite successful, and has accumulated a comfortable prop- 
erty. He has a handsome farm of 320 acres, well im[)roved and well 
stocked, and annually has large quantities of farm products and con- 
siderable numbers of stock to put on the markets. Mr. Cross was a 
son of John Cross and wife, Sallie Blythe, who came from Kentucky 
to Howard county. Mo., away back in 1818, long liefore the territory 
now forming this State became a member of the Union as one of the 
free, independent and sovereign Commonwealths of the Republic. He 
became a substantial farmer and well known and respected citizen of 
Howard county. Henry C. was born in that county November 25, 
1834. Growing up on his father's farm, he came to Shelby county 
in 1860, a year before his father's death. Young Cross located in 
Clay township where he bought land and improved a farm. He 
resided on that place for about ten years and then sold it to excellent 
advantage and moved to his present farm. This has been spoken of 
above. It may be added, however, that a special feature about his 
f\irm is that he has a fine bearing orchard of over 500 trees, all of 
select varieties of fruit. He also has a choice variety of small fruits 
on his place. Mr. Cross was married September 5, 1871, to Miss 
Susan, a daughter of Perry Taylor of this county. They have three 



1162 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

children: Olivia, Leslie and Elmer. Mr. and Mrs. C; are members 
of the M. E. Chnrch South, and Mr. C. of the A. F. and A. M., and 
of the A. O. U. W. 

WILLIAM J. DAVIS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

From Delaware and Pennsylvania, respectively, Mr. Davis' parents 
originally came, his father, Bovvers Davis, from Delaware, and his 
mother, whose maiden name was Mary Jamison, was from Pennsyl- 
vania. They met, however, in West Virginia and were there married. 
Indeed, Miss Jamison was reared in West Virginia. William J., the 
subject of this sketch, was born in Monongahela county, of that 
State, February 10, 1828, and there grew to mature years. Several 
years after attaining his majority he was married, September 10, 1852, 
to Miss Nancy Davis, a daughter of Ananias Davis, who was named, 
it is proper to remark, not for the early Christian mentioned in Acts 
v., but for the disciple of Christ referred to in Acts ix : 10-12, etc. 
After his marriage Mr. Davis resided two years in Virginia and then 
removed to Missouri, locating in Macon county. Two years later he 
removed to Monroe county, where he bought land and improved a 
farm, on which he resided until 1861. He then sold out and came to 
Shelby county, where he farmed on rented land for about six years, 
after which he bought the place where he now resides. This contains 
190 acres and is in a good state of cultivation, being one of the best 
farms in the vicinity. Mr. Davis' first wife died in Macon county, 
Mo., June 9, 1856. He was a second time married. Miss Susan Fifer 
becoming his second wife, a daughter of Nimrod Fifer, of Randolph 
county, now deceased. This was March 19, 1857. Mrs. D. was born 
and reared in Botetourt county, W. Va. Tliere are six children: J. 
Monroe, Nimrod, Caleb W., Henry, Joseph T. and William M. Mary 
died in the tall of 1880 at the age of 22. She was the wife of William 
Woods and left two children. Mr. and Mrs. D. are members of the 
M. E. Church South. 

JAMES H. DOCTOR 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-feeder, Post-office, Maud) . 

The Doctors (though of course not all of them) were originally 
from Virginia, or rather the family of which the subject of the present 
sketch is a representative. His parents, John C. and Mahala (Leary) 
Doctor, were early settlers in Ohio from Virginia, where the father 
died in about 1837, and afterwards in 1840, the family came on 
West, to Missouri, and settled in Shelby county. James H. was 
born while they resided in Ohio, the year before his father's death, 
January 10, 1836. He was therefore principally reared in Shelby 
county, this State. Brought up on a farm, as would be expected, 
he adopted farming as his occupation for life. December 20, 1858, 
he was married to Miss Sarah, a daughter of William Bennett, formerly 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1163 

of Warren county, Va. He and his wife then set up to housekeeping, 
and located on a farm, or rather Mr. Doctor improved a farm from, 
raw land. He has ever since continued to reside on the place he 
improved when a young man. This is a good farm of 240 acres, and 
is mainly run in meadow and plow land. Mr. Doctor makes a spec- 
ialty of raising stock and feeding them for the wholesale markets. 
He has had satisfactory success. September 28, 1881, he had the 
misfortune to lose his wife, who left him at her death two children : 
lola, Mrs. J. W. Ferrel and James W. Four others died in early 
years. May 23, 1883, Mr. Doctor was married to Miss Robena 
Nicholson, a daughter of Robert Nicholson. It took Mrs. Clemence 
S. Lozier, the most eminent lady physician in the United States, 
four years of medical college training, besides a long period of pre- 
vious preparatory study, to become a doctor, but it took Miss Nichol- 
son only about seven seconds to accomplish the same object, 
nominally at least after the good deacon announced himself readv for 
the ceremony. Such is the difference of ways people have of effect- 
ing results in this life, and doubtless Mrs. James H. Doctor is hap- 
pier by the step she took than Mrs. Doctor Lozier. 

NOAH A. EDWARDS 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Woodlawn). 

Mr. Edwards is a son of John H. Edwards, a sketch of whom ap- 
pears elsewhere in this volume, and was born before the parents came 
to Missouri, in Bourbon county, Ky., October 3, 1846. The family 
removing to Monroe county, Mo., in 1857, Noah A. was reared in 
that county and was brought up a practical farmer. His father still 
resides in Monroe county, about foifr miles west of Paris. On the 
29th of March, 1870, Noah A. Edwards was married to Miss Nancy 
E. Atterl)ury, a daughter of Daniel Atterbury, deceased, her family 
also being from Kentucky. Mr. Edwards located on a farm'as a house- 
holder after his marriage, and continued to farm in Monroe county 
for about 11 years. He also engaged quite actively in handling stock, 
in which he had satisfactory success. He removed to Shelby county 
in the spring of 1880, and bought the farm where he now resides. 
He has a good place of 240 acres, exceptionally well improved. His 
dwelling is a substantial, tastily built two-story house, and his other 
buildings, including an excellent new barn, 36x60 feet in dimensions, 
correspond with his dwelling. He is still actively engaged in hand- 
ling stock, and feeds a large number every year for the wholesale 
markets. Mr. and Mrs. E.'"have four children: Nona M., John H., 
Leia M. and Nannie L. He and wife are members of the Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

JOSEPH C. GADD 

(Farmer and Breeder of Fine Sheep, Post-office, Clarence). 

From the Empress Isle of the Seas Mr. Gadd was brought by his 
parents, James Gadd and Hester, nee Collins, who came to America 



1164 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

when he was in his third year, in 1849. He was born in Enghmd, 
Deceml)er 31, 1847. The family first settled in Racine county, Wis. 
and were among the first white residents of that county. 
Later along, however, they removed to Missouri, and located in 
Macon county, where they still make their home, and where Joseph 
attained his majority, being in his twentieth year in 1868, when the 
family settled in Shell)y county. Four years later, on the 4th of Novem- 
ber, 1872, he was married to Miss Lonisa, a daughter of Peter Hen- 
son, of Shelby county, but formerly of Germany. Mr. Henson, how- 
ever, had lived in New York before coming to Missouri, where he 
resided for a period of 40 years. Mr. Gadd settled on his farm 
where he now resides soon after his marriage. He has a neat, small 
farm, and has it comfortably improved. He and wife have two 
children, Byron H. and Katie S. Both parents are members of the 
Christian Church. 

WILLIAM R. GAINES 

(Farmer and Stock-i'aiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

With a good place of 290 acres all fenced and 240 in cultivation, 
Mr. Gaines may fairly be said to be comfortably situated and in com- 
parativelv easy circumstances. He is regarded as one of the energetic 
farmers and substantial, worthy citizens of Jefferson township. He 
was born in Monroe county April 23, 1842, and was a son of Robert 
S. and Parmelia (Sears) Gaines; his father originally from Ken- 
tucky, but his mother was born at Boonville and reared in this State. 
In 1844 the family removed to Shelby county and settled north of 
Shelby ville, where the father bought and improved a farm. In 1848 
he returned to Monroe county. After the California gold excitement 
he went overland to the Pacific coast, but by the hardships he under- 
went consumption was brought on, of which he died at Hannibal, Mo., 
on his way home, near Paris. The children, including William R., 
the subject of this sketch, were four brothers and one sister, all now 
married but the youngest. William R. and Dabney are the only resi- 
dents of this county. William R. learned the blacksmith's trade, and 
in 1861 enlisted in the Confederate array. In 1865 he returned to Mis- 
souri and located at Granville, Monroe county. In 1866 he settled on 
a farm and was married February 26, 1867, to Miss Sue M. Single- 
ton, of Hannibal, ad:mghter of Samuel Singleton, formerly of Shelby 
county, and at different times assessor of both Shelby and Marion 
counties. His wife was a teacher before her marriage, and taught 
some afterwards. In 1876 Mr. Gaines came to Shelby county and 
bought the land where he now resides, or a part of it. Mr. and Mrs. 
Gaines have one child of their own, Samuel S., now aged 14, and 
have raised one other, Mittie J. Ragland, granddaughter of Maj. 
Ragland (deceased), of Monroe county. He and wife are members of 
the Missionary Baptist Church, and he is a member of the Masonic 
and United Workman orders. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 



1165 



DABNEY GAINES 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Maud). 

An outline of the family of which the subject of the present sketch 
is a member has been given in the sketch of his brother, William R., 
which precedes this, so that it is unnecessary to repeat anything of the 
family history here. Mr. Gaines was born on his father's farm in 
Monroe county, August 9, 1839, and was reared on the old family 
homestead, receiving an ordinary education in the neighborhood 
schools. After he ^rew up, December 9, 1862, he was married to 
Miss Sallie H., a daughter of Samuel Singleton, of Shelby county. 
Mr. Singleton now lives in Marion county, at Hannibal.^ He then 
farmed two seasons in Shelby county, and the next season in Illinois, 
after which he located at Hannibal, and was engaged in teaming for 
two years. He then farmed three years in Monroe county, and 
freighted the next year at Hannibal. For three years after this he 
was farmincr in Monroe county again, and in 1874 he removed to 
Shelby county. Meanwhile he had bought raw land in this county, 
and the following year began the improvement of a farm. He soon 
made a good farm, and still resides on the place he improved, which 
contains 200 acres, all under fence and otherwise in good condition, 
one of the comfortable homesteads of the township, and he has a good 
orchard on his place. Mr. and Mrs. Gaines have three children: 
Robert E., Ella V. and William E. Three are deceased, two m 
infVincy and one in childhood. He and wife are members of the 
Baptist Church. 

ISAAC N. HILL, M. D. 

fPhysician and Surgeon, Clarence). 

Dr. Hill is one of the oldest physicians, if not the oldest, in active 
practice in Shelby county. He has been continuously engaged in the 
practice for 38 years, and for 26 years of this time he has been located 
in Shelby county, 19 years at Clarence. He is a man of thorough 
medical trainins; ; studying medicine at a time when it was by no means 
a universal rute for medical students to take a thorough professional 
course at college before they began the practice, he nevertheless did 
so. He began the study of medicine first under Dr. A.. H. Rob- 
ertson, of Roachport and in due time entered the Transylvania Medical 
College, of Kentucky, from which he graduated in 1846. He then 
located at Woodville, in Macon county,, where he practiced for 12 
years, coming thence to Shelby county. In 1858 he located at 
Clarence. Dr. Hill has had good success with his patients and has 
been reasonably successful in the accumulation of the substantial 
rewards of his practice, though he has ever been more devoted to the 
practice of medicine as a science and for the good that he might do, 
than as a means for making money, or accumulating a fortune. Some 



1166 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

men are intent on getting a fortune from the time they first start out 
in life as long as they can strive and struggle. Dr. Hill is not one of 
these. He is not a worshiper of mammon by any means, and thinks 
there are a great many good things in the world besides wealth. In 
1848 he was married to Miss Eliza C. Menafee, a daughter of Capt. 
John Menafee, of Marion county, but originally of Virginia. She 
died, however, in 1868, leaving him six children: Ella B., 
Mrs. John Easum of Montana; Archibald (married), now of 
Boone county; John R. C, now of Vernon county; Virgil P., 
now merchandising at Nevada City; Belle, Mrs. William Herron, 
and Annie E., a young lady who is now with her brother in 
Vernon county. The Doctor has never remarried since his wife's 
death. He has always been a man of studious habits and is more than 
ordinarily well informed on the general questions of the times, includ- 
ing politics, being in political opinions a Democrat. He was absent 
from this State on a trip to California, returning in 1852, having 
practiced medicine when he was gone. The Doctor is a native of 
Kentucky, l)orn in Madison county in 1819. His parents were Archi- 
bald Hill and wife, nee Sallie Newland. They came to Missouri in 
1822, and located in Boone county, where they resided eight years. 
In 1830 they settled in Howard county, where the father improved 
one of the largest farms in tlie county, a place of 1000 acres. He 
became one of the leading farmers and stockmen of that county, and 
resided there for over 50 years. He reached the advanced age of 84, 
dying on his farm eight miles south-east of Fayette, in 1878. 

JAMES F. LARRICK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Maud) . 

Forty-three years ago Mr. Larrick's parents, John M. and Margaret 
(Guire) Larrick, came from Virginia to Missouri, and located in Ran- 
dolph county. Eight years later they returned to Virginia, but in 
1855 came back West to Iowa, and three years afterwards settled 
permanently in Marion county, where they resided for many years. 
The father died there in 1867, or, rather, he was at the residence 
of one of his daughters in Randolph county at the time of his death. 
The mother is still living and has a welcome and pleasant home with 
her son, the subject of this sketch. James F. was born in Randolph 
county January 20, 1845, and was one of three brothers and two sis- 
ters who had lived to reach years of maturity. His brother, Joseph 
G., was killed in the Southern army at the fight at Kirksville. The 
other brother, Arthur S., resides in this county. James F. was 
reared a farmer and has made it his pertnanent calling. He has a 
good place of 160 acres, nearly, either in meadow or cultivation. 
His place is substantially and comfortably improved. March 13, 
1879, he was married to Miss Ella, a daughter of S. Smith, of this 
county. They have two children : Ada and an infant son. Mr. and 
Mrs. L. are members of the M. E. Church South. 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1167 

JAMES D. LIVINGSTON 

(Farmer, Post-oflace, Clarence). 

Eleven miles south-east of Pittsburg, in Pennsylvania, was the 
birthplace of the subject of this sketch, and Octobei' 13, 1833, was 
the date. His parents were William W. and Nancy (Large) Living- 
ston, who were married in Alleghany county in the fall of 1829. 
They continued to reside in that county for over 20 years, but in 1850 
removed west, to Ohio, and three years later on westward across the 
turbid waters of the Mississippi, settling at the end of their journey 
four miles north-west of Shelbina. They had a family of six children, 
including James D., and he came with the rest out to Missouri. Mr. 
Livingston, the subject of this sketch, has been engaged in farming 
ever since he came to Missouri, as he had been before. He is now 
farming on leased land, having the Towne farm, situated four miles 
and a-half east of Chtrence. He is also eugao-ed in raising stock and 
trading in them. December 22, 1859, Mr. Livingston was married 
to Miss Lucy A. Byrum, a daughter of Morris Byrum, whose sketch 
appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. L. have seven children, 
namely: John W., James H., Lewis T., Amanda J., Mary E., Nettie 
and Robert F. Mr. Livingston, like many men of original thought, 
rather than thinkers by fashion as people who wear their clothes, is a 
Greenbacker in politics. Like the immortal Milton he believes that 
" error supports custom, custom countenances error; aud these two 
between them * * * with the numerous and vulgar train of their 
followers, * * * envy and cry dowu the industry of free reason- 
ing, under the term of humor and innovation." 

ADAM D. LONG 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-shipper, Post-office, Clarence). 

Among the numerous valuable citizens of Jefferson township who 
have come to this county from the North since the war, none are 
more worthy of consideration than the subject of the present sketch, 
Mr. Long. He has contributed his full share since he became a resi- 
dent of the county to its development and prosperity. By industry 
and enterprise he has made himself one of the substantial farmers of 
the township. He has two excellent farms of 160 acres each, on one 
of which he resides, and he is engaged to a considerable extent in 
raising and dealing in cattle and hogs, including shipping to the 
wholesale markets. He ships annually al)out 100 car loads. Mr, 
Long is a native of Ohio, born in Ashland county, February 19, 1847, 
and a son of Simeon and Sarah (McCrill) Long, natives of the same 
county, but both now deceased. Adam D. is the youngest of three of 
their family of children living. He was reared on a farm in his native 
county. August 23, 1864, he enlisted in Co. E, Fifth Ohio Infantry, 
and was out until the close of the war, being under Sherman during 



1168 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the famous march to the sea. He participated in the grand review at 
Washington, and then returned home to Ashland county, Ohio. He 
subsequently lived for three years in Ohio, during which he attended 
school part of the time. He then came to Missouri, and located in 
the vicinity of Chirence, where he engaged in farming. He resided 
on different places, and in the spring of 1876 settled on his present 
homestead. This is one of the best improved farms in the vicinity. 
October 29, 1868, Mr. Long was married, in Ashland county, Ohio, 
to Miss Jennie, a daughter of Andrew Gordon. They have four chil- 
dren : Ida M., Milo A., Simeon and Alt)ert. Mr. and Mrs. Long are 
members of the M. E. Church, 

SAMUEL C. MEADOWS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence), 

Mr, Meadows was a son of Anderson Meadows, one of the pioneer 
settlers of Monroe county. His father was a native Kentuckian, 
where he grew up and was married to Miss Mary Williamson, They 
came to Missouri in about 1824, and settled in Monroe county. The 
father entered land there, on which he improved a farm and resided 
until his death in 1844. Samuel C, was born on the farm in Monroe 
county, December 25, 1824, and as he grew up received a common 
school education. After attaining his majority he came to Shelby 
county and bought land. Here he improved a farm and has since 
bought land and improved three other farms, thus doing more than 
his full share toward the improvement and development of the county. 
He improved the place where he now resides in 1869, and has 200 
acres. February 16, 1859, he was married to Miss Laura J,, a 
daughter of Harris Woods, of this county, but formerly of Monroe 
county, Mr. and Mrs. Meadows have seven children : MoUie, Nora, 
Mattie, Sallie, Anderson, Lena and Harris. Mr, and Mrs, M, and 
their two older daughters are members of the Baptist Church. He is 
a member of the A. O. U. W. at Clarence, 

JAMES T. MILLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Shelbina). 

Mr. Miller was a son of Samuel Miller, who was born in Pendleton 
county, Ky,, in the fall of 1803, and came with his mother and step- 
father, Joseph Conway, to Marion county. Mo,, in 1818, He married 
there, in 1824, Miss Sarah Kirby, also formerly of Kentucky, They 
reared a family of eight children, six of whom are living: Enoch K,, 
a prominent minister of the M, E. Church South; Salina A,, now the 
wife of A. B. Maupin ; Ruth E,, the wife of Robert Donaldson ; Susan 
B., now Mrs. W, P. Maupin ; William F. and James T,, the sul)ject 
of this sketch. He was reared in Marion county and was married 
there February 9, 1869, to Miss Maria T., a daughter of J. M, Nelson. 
After his marriage Mr, Miller, the subject of this sketch, moved to 
his present farm seven miles south-west of Shelbina, where he has 240 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1169 

acres of good land and 160 acres of which are in cultivation. Mr. Miller 
has had satisfactory success as a farmer and stock-raiser and is doing 
well. He and wife have three children : Sarah M., Mary T. and Lucy 
N. Mr. M. is a ineml)er of the Baptist Church, of which he is clerk 
at Oak Ridge, and he is also superintendent of the local Sunday-school. 
He takes an active interest in church affairs and all good works calcu- 
lated to promote the best interests of those around him and the cause 
of morality and religion. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, and is an excellent Christian-hearted lady. Her parents were 
originally from Maryland and her father is now living, at the age of 
81, near Hannibal. 

OLIVER COMMODORE PERRY " 

(Farmer and Stoek-raiser, Post-offlce, Clarence). 

Mr. Perry, one of the well-to-do farmers and substantial citizens or 
Jefferson township, is by descent related to Commodore Oliver Perry, 
for whom he was named, and who, as all the world knows, was the 
most distinguished officer m American naval history, and one of the 
greatest naval officers of any age or country. He served with distin- 
guished gallantry in the expedition against Tripoli, and commanded 
on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, obtaining one of the most brill- 
iant victories against superior forces to be met with in naval annals. 
In honor of this great victory, a magnificent painting of the battle 
scene now adorns one of the walls of the Senate wing of the Capitol 
building at Washington City. Mr. Perry, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Shelby county, December 7, 1846, and was a son of Capt. 
Richard Perry, an early settler in this county from Virginia. Mr. P.'s 
mother was a Miss Mary Selsor before her marriage, also of Virginia. 
The family first removed to Ohio, and then came to Missouri in about 
1840, settling near Shelbina, where Capt. Perry improved a farm. He 
is still living, and makes his home with a married daughter, being now 
advanced in years. Oliver C. Perry was reared on the farm in this 
county, and received a good common school education. On the 19th 
of December, 1867, he was married to Miss Ellen Randol, a daughter 
of John B. Randol, then of this county, but now of Colorado. Mr. 
and Mrs. P. have six children: John H., Emma, Orie, Floyd, Lee 
and Harry. They have lost one, Charley, who died in infancy. 
After his marriage, Mr. Perry located on a fiirm in Jefferson township. 
He has since, at different times, owned four farms in that township. 
He came to his present place in the winter of 1875-76. This is a 
valuable farm, two and a half miles south of Clarence, containing 320 
acres, all under fence and in a good condition. Most of it is run in 
meadow and pasture for stock purposes. Mr. Perry makes a business 
of buying and feeding cattle and hogs for the market, in which he has 
excellent success. He and wife are members of the M. E. Church at 
Zion, 



1170 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

GEORGE W. PORTER 

(Farmer and Carpenter, Post-office, Clarence). 

For more than four years and a half Mr. Porter did gallant service 
in the army of the Union, from the fall of 1861 to the spring of 1866. 
He participated in numerous heavy engagements, and was three times 
promoted for meritorious conduct on the field, rising from the ranks 
as a private to the position of first lieutenant of his company. He was 
in Co. C, of the Fifty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Mr. Porter 
is a native of Ohio, born in Knox county, September 21, 1840. His 
father, Maj. James D. Porter, a major of militia in old muster days, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, and after his marriage moved to Jeffer- 
son county, O., and later along to Knox county, of which latter he 
was a poineer settler. In 1845, however, he removed to La Salle 
county. 111., where he resided for 37 years, and then, at the of 87, 
had the courage to become an early settler in another new country — 
Johnson county, Kan. — where he now resides, and is still active and 
as full of enterprise and vim as men usually are a generation his 
juniors. His wife was a Miss M. A. Arnold, of Pennsylvania. George 
W. was principally reared in La Salle county and joined the army in 
that county. After he was mustered out of the service he returned to 
Illinois and two years later came to Missouri. Here he located on 
the land where he now resides. He has a comfortable farm of 100 
acres. June 15, 1869, he was married to Miss Catherine A., a 
daughter of J. M. Henry, of Macon City. She is a Mississippian by 
birth, but was reared in Macon county. Mr. and Mrs. P. have three 
children: Florence M., Evalena and Nellie Pearl. They have lost 
three : Maud B., Mary Alice and John, the first two of whom died at 
the age of six years and the third one at 15 months old. 

PETER F. RIDINGS 

(Farmer and Dealer In General Merchandise, Post-office, Maud). 

When the war broke out in 1861 Mr. Ridino;s, who was then a 
young man about 25 years of age and warmly in sympathy with 
the cause of the South, promptly enlisted in the Confederate service 
under Col. Poindexter ; he marched bravely off to the war and gal- 
lantly kept step to the time beat of the Confederate drum until he 
was severely wounded and permanently disabled from further service, 
so that he had to retire from the army and leave others to fight the 
battles of the South. At the engagement of Silver Creek he was shot 
in the right leg, and afterwards fell into the hands of the Federals, 
by whom he was forced to take the oath prescribed by the military 
authorities in this part of the State. In 1864 he was married to Miss 
Mary J., a daughter of James Larrick, deceased, one of the early set- 
tlers of Randolph county. After his marriage he improved a farm 
near Larrick's Mill, and subsequently followed farming exclusively, 
with the exception of two years partly devoted to the tanning busi- 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1171 

ness, until 1873 ; he then engaged in merchandising, and in 1876 
removed to Shelby county and bought a farm in Jefferson township, 
whei'e he farmed for three years ; he also established his present store 
at Maud, which he still runs. He has a good stock of general mer- 
chandise and has built up a large trade. He also owns his farm of 
KiO acres, which is well improved. Mr. and Mi's. Ridings have four 
children: Joseph L., Albert M., Charles and Virginia M. He and 
wife are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Ridings is a justice 
of the peace, having been appointed to that office in 1884. Like 
many of the citizens of Shelby county, he is a native of Virginia, 
born on the 2d day of September, 1836. His father was Joseph 
Ridings and his mother's maiden name Ruth A. Roust, both Virginians. 
In 1836 the family came to Missouri and settled in Randolph county, 
where the father improved a farm ; he died there in 1846. He had been 
a justice of the peace and held other positions of the township. Peter 
F. Ridings was reared on the farm in Randolph county and at the age 
of 17, his father having died, he took charge of the farm and had the 
care of the family, his elder brother having started ouf for himself. 
He was on the farm at the time of his enlistment in the Southern 
army. 

ALBERT C. ROBUCK 

(Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

August 24, 1849, was the date of Mr. Robuck's birth, and on his 
father's farm in Salt River township, of Randolph county, this State, 
was the place. His father, Henry Robuck, was a native of Tennessee, 
and a descendant of the old North Carolina family of that name. 
When yet a child his parents removed to Alabama, where he was 
principally reared. He came to Missouri when 18 years of age, and 
on attaining his majority entered land in Randolph county, where he 
improved a good farm and still resides, being a highly respected citi- ■ 
zen of that county. Albert C. was reared "on a "farm in Randolph 
county, and on the 2d of March, 1875, was married to Miss Maggie, 
a daughter of William D. Hutton, of Randolph county, but formerly 
of Virginia. Mr. Robuck and his wife were born and reared within a 
mile and a half of each other, and there is but 14 days' difference in 
their ages. After his marriage, Mr. R. moved to Macon county, and 
rented a place near McGee College, where he farmed for three years. 
He then returned to Randolph and fiirmed in partnership with his 
father for about a year. After this he followed getting ties and other 
timbers for the railroad. Mr. R. bought his present "place in 1880, 
but rented it out for a season or two afterwards. Finally he moved 
on to it himself, however, and has since resided on it. He has 240 
acres, and has a good two-story residence, and ice and milk house, barn, 
and other excellent improvements. He and wife have three children ; 
Porter S., Oscar W. and Mary E.- Mr. and Mrs. R. are members of 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 



1172 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

WILLIAM STALCUP 

(Retired Farmer, Post-office, Clarence). 

Since the age of 20 years, or for nearly half a century, Mr. Stalcup 
has been a resident of Shelby county. He was therefore one of its 
early settlers, and is a worthy, typical representative of the brave- 
hearted old pioneers who opened this part of the country to civiliza- 
tion. He was a noted hunter in those early da3^s, and many a piece 
of game has fallen at the crack of his rifle — deer, turkeys, bear, and 
even pathers, to say nothing of game of less importance. In his 
time he has killed more than a thousand deer, of which he kept an 
account, and during one year, from May to Christmas, he killed as 
many as GO with his favorite rifle. He was almost a dead shot every 
time, and for a deer to run within range of his gun was even more 
certain death than the famous passage between Scylla and Charybdis. 
Like most of the early settlers of the county, he was a pioneer into 
the West because he had that courageous spirit of enterprise and 
adventure which characterized the new-comers into this then wilder- 
ness. After this part of the country became pretty well settled up, 
and other wilds toward the Western sea presented themselves for 
exploration, he pushed on to the Cordilleras and over on to the Pacific 
coast. Mr. Stalcup made two trips to California, returning from the 
first one in 1851. Finally he settled down in this county to the life 
of a quiet substantial farmer. Industry and a good, sober manner of 
judging have made him a successful farmer and a hale, hearty old 
gentleman, now well advanced in years. He has several farms which 
he has rented out, and resides on a homestead in comfortable circum- 
stances, where he is spending the evening of his life in contentment 
and ease, well satisfied wnth the past and sustained by an abiding 
faith and hope of a happy future. Mr. Stalcup has been married 
twice. His first wife, formerly Miss Jane Byars, a daughter of George 
Byars, previously of Virginia, died in 1867. There were two children 
by that union, Mary A., now the wife of Harrison Eaton, and Rosetta, 
now the wife of Tayloi- Barton. To his present wife Mr. Stalcup was 
married November 3, 1870. She was a Mrs. Isabella Gordon, relict 
of Willis Gordon, and has two children by her first marriage : Fannie, 
wife of A. Stoors, and Ella, wife of John Spires. Mr. Stalcup, 
having lived a blameless life, and one always on good terms with his 
neighbors, is much esteemed and respected by all around him. 

JOHN W. TIMBROOK 

(Of the Timbrook Brothers, Farmers and Stock-raisers, Post-office, Clarence). 

Mr. Timbrook is one of five brothers, and the only one married, 
residing on the old Timbrook homestead in Jefferson township, engaged 
in farming and stock-raising. Their farm contains 288 acres and is 
one of the better class of farms in the vicinity. They are men of 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1173 

enero-y and enterprise and are making a success of farming and stock- 
raising. All are worthy, well respected citizens of the township. 
John W. was born on the farm in this township January 6, 1854, and 
was reared to the occupation in which he is now engaged. Farming 
and handling stock have, therefore, been his constant pursuits from 
boyhood. In 1877 he was married to Miss Mary J. Bishop, a daugh- 
ter of Robert Bishop, of this county. They have one child, Robert 
H., a^ed six years. Mrs. T. is a member of the Baptist Church. 
The parents of the Timbrook brothers were Harrison Timbrook and 
wife, nee Miss Eliza Lockmiller, their father born in Hampshire county, 
Va., October 8, 1824, and their mother in the same county. They 
were married in 1853 and came to Missouri several years afterwards, 
settling in Shelby county seven miles north-west of Shelbyville, where 
the brothers novv reside. There were ten children in the family. 

JOSEPH C. WHITTENBURG 

(Farmer, Post-office, Duncan's Bridge). 

Mr. Whittenburg, a nephew of Judge Burckhartt, of Huntsville, for 
over 20 years judge of the circuit court, was born near Middle Grove, 
in Monroe county, April 24, 1832, but was principally reared in Ran- 
dolph county. iSfovember 30, 1854, he was married to Miss Louisa 
Moberly, a daughter of William Moberly, who lived on the farm near 
Moberly for 45 years, and one of the prominent citizens of Randolph 
county, but now deceased. After his marriage Mr. Whittenburg 
bought land and improved a farm near Renick, where he resided for 
eighl years. Selling this place, afterwards, in the spring of 1867, he 
bought land in Jefferson township, near where he now resides, or 
ratlier a farm already improved. Two years later he sold out and 
returned to Randolph county and bought a place near Renick. In 
1870 he took charge of the old Moberly homestead, in Randolph county, 
the place of her father's farm, which he carried on for about foui- 
years. Returning then to Shelby county, he bought the place where 
he now resides, a farm of 230 acres, which is well improved. He 
and wife have three children: William W., Charles M. and Joseph 
E. They have lost four at tender ages. Mr. and Mrs. W. are mem- 
bers of the M. E. Church South. "His father, Jacob Whittenburg, 
was a native of Tennessee, and came to Monroe county in an early 
day^ where he met and married Miss Sarah Burckhartt. He died in 
1838. 

JAMES S. WILSON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence). 

After the war Mr. Wilson returned home after nearly four years of 
hard service in the Confederate army and found himself without a 
dollar, and with his start in life yet to make. He went to work at 
farm labor by the month and by working faithfully and practicing 
strict economy he saved up a little means. With this he was able to 
begin farming on his own account. At the end of five years he found 



1174 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

that he had $1,550 clear of everything, and some other property 
besides. He has since continued farming with industry and persever- 
ance, and is now worth between $7,000 and $10,000. He owns sev- 
eral hundred acres of fine land, including his home farm, which 
contains 150 acres, and is well improved. He farms in a general way 
and raises some stock and is steadily accumulating the substantial 
rewards of well applied industry. January 30, 1872, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Sarah E., a daughter of George F. and Nancy Stolir. 
Mr. and Mrs. W. have one child, Fleda Pearl. They have lost one, 
Lucy Myrtle, who died in 1875. He and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church South. Mr. Wilson was a son of David C. and Dru- 
cilla (Grimes) Wilson, foi^'merly of Virginia, who came to Missouri 
in about 1840, and after residing three years in Macon county settled 
permanently in Randolph county, where the father died in June, 
1875. The mother still resides on the farm in that county. 
<' Dock," as James S., the subject of this sketch, is called, was born 
in Macon county, February 8, 1841, but reared in Randolph county, 
and enlisted in the Confederate army in that county in the summer of 
1862, under Poindexter, and served until the final surrender at 
Shreveport, in June, 1865. He was in a number of battles and lesser 
engagements, but came through without a wound or other casuality. 
During Mr. Wilson's absence, in August, 1864, death visited his 
father's household and called his only sisters, Jane and Kate; there 
were but three days between their deaths. 

PERRY G. WITHERS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Clarence) . 

In 1828 Mr. Withers' parents. Waller and Elizabeth Withers, came 
to Missouri from Kentucky and settled in Monroe county, where the 
father bought land and improved a farm. He was successfully engaged 
in farming there for 21 years, when he was drawn into the tide of 
emigrants bound westward during the California gold excitement in 
1849. He spent 14 years on the Pacific coast engaged principally in 
mining, and returned to his family in 1863. Now in old age he is 
living in comparative ease and retirement on a farm near Paris, which 
his son-in-law, Prof. Lewis, conducts. Perry G. was born on a farm 
in Monroe county September 19, 1843, and as he grew up received an 
averao;e common school education. He became a farmer, and on the 
22d of February, 1871, was married to Miss Mary C, a daughter of 
Robert Bowling, deceased, of Monroe county. Mr. and Mrs. W. have 
five children : Waller G., Nannie M., Lizzie S., Aubrey B. and Stella 
M. Mr. Withers came to Shelby county in 1873, and bought raw land, 
on which he made a farm. However, he rented for several years 
before buying, and first bought only 160 acres. By industry and 
good management, however, he has prospered, and has since added to 
his place from time to time until he now has nearly 400 acres, 360 of 
Avhich are fenced and in good cultivation or pasturage. His place is 
substantially improved, and he is comfortably situated. Mr. W. is a 



HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 1175 

member of the Baptist Church, and Mrs. Withers of the Christian 
Church, and he is a member of the United Workmen's order. 

LORENZO S. WOOD 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Mule-dealer, Post-office, Clarence). 

The Wood family was long settled in Monroe county, Va., and was 
among the highly respected and well-to-do people of that county. 
Mr. Wood's father, Archibald Wood, owned a large iron foundry and 
forge, and did an extensive business, being, in fact, a wealthy man, 
but he met with reverses and lost most of his fortune. After this he 
removed with his family to Missouri in the hope of making another 
start in life in this then new country. He settled in St. Charles 
county, where he was engaged in farming with a measurable degree 
of success until his death, which occurred in 1842. After that the 
family removed to Randolph county, where Lorenzo S., the subject 
of this sketch, remained until he was 12 years of age. He was born 
in Monroe county, Va., January 1, 1837. In 1849 he made his home 
with an uncle in Monroe county. Mo., with whom he remained until 
he reached his majority. After this, in 1863, he went to California 
by way of Ncav York and Panama, and was engaged in mining and 
freighting in that State for about two years. He was having good 
success until he was taken down of the rheumatism, when he had to 
quit and return home. He shortly afterwards settled in Lewis county, 
where he followed farming for two years and then removed to Shelby 
county, settling in the neighborhood in which he now resides. Mr. 
Wood has been satisfactorily successful as a farmer and stock dealer, 
and now owns two good farms of 160 acres each, both well improved. 
November 5, 18 70, "he was married to Miss Mary R., a daughter of 
Robert C. Hayes, of Macon county, but formerly of Kentucky. They 
have two children, Effie L. and James D. Mr. and Mrs. W. are 
members of the M. E. Church South, and he is a member of the 
I. O. O. F. They have lost one child, Ennis L., aged 18 months. 



ADDENDUM. 



MRS. MINERVA MULDROW 

(Deceased) . 
[From the Shelbina Democrat.] 

It is only when those that are bound to us by the strongest ties of 
nature, love or affection fall in the tragic finish of life's'journey — 
when we have kept the vigils of the sick room through the long hours, 
ministering to every expressed or implied wish — when we have felt 

69 



1176 HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY. 

the pulse slowly ebb and sat entombed for the time in the shadow of 
the Great Mystery, that we realize in its fullest the measure and means 
of death. A line in this paper last week announced Mrs. Minerva 
Muldrow as quite ill. To-day with a sadness beyond expression we 
announce her death. The sad event occurred at 4 :30 on Tuesday 
morning, March 11, 1884, at the home of her son-in-law, E. D. Hos- 
elton. Deceased would have been 80 years old in May; was born in 
Kentucky and at an early age came to Marion county. Mo., sharing 
with others who sought homes in the West the privations and hard- 
ships peculiar to a new and sparsely settled country. When 19 she 
was married to Mr. James Muldrow, whom she had known from youth 
back in the old home State ; together they made a home, and around 
its hospitable hearth reared a family of nine children, three of whom 
and her husband she will meet, now that she has lain down the cross 
to wear the crown. At 30 she became, through confession of faith, a 
member of the Presbyterian Church, at Greenfield, Shelby county. 
Mo., Eev. Dr. Nelson, pastor. From that time up to the present 
deceased lived a Christian's life, and has entered into that rest for 
which she was abundantly prepared. Grandma is dead. She was a 
member of the writer's family for 12 or more years, sharing its joys 
and its sorrows, and, with a singularly pleasant disposition, endeared 
herself to every member. Eighty years ! A long silvery thread in 
the warp and woof of time. A good woman has paid the debt of 
nature and gone hence ; she will be ever held in kind remembrance 
by those who knew her best. * * * 




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